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• 1. [Article] The Cost of Hauling Timber: A Comparison of Raster- and Vector- Based Travel-Time Estimates in GIS

  The cost of transporting forest products from harvest site to processing facility is a critical indicator of timber project feasibility. In order to accurately assess these timber haul costs, least-cost ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The Cost of Hauling Timber: A Comparison of Raster- and Vector- Based Travel-Time Estimates in GIS Author: Loreno, Sara M. Year: 2014 The cost of transporting forest products from harvest site to processing facility is a critical indicator of timber project feasibility. In order to accurately assess these timber haul costs, least-cost travel-time estimates among the site and the facility can be estimated using vector- or raster-based GIS methods. This study explores the applicability of both the raster- and vector-techniques within a variety of landscapes, including forested areas where comprehensive transportation data is limited. A comparison between the travel-time estimates derived from both methods was performed on three study sites using real-world data. The comparison also tested the effect of resolution on the reliability of raster-based calculations. The results indicate that travel-time estimates derived from a small resolution raster grid ( Title: The Cost of Hauling Timber: A Comparison of Raster- and Vector- Based Travel-Time Estimates in GIS Author: Loreno, Sara M. Year: 2014 The cost of transporting forest products from harvest site to processing facility is a critical indicator of timber project feasibility. In order to accurately assess these timber haul costs, least-cost travel-time estimates among the site and the facility can be estimated using vector- or raster-based GIS methods. This study explores the applicability of both the raster- and vector-techniques within a variety of landscapes, including forested areas where comprehensive transportation data is limited. A comparison between the travel-time estimates derived from both methods was performed on three study sites using real-world data. The comparison also tested the effect of resolution on the reliability of raster-based calculations. The results indicate that travel-time estimates derived from a small resolution raster grid ( Close

• 2. [Article] Quantifying Resilience of Multiple Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in a Temperate Forest Landscape

  Resilience is increasingly being considered as a new paradigm of forest management among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. However, metrics of resilience to environmental change are lacking. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Quantifying Resilience of Multiple Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in a Temperate Forest Landscape Author: Cantarello, Elena, Newton, Adrian C., Martin, Phillip A., Evans, Paul M., Gosal, Arjan, Lucash, Melissa S. Year: 2017 Resilience is increasingly being considered as a new paradigm of forest management among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. However, metrics of resilience to environmental change are lacking. Faced with novel disturbances, forests may be able to sustain existing ecosystem services and biodiversity by exhibiting resilience, or alternatively these attributes may undergo either a linear or nonlinear decline. Here we provide a novel quantitative approach for assessing forest resilience that focuses on three components of resilience, namely resistance, recovery, and net change, using a spatially explicit model of forest dynamics. Under the pulse set scenarios, we explored the resilience of nine ecosystem services and four biodiversity measures following a one-off disturbance applied to an increasing percentage of forest area. Under the pulse + press set scenarios, the six disturbance intensities explored during the pulse set were followed by a continuous disturbance. We detected thresholds in net change under pulse + press scenarios for the majority of the ecosystem services and biodiversity measures, which started to decline sharply when disturbance affected >40% of the landscape. Thresholds in net change were not observed under the pulse scenarios, with the exception of timber volume and ground flora species richness. Thresholds were most pronounced for aboveground biomass, timber volume with respect to the ecosystem services, and ectomycorrhizal fungi and ground flora species richness with respect to the biodiversity measures. Synthesis and applications. The approach presented here illustrates how the multidimensionality of stability research in ecology can be addressed and how forest resilience can be estimated in practice. Managers should adopt specific management actions to support each of the three components of resilience separately, as these may respond differently to disturbance. In addition, management interventions aiming to deliver resilience should incorporate an assessment of both pulse and press disturbances to ensure detection of threshold responses to disturbance, so that appropriate management interventions can be identified. Title: Quantifying Resilience of Multiple Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in a Temperate Forest Landscape Author: Cantarello, Elena, Newton, Adrian C., Martin, Phillip A., Evans, Paul M., Gosal, Arjan, Lucash, Melissa S. Year: 2017 Resilience is increasingly being considered as a new paradigm of forest management among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. However, metrics of resilience to environmental change are lacking. Faced with novel disturbances, forests may be able to sustain existing ecosystem services and biodiversity by exhibiting resilience, or alternatively these attributes may undergo either a linear or nonlinear decline. Here we provide a novel quantitative approach for assessing forest resilience that focuses on three components of resilience, namely resistance, recovery, and net change, using a spatially explicit model of forest dynamics. Under the pulse set scenarios, we explored the resilience of nine ecosystem services and four biodiversity measures following a one-off disturbance applied to an increasing percentage of forest area. Under the pulse + press set scenarios, the six disturbance intensities explored during the pulse set were followed by a continuous disturbance. We detected thresholds in net change under pulse + press scenarios for the majority of the ecosystem services and biodiversity measures, which started to decline sharply when disturbance affected >40% of the landscape. Thresholds in net change were not observed under the pulse scenarios, with the exception of timber volume and ground flora species richness. Thresholds were most pronounced for aboveground biomass, timber volume with respect to the ecosystem services, and ectomycorrhizal fungi and ground flora species richness with respect to the biodiversity measures. Synthesis and applications. The approach presented here illustrates how the multidimensionality of stability research in ecology can be addressed and how forest resilience can be estimated in practice. Managers should adopt specific management actions to support each of the three components of resilience separately, as these may respond differently to disturbance. In addition, management interventions aiming to deliver resilience should incorporate an assessment of both pulse and press disturbances to ensure detection of threshold responses to disturbance, so that appropriate management interventions can be identified. Close

