Research Highlights

"Chem herding" to Improve Biological Control of Saltcedar in the Northern Rockies

Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) a complex of invasive shrub and tree species, is now the third most prevalent group of woody riparian species in the southwestern United States. Abundant populations of tamarisk leaf beetles have significantly reduced saltcedar infestations in the southwestern United States. Tamarix damage may be intensified through "chem herding," where aggregation pheromones are deployed to artificially increase the number of Diorhabda, or subtropical tamarisk beetles, reproducing on and attacking saltcedar in the Northern Rockies. Station: RMRS

A Science Framework for Conservation and Restoration of the Sagebrush Biome: Management Applications

An unprecedented conservation effort is underway across 11 western states to address threats to sagebrush ecosystems and the many species that depend on them. The USDA Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Interior released the Science Framework for Conservation and Restoration of the Sagebrush Biome (Part 2) to assist these efforts. The framework provides a transparent, ecologically responsible approach for making policy and management decisions for sagebrush landscapes. Station: RMRS

After Fire: Landscape Toolkit for the Southwest

Wildfires, an important natural disturbance in southwestern ecosystems, can present challenges to resource managers, communities, and private landowners when they burn areas subject to post-fire flooding and erosion. Many government agencies and research institutions have developed science and management tools for estimating post-fire effects and mitigating risks in burned landscapes. USDA Forest Service scientists assessed the utility of currently available tools and resources for application on non-federal lands and by non-federal user groups. Station: RMRS

Back From the Brink: Framework to Sustain Resilience to Species at Risk

The Regeneration for Resilience framework provides a decision structure to prioritize limited resources and utilize seedling planting and natural regeneration management. The resulting decisions offer the best likelihood of success in positioning stands and landscapes to support resilience self-sustaining tree populations that are threatened by invasive pests. Effective management of forest regeneration dynamics can increase forest resilience and adaptive capacity to mitigate impacts of invasive species. Station: RMRS

Big Trees, Bark Beetles, Goshawks, and Timber

Throughout the Rocky Mountains over the last century, large ponderosa pine trees provided lumber for growing cities and towns, along with fuel and timber for the mining and railroad industries. Most of these forests are now occupied by dense, young, and mid-aged forests highly susceptible to mortality from bark beetle infestation and wildfire. These conditions are exacerbated by fire suppression and urban encroachment. As a result, land managers need knowledge to inform management actions directed at restoring and conserving ponderosa pine forests. Station: RMRS

FIRE-BIRD: A GIS Tool for Applying Habitat Suitability Models to Inform Land Management Planning

To conserve and promote biological diversity, land managers must identify suitable habitat for species of conservation concern. Managers can then restrict potentially detrimental activities such as salvage logging to areas of lower habitat suitability, and target beneficial activities, such as restoration, where habitat suitability is higher. USDA Forest Service scientists and their partners developed FIRE-BIRD, an ArcGIS tool, to map habitat suitability for disturbance-associated woodpeckers of conservation concern to inform postfire management and restoration treatments in dry mixed-conifer forests. Station: RMRS

How Does Fire Kill Trees

Each year wildland fires kill and injure trees on millions of forested hectares globally, causing both positive and negative impacts to plant and animal biodiversity, carbon storage, hydrologic processes, and ecosystem services. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of fire-caused tree mortality is important to accurately predict mortality, estimate fire-driven feedbacks to the global carbon cycle, extrapolate to novel future conditions, and implement appropriate management actions to increase forest resilience to wildfire. Station: RMRS

Living on the Edge: Trailing Edge Forests Are at Risk

Forests are an incredibly important resource across the globe, yet they are threatened by climate change through stressors such as drought, insect outbreaks, and wildfire. Trailing edge forests, those areas expected to experience range contractions under a changing climate, are of concern because of the potential for abrupt conversion to non-forest. However, broad-scale forest die-off and range contraction in trailing edge forests are unlikely to occur over short timeframes (less than 25 50 years) without a disturbance catalyst such as wildfire. As such, explicit attention to both climate and disturbance is necessary to understand how the distribution of forests will respond to climate change. Station: RMRS

Milking Milkweeds for More Monarch Butterfly Habitat

Iconic monarch butterflies are disappearing from the landscape. They require milkweed plants to complete their life cycle. Milkweed seeds are often produced for restoration in nurseries in special beds. USDA Forest Service research shows that once these beds have served their purpose, milkweed taproots can be harvested, stored, and used for restoration, thus increasing the benefit of these beds. Station: RMRS

Rare Carnivore Detections from Environmental DNA in Snow

A USDA Forest Service study showed that animal footprints in snow contain enough DNA for species identification, even when the snow was many months old. The study extracted DNA from snow samples collected within animal tracks as well as areas where the animal had been photographed months earlier. Newly developed genetic assays were applied and positively detected the DNA of each species, performing nearly flawlessly on samples previously considered too poor to provide usable DNA. This method could revolutionize winter surveys of rare species by greatly reducing or eliminating misidentifications and missed detections. Station: RMRS

