Synthesis of science to inform land management within the Northwest Forest Plan area

Reeves, Gordon H.; Olson, Deanna H.; Wondzell, Steven M.; Bisson, Peter A.; Gordon, Sean N.; Miller, Stephanie A.; Long, Jonathan W.; Furniss, Michael J.

doi:10.2737/pnw-gtr-966

Cited by 61 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 0 publications

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“…The conservation and restoration of old forests, which has been a chief focus of recovery strategies for the northern spotted owl ( 19 ), is a major source of socio-economic controversy in the Pacific Northwest ( 42 ). The barred owl invasion has exacerbated this issue, placing an even higher ecological premium on remaining old conifer forests.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator

Wiens

Dugger

Higley

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Changes in the distribution and abundance of invasive species can have far-reaching ecological consequences. Programs to control invaders are common but gauging the effectiveness of such programs using carefully controlled, large-scale field experiments is rare, especially at higher trophic levels. Experimental manipulations coupled with long-term demographic monitoring can reveal the mechanistic underpinnings of interspecific competition among apex predators and suggest mitigation options for invasive species. We used a large-scale before–after control–impact removal experiment to investigate the effects of an invasive competitor, the barred owl (Strix varia), on the population dynamics of an iconic old-forest native species, the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). Removal of barred owls had a strong, positive effect on survival of sympatric spotted owls and a weaker but positive effect on spotted owl dispersal and recruitment. After removals, the estimated mean annual rate of population change for spotted owls stabilized in areas with removals (0.2% decline per year), but continued to decline sharply in areas without removals (12.1% decline per year). The results demonstrated that the most substantial changes in population dynamics of northern spotted owls over the past two decades were associated with the invasion, population expansion, and subsequent removal of barred owls. Our study provides experimental evidence of the demographic consequences of competitive release, where a threatened avian predator was freed from restrictions imposed on its population dynamics with the removal of a competitively dominant invasive species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator

Wiens

Dugger

Higley

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Currently, management strategies employing active fire suppression and limited use of fuel reduction treatments are common for most public land management agencies. Among the many challenges to active management on public lands (e.g., funding, adequate and qualified personnel, smoke impacts, and weather and fuel conditions that fall within burn prescription parameters), uncertainty in the scientific literature about forest management and fuel treatments is commonly cited in planning process-public comment periods (Spies et al 2018, Miller et al 2020). In the following sections, we examine ten common questions about forest management and fuel treatments.…”

Section: Ten Common Questions About Adaptive Forest Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting western North American forests to climate change and wildfires: 10 common questions

Prichard

Hessburg

Hagmann

et al. 2021

Ecological Applications

158

113

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We review science-based adaptation strategies for western North American (wNA) forests that include restoring active fire regimes and fostering resilient structure and composition of forested landscapes. As part of the review, we address common questions associated with climate adaptation and realignment treatments that run counter to a broad consensus in the literature. These include: (1) Are the effects of fire exclusion overstated? If so, are treatments unwarranted and even counterproductive? (2) Is forest thinning alone sufficient to mitigate wildfire hazard? (3) Can forest thinning and prescribed burning solve the problem? (4) Should active forest management, including forest thinning, be concentrated in the wildland urban interface (WUI)? ( 5) Can wildfires on their own do the work of fuel treatments? (6) Is the primary objective of fuel reduction treatments to assist in future firefighting response and containment? (7) Do fuel treatments work under extreme fire weather? (8) Is the scale of the problem too great -can we ever catch up? (9) Will planting more trees mitigate climate change in wNA forests? and (10) Is post-fire management needed or even ecologically justified? Based on our review of the scientific evidence, a range of proactive management actions are justified and necessary to keep pace with changing climatic and wildfire regimes and declining forest successional heterogeneity after severe wildfires. Science-based adaptation options include the use of managed wildfire, prescribed burning, and coupled mechanical thinning and prescribed burning as is consistent with land management allocations and forest conditions. Although some current models of fire management in wNA are averse to short-term risks and uncertainties, the long-term environmental, social, and cultural consequences of wildfire management primarily grounded in fire suppression are well documented, highlighting an urgency to invest in intentional forest management and restoration of active fire regimes.

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“…the Cascade Mountain Range. These mesic and coastal forests are typically associated with infrequent high-severity fire, although a growing body of research suggests that low-to moderate-severity fire also likely affected their resistance and resilience 1 (Daniels and Gray 2006), particularly in drier portions of their range (Spies et al 2018b) and where Indigenous people commonly burned the forest (Pellatt and Gedalof 2014, Hoffman et al 2017. Additionally, forest types dominated by Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and western redcedar (Thuja occidentalis) do occur in the interior east of the Cascade crest, often mixed with the mesic or cold forest species listed above.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for widespread changes in the structure, composition, and fire regimes of western North American forests

Hagmann

Hessburg

Prichard

et al. 2021

Ecological Applications

172

125

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Implementation of wildfire-and climate-adaptation strategies in seasonally dry forests of western North America is impeded by numerous constraints and uncertainties. After more than a century of resource and land use change, some question the need for proactive management, particularly given novel social, ecological, and climatic conditions. To address this question, we first provide a framework for assessing changes in landscape conditions and fire regimes. Using this framework, we then evaluate evidence of change and lack of change in contemporary conditions relative to those maintained by active fire regimes, i.e., those uninterrupted by a century or more of human-induced fire exclusion. The cumulative results of more than a century of research document a persistent and substantial fire deficit and widespread alterations to ecological structures and functions. These changes are not necessarily apparent at all spatial scales or in all dimensions of fire regimes and forest and nonforest conditions. Nonetheless, loss of the once abundant influence of low-and moderate-KEYWORDS

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Synthesis of science to inform land management within the Northwest Forest Plan area

Cited by 61 publications

References 0 publications

Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator

Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator

Adapting western North American forests to climate change and wildfires: 10 common questions

Evidence for widespread changes in the structure, composition, and fire regimes of western North American forests

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