• 3. [Article] Where Do Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest Visitors Go and Which Roads Do They Use To Get There? An Analysis of the Spatial Data from the 2013 Sustainable Roads Workshops

  This report provides an overview of the key patterns that emerged from the spatial analyses of the destination and route data collected during the 2013 Sustainable Roads workshops on the Mount Baker Snoqualmie ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Where Do Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest Visitors Go and Which Roads Do They Use To Get There? An Analysis of the Spatial Data from the 2013 Sustainable Roads Workshops Author: McLain, Rebecca J., Banis, David, Todd, Alexa, Psaris, Mike Year: 2014 This report provides an overview of the key patterns that emerged from the spatial analyses of the destination and route data collected during the 2013 Sustainable Roads workshops on the Mount Baker Snoqualmie (MBS) National Forest. We excluded the pilot workshop data from the analyses because a somewhat different process was used to collect the mapped data. The data used in the analysis was collected from 262 participants in eight workshops (Bellingham, Sedro-Woolley, Darrington, Monroe, Everett, Seattle, Issaquah, Enumclaw). During the workshops, participants mapped up to eight destinations of importance to them, and in most cases, also mapped the routes they took to each destination. For each destination and its associated route, participants also provided the following information. Name of the place Why the destination is especially important What activities or work the participant does there How often the participant visits the place in a typical year What type of transportation the participant uses to get there Of the 262 participants, 252 provided useable data for destinations and 246 provided useable data for roads. The dataset used in the spatial analysis contained 1733 records for destinations and 1609 records for roads. We entered the worksheet data for the destination and road mapping exercise into an Excel spreadsheet. The activities associated with each destination were grouped into eight categories (camping/relaxation, collecting/harvesting, hiking, motorized recreation, observation, sociocultural, strenuous recreation, and winter recreation). Although most people listed no more than two activities for a location, some people listed up to six different activities for certain destinations. The description of why a participant visited a particular location was similarly classified as a set of eight different values. Given the way the question was posed, many of the reasons workshop participants gave for visiting a particular place mirrored the activities in which they participated. The spatial analysis team created map data from a roads dataset provided by MBS National Forest. The routes in the dataset were converted to lines broken at all intersections. Since the lines marked on the maps did not necessary begin or end at intersections, the digitized lines were broken at the beginning and ending vertices for analysis. Segments of state highways (SR 542, 20, 2, etc.) that were marked by participants were removed from the dataset prior to analysis. Marked county roads were retained for analysis to provide context for routes taken to certain popular destinations (e.g., Cascade River Road). All data were checked for quality by someone who did not create the map data. Title: Where Do Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest Visitors Go and Which Roads Do They Use To Get There? An Analysis of the Spatial Data from the 2013 Sustainable Roads Workshops Author: McLain, Rebecca J., Banis, David, Todd, Alexa, Psaris, Mike Year: 2014 This report provides an overview of the key patterns that emerged from the spatial analyses of the destination and route data collected during the 2013 Sustainable Roads workshops on the Mount Baker Snoqualmie (MBS) National Forest. We excluded the pilot workshop data from the analyses because a somewhat different process was used to collect the mapped data. The data used in the analysis was collected from 262 participants in eight workshops (Bellingham, Sedro-Woolley, Darrington, Monroe, Everett, Seattle, Issaquah, Enumclaw). During the workshops, participants mapped up to eight destinations of importance to them, and in most cases, also mapped the routes they took to each destination. For each destination and its associated route, participants also provided the following information. Name of the place Why the destination is especially important What activities or work the participant does there How often the participant visits the place in a typical year What type of transportation the participant uses to get there Of the 262 participants, 252 provided useable data for destinations and 246 provided useable data for roads. The dataset used in the spatial analysis contained 1733 records for destinations and 1609 records for roads. We entered the worksheet data for the destination and road mapping exercise into an Excel spreadsheet. The activities associated with each destination were grouped into eight categories (camping/relaxation, collecting/harvesting, hiking, motorized recreation, observation, sociocultural, strenuous recreation, and winter recreation). Although most people listed no more than two activities for a location, some people listed up to six different activities for certain destinations. The description of why a participant visited a particular location was similarly classified as a set of eight different values. Given the way the question was posed, many of the reasons workshop participants gave for visiting a particular place mirrored the activities in which they participated. The spatial analysis team created map data from a roads dataset provided by MBS National Forest. The routes in the dataset were converted to lines broken at all intersections. Since the lines marked on the maps did not necessary begin or end at intersections, the digitized lines were broken at the beginning and ending vertices for analysis. Segments of state highways (SR 542, 20, 2, etc.) that were marked by participants were removed from the dataset prior to analysis. Marked county roads were retained for analysis to provide context for routes taken to certain popular destinations (e.g., Cascade River Road). All data were checked for quality by someone who did not create the map data. Close