Remnant Old-growth Ponderosa Pine Forests Provide Insights on Spatial Patterns

Researchers are increasingly recognizing that ponderosa pine forests naturally occur in clumps of trees with isolated single trees in a matrix of non-forested openings. This spatial pattern is important in sustaining ecological processes such as fire spread, tree growth and regeneration, and creates biodiversity and wildlife habitat; yet, most past studies have examined spatial patterns on small plots, which underestimates the sizes of tree groups and openings. Station: RMRS

Scientists Use Drone Imagery to Census a Rare Desert Plant

Census and monitoring are fundamental to rare plant conservation but can be expensive, labor-intensive, and damaging to fragile habitats. USDA Forest Service scientists at the agency's Rocky Mountain Research Station and collaborators developed a method using drone imagery to census populations of the endangered dwarf bear-poppy in its desert gypsum badland habitat and model its fine-scale habitat requirements. The drone can carry out a census in two days that would take two botanists a month to complete on the ground, with virtually no impact to fragile soils and biological crusts. Station: RMRS

Severe Wildfire Has Long-term Consequences for Stream Water Quality

Severe wildfires remove vegetation and organic soil layers and expose watersheds to erosion, which can transport large quantities of soil and ash to nearby rivers and streams. Once the burned areas have stabilized, do severe wildfires have any longer lasting effects on watersheds or water quality This study follows the 2002 Hayman Fire in Colorado and shows that, yes, there are long-term effects. Station: RMRS

Snag Hazard to Firefighters Persists Long After the Smoke Has Cleared

A new tool developed through collaboration between USDA Forest Service and Oregon State University researchers tracks treefall through time and may just save lives. The researchers found that snag hazard to fire responders decreased significantly 10-years post-fire, but that in some areas, unsafe conditions could last as long as 35 years. Maps of snag hazard risk can be used by decision-makers and fire responders to reduce exposure and improve the safety of wildfire response. Station: RMRS

Spruce Beetles Reduce Sublimation, Causing Increasing Snowpack in the Wyoming Mountains

Snow sublimation, the process of snow changing into water vapor in the air, is a major component of the annual water budget across the Front Range where recent bark beetle outbreaks have dramatically changed the forest canopy structure. A 17-year study at the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site in Wyoming revealed that sublimation decreased following a spruce beetle outbreak due to reduced canopy intercepted snowfall. Station: RMRS

Strong Patterns of Local Adaptation in Great Basin Plants

Natural selection varies across landscapes and populations often adapt to local environmental conditions. Using a literature review of common garden studies published between 1941 and 2017, USDA Forest Service scientists documented the commonness of three signatures of local adaptation in plants native to North America's Great Basin. Their results demonstrate widespread habitat related population differentiation and local adaptation across the Great Basin. Station: RMRS

Test-driving a Roadmap for Quaking Aspen Restoration

Western aspen decline during the last century has been attributed to several causes including altered wildfire regimes, drought, excessive use by livestock and wildlife, and conifer tree encroachment. A diverse group of researchers, managers, and stakeholders collaborated to develop and test a step-by-step process for planning and implementing aspen restoration. Resulting guidelines by the Monroe Mountain Working Group provide a road map for decision makers to adaptively manage aspen in a time of increasing environmental stress and in anticipation of an uncertain future. Station: RMRS

To Masticate or Not to Masticate: Useful tips for Treating Vegetation

Recently, several large fires have burned through masticated sites in Colorado, Washington, New Mexico and elsewhere. Burning under extreme weather conditions with strong winds, these fires challenged the benefits of using mastication, even though mastication can provide many positive environmental effects, such as soil moisture retention and cool, moist environments for soil microbes. Informing managers when, where, and how mastication is applied is based on anecdotal evidence. USDA Forest Service scientists synthesized information to provide managers with a current state of knowledge on using mastication as a forest management tool. Station: RMRS

Using FIA Data to Predict Forest Understory Vegetation Structure

Understanding the structure of understory vegetation in forests is critical for estimating carbon stocks, fuel loading, and assessing wildlife habit. Using nationally collected inventory data shows promise in providing better estimates and assessments in these areas over large geographical regions. Station: RMRS

Wildfires Know No Boundaries

The USDA Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station recently released a new General Technical Report Cross-boundary Wildfire and Community Exposure: A Framework and Application in the Western U.S. (GTR-392). The publication describes the development and application of a framework to assess cross-boundary wildfire exposure for the western U.S. The framework's purpose mapping potential fire transmission among public and private lands, and identifying areas where ignitions are most likely to expose communities to wildfire. Station: RMRS