Research Highlights
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Socially vulnerable communities are disproportionately exposed to water shortages, but the underlying drivers of vulnerability differ substantially across the U.S.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Travis Warziniack, Mike Knowles
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Pinyon pine seedlings from drier environments have adaptations that may allow them to survive in more stressful environmental conditions.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Alexandra K. Urza, Jeanne C. ChambersState(s)Nevada
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This first volume field guide summarizes plant, seed, and fruit identification information, general species ecology, and important tips related to seed collection and planting and is designed to aid seed collectors, seed growers, nursery staff, landowners, restoration practitioners, and land managers as they increase the supply and use of native forbs in restoration.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Nancy L. Shaw, Sarah C. Barga
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After an unusual, late-fall wildfire in a European beech forest in the pre-Alps of northern Italy, the finest roots (0‒0.3 mm diameter) were generally the most responsive to fire, with the effect more pronounced at the shallowest soil depth.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Kasten Dumroese
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Researchers evaluated the impact of forest management operations on where and how much carbon gets stored in the ecosystem 50 years after treatment in Northern California.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Jianwei Zhang, Deborah S. Page-DumroeseState(s)California
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Numerous simulation studies reviewed by Forest Service researchers address the question of where, when, and how to implement fuel treatments on fire-prone landscapes.Year2023Research Station
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Fire has been found to remove the existance of plant-soil feebacks—wherein plants benefit from growing in soils that they have themselves cultured to have specific microbial assemblages—for native Hawaiian trees.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Stephanie YelenikState(s)Hawaii
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The success of forest restoration seeding efforts after fire in Hawaii are driven by elevation, canopy cover and invasive grasses.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Stephanie YelenikState(s)Hawaii
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Reducing invasive grass cover by 50% can lead to passive forest regeneration in mesic restoration forests in Hawaiʻi.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Evan Rehm, Stephanie YelenikState(s)Hawaii
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Gordon Grant, a research hydrologist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, applied a theory he first developed for rivers to a fundamental problem in predicting the impacts of volcanic eruptions: how much lava is flowing out of a volcano over time. His critical flow theory predicts that the wavelengths of standing waves in both water and lava can be used to estimate the depth and velocity of the flow. A team of scientists tested this idea using data from the 2018 Kilauea eruption in Hawaii and found that their estimates were very close to other flow measurements.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Gordon GrantState(s)OregonHawaii
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Measuring the potential impact of environmental stressors on natural resources is difficult because it involves complex interactions among environmental factors. To address this challenge, a team of scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and the U.S. Geological Survey used a novel approach to develop a decision-aiding tool that assesses the potential injury to natural resources from the effects of industrial contaminants and pollutants.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Bruce G. Marcot, Ph.D.State(s)Oregon
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Rangelands provide habitat for a host of species, including invertebrates like native bees, and forage for livestock. A group of scientists set out to understand how livestock grazing may affect bees in two community types in Oregon. They found that moderate grazing in bunchgrass ecosystems was compatible with bee presence, while grazing in riparian meadows decreased flower, but not bee, abundance and diversity. Their research results can help inform grazing strategies to benefit livestock producers and pollinators.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Mary M. RowlandState(s)Oregon
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Scientists documented movements of cougars and male black bears and found that their locations were near elk birth sites more often than expected by chance. Male bears used areas of elk birth sites in a manner that dynamically tracked the seasonal timing of births, suggesting an effort to maximize encounters with newborns.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Michael Wisdom, Dr.State(s)Oregon
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Coastal wetlands are highly valued for their role in supporting critical ecological functions and ecosystem services, but these ecosystems are vulnerable to sea-level rise resulting from climate change. To inform coastal wetland management under changing sea levels, scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and the U.S. Geological Survey worked together to develop a new model that predicts the potential impact of ongoing sea-level rise on the resilience of wetlands along the U.S. Pacific coast.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Bruce G. Marcot, Ph.D.State(s)WashingtonOregonCalifornia
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Scientists used a natural experiment to assess how the addition of trees to urban neighborhoods affected human mortality in Portland, Oregon. They found that residents in neighborhoods with more newly planted trees experienced lower rates of cardiovascular and nonaccidental mortality.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Geoffrey Donovan, Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Demetrios Gatziolis, Abigail KaminskiState(s)Oregon
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Community forests aim to conserve biodiversity and alleviate poverty in countries around the world, but research is needed to determine which models are most effective in different contexts. Susan Charnley, a research social scientist with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, explored community forestry projects in Sierra Leone and Guinea. She found that lasting benefits from sustainable livelihood projects can be effective incentives for promoting conservation through community forest models that limit extractive forest uses such as logging, grazing, mining, and hunting.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Susan Charnley
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Eric White, a research social scientist with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and cooperators at the University of Georgia researched the status and potential future trends of outdoor recreation in the United States. They found continued strong participation in recreation and evidence that public forests were key providers of recreational opportunities. The researchers projected slight declines in the share of the population engaging in recreation but continued increases in the total number of people recreating outdoors because of population growth.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Eric M. White
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Findings from research by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station and Oregon State University suggest that socioeconomic factors such as income and population density are correlated with human-caused wildfire ignitions. Researchers also found that most human-caused ignitions were linked to escaped fires from recreation or open burning activities. This highlights opportunities to tailor wildfire prevention efforts to better control higher risk activities and reduce accidental ignitions.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Jeffrey D. Kline, John B. KimState(s)OregonWashington
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Social scientists with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station investigated the dynamics of unsheltered homelessness in public natural areas ranging from city parks to national forests in the Seattle metropolitan area. They interviewed professionals who interact with homeless populations to understand perspectives on the dynamics, stressors, and outcomes of public natural area usage by people experiencing homelessness. The team found that several factors, including available ecosystem services and enforcement activities, were seen as driving people’s movement across public natural areas.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Monika Derrien, Lee K. CervenyState(s)Washington
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Tree growth is regulated by the changing seasons, but it is not yet well understood how climate change will influence this process as seasonal patterns shift. To address this question, scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station measured changes in Douglas-fir diameter growth across 9 environments over 2 years. Results showed that temperatures above 40 °C near the summer solstice in 2021 caused seasonal diameter growth to nearly cease in all sources, with the greatest impact on arid sites. Growth resumed in 2022, and the timing of diameter growth varied with both genetic and site factors.Year2023Research StationPrincipal Investigator(s): Connie Harrington, Richard CronnState(s)OregonWashington