No abstract

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oA crucial gap exists between the static nature of the United States' existing protected areas and the dynamic impacts of 21st century stressors, such as habitat loss and fragmentation and climate change. Connectivity is a valuable element for bridging that gap and building the ecological resilience of existing protected areas. However, creating terrestrial connectivity by designing individual migration corridors across fragmented landscapes is arguably untenable at a national scale. We explore the potential for use of riverine corridors in a Riparian Connectivity Network (RCN) as a potential contributor to a more resilient network of protected areas. There is ample scientific support for the conservation value of riparian areas, including their habitat, their potential to connect environments, and their ecosystem services. Our spatial analysis suggests that they could connect protected areas and have a higher rate of conservation management than terrestrial lands. Our results illustrate that the spatial backbone for an RCN is already in place, and existing policies favor riparian area protection. Furthermore, existing legal and regulatory goals may be better served if governance requirements and incentives are aligned with conservation efforts focused on riparian connectivity, as part of a larger landscape connectivity strategy. While much research on the effectiveness of riparian corridors remains to be done, the RCN concept provides a way to improve connectivity among currently protected areas. With focused attention, increased institutional collaboration, and improved incentives, these pieces could coalesce into a network of areas for biological conservation.

The characterization of soil attributes using hyperspectral sensors has revealed patterns in soil spectra that are known to respond to mineral composition, organic matter, soil moisture and particle size distribution. Soil samples from different soil horizons of replicated soil series from sites located within Washington and Oregon were analyzed with the FieldSpec Spectroradiometer to measure their spectral signatures across the electromagnetic range of 400 to 1,000 nm. Similarity rankings of individual soil samples reveal differences between replicate series as well as samples within the same replicate series. Using classification and regression tree statistical methods, regression trees were fitted to each spectral response using concentrations of nitrogen, carbon, carbonate and organic matter as the response variables. Statistics resulting from fitted trees were: nitrogen R2 0.91 (p < 0.01) at 403, 470, 687, and 846 nm spectral band widths, carbonate R2 0.95 (p < 0.01) at 531 and 898 nm band widths, total carbon R2 0.93 (p < 0.01) at 400, 409, 441 and 907 nm band widths, and organic matter R2 0.98 (p < 0.01) at 300, 400, 441, 832 and 907 nm band widths. Use of the 400 to 1,000 nm electromagnetic range utilizing regression trees provided a powerful, rapid and inexpensive method for assessing nitrogen, carbon, carbonate and organic matter for upper soil horizons in a nondestructive method.

No abstract

No abstract