• 4. [Article] Assessing Mechanisms of Climate Change Impact on the Upland Forest Water Balance of the Willamette River Basin, Oregon

  Projected changes in air temperature, precipitation, and vapor pressure for the Willamette River Basin (Oregon, USA) over the next century will have significant impacts on the river basin water balance, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Assessing Mechanisms of Climate Change Impact on the Upland Forest Water Balance of the Willamette River Basin, Oregon Author: Turner, David P., Conklin, David R., Vache, Kellie B., Schwartz, Cynthia, Nolin, Anne, Chang, Heejun, Watson, Eric, Bolte, John P. Year: 2016 Projected changes in air temperature, precipitation, and vapor pressure for the Willamette River Basin (Oregon, USA) over the next century will have significant impacts on the river basin water balance, notably on the amount of evapotranspiration (ET). Mechanisms of impact on ET will be both direct and indirect, but there is limited understanding of their absolute and relative magnitudes. Here, we developed a spatially explicit, daily time-step, modeling infrastructure to simulate the basin-wide water balance that accounts for meteorological influences, as well as effects mediated by changing vegetation cover type, leaf area, and ecophysiology. Three CMIP5 climate scenarios (Lowclim, Reference, and HighClim) were run for the 2010–2100 period. Besides warmer temperatures, the climate scenarios were characterized by wetter winters and increasing vapor pressure deficits. In the mid-range Reference scenario, our landscape simulation model (Envision) projected a continuation of forest cover on the uplands but a threefold increase in area burned per year. A decline (12–30%) in basin-wide mean leaf area index (LAI) in forests was projected in all scenarios. The lower LAIs drove a corresponding decline in ET. In a sensitivity test, the effect of increasing CO2 on stomatal conductance induced a further substantial decrease (11–18%) in basin-wide mean ET. The net effect of decreases in ET and increases in winter precipitation was an increase in annual streamflow. These results support the inclusion of changes in land cover, land use, LAI, and ecophysiology in efforts to anticipate impacts of climate change on basin-scale water balances. Title: Assessing Mechanisms of Climate Change Impact on the Upland Forest Water Balance of the Willamette River Basin, Oregon Author: Turner, David P., Conklin, David R., Vache, Kellie B., Schwartz, Cynthia, Nolin, Anne, Chang, Heejun, Watson, Eric, Bolte, John P. Year: 2016 Projected changes in air temperature, precipitation, and vapor pressure for the Willamette River Basin (Oregon, USA) over the next century will have significant impacts on the river basin water balance, notably on the amount of evapotranspiration (ET). Mechanisms of impact on ET will be both direct and indirect, but there is limited understanding of their absolute and relative magnitudes. Here, we developed a spatially explicit, daily time-step, modeling infrastructure to simulate the basin-wide water balance that accounts for meteorological influences, as well as effects mediated by changing vegetation cover type, leaf area, and ecophysiology. Three CMIP5 climate scenarios (Lowclim, Reference, and HighClim) were run for the 2010–2100 period. Besides warmer temperatures, the climate scenarios were characterized by wetter winters and increasing vapor pressure deficits. In the mid-range Reference scenario, our landscape simulation model (Envision) projected a continuation of forest cover on the uplands but a threefold increase in area burned per year. A decline (12–30%) in basin-wide mean leaf area index (LAI) in forests was projected in all scenarios. The lower LAIs drove a corresponding decline in ET. In a sensitivity test, the effect of increasing CO2 on stomatal conductance induced a further substantial decrease (11–18%) in basin-wide mean ET. The net effect of decreases in ET and increases in winter precipitation was an increase in annual streamflow. These results support the inclusion of changes in land cover, land use, LAI, and ecophysiology in efforts to anticipate impacts of climate change on basin-scale water balances. Close

• 5. [Article] Southern Annular Mode Drives Multicentury Wildfire Activity in Southern South America

  The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the main driver of climate variability at mid to high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, affecting wildfire activity, which in turn pollutes the air and contributes ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Southern Annular Mode Drives Multicentury Wildfire Activity in Southern South America Author: Holz, Andres, Paritsis, Juan, Mundo, Ignacio A., Veblen, Thomas T., Williamson, Grant J., Araoz, Ezequiel, Bustos-Schindler, Carlos, Gonzalez, Mauro E., Grau, H. Ricardo, Quezada, Juan M. Year: 2017 The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the main driver of climate variability at mid to high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, affecting wildfire activity, which in turn pollutes the air and contributes to human health problems and mortality, and potentially provides strong feedback to the climate system through emissions and land cover changes. Here we report the largest Southern Hemisphere network of annually resolved tree ring fire histories, consisting of 1,767 fire-scarred trees from 97 sites (from 22 °S to 54 °S) in southern South America (SAS), to quantify the coupling of SAM and regional wildfire variability using recently created multicentury proxy indices of SAM for the years 1531–2010 AD. We show that at interannual time scales, as well as at multidecadal time scales across 37–54 °S, latitudinal gradient elevated wildfire activity is synchronous with positive phases of the SAM over the years 1665–1995. Positive phases of the SAM are associated primarily with warm conditions in these biomass-rich forests, in which widespread fire activity depends on fuel desiccation. Climate modeling studies indicate that greenhouse gases will force SAM into its positive phase even if stratospheric ozone returns to normal levels, so that climate conditions conducive to widespread fire activity in SAS will continue throughout the 21st century. Title: Southern Annular Mode Drives Multicentury Wildfire Activity in Southern South America Author: Holz, Andres, Paritsis, Juan, Mundo, Ignacio A., Veblen, Thomas T., Williamson, Grant J., Araoz, Ezequiel, Bustos-Schindler, Carlos, Gonzalez, Mauro E., Grau, H. Ricardo, Quezada, Juan M. Year: 2017 The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the main driver of climate variability at mid to high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, affecting wildfire activity, which in turn pollutes the air and contributes to human health problems and mortality, and potentially provides strong feedback to the climate system through emissions and land cover changes. Here we report the largest Southern Hemisphere network of annually resolved tree ring fire histories, consisting of 1,767 fire-scarred trees from 97 sites (from 22 °S to 54 °S) in southern South America (SAS), to quantify the coupling of SAM and regional wildfire variability using recently created multicentury proxy indices of SAM for the years 1531–2010 AD. We show that at interannual time scales, as well as at multidecadal time scales across 37–54 °S, latitudinal gradient elevated wildfire activity is synchronous with positive phases of the SAM over the years 1665–1995. Positive phases of the SAM are associated primarily with warm conditions in these biomass-rich forests, in which widespread fire activity depends on fuel desiccation. Climate modeling studies indicate that greenhouse gases will force SAM into its positive phase even if stratospheric ozone returns to normal levels, so that climate conditions conducive to widespread fire activity in SAS will continue throughout the 21st century. Close