PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

79 years of monitoring demonstrates dramatic forest change

2014-01-06
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Walita Kay Williams
walitakwilliams@fs.fed.us
510-559-6367
USDA Forest Service - Pacific Southwest Research Station
79 years of monitoring demonstrates dramatic forest change TUOLUMNE, Calif.—Long-term changes to forests affect biodiversity and how future fires burn. A team of scientists led by Research Ecologist Dr. Eric Knapp, from the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station, found dramatic differences in forests today compared to historic conditions prior to logging and fire suppression. The team conducted their research in the Forest Service's Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest on the Stanislaus National Forest in the central Sierra Nevada, remeasuring three large historical plots originally established in 1929 to evaluate the effects of different logging methods. Trees were counted and their diameters measured across entire plots and in neighboring unlogged areas with the same fire history. Understory vegetation (tree seedlings, shrubs, and leafy plants) was quantified to determine changes over a 79-year period. They also collected fire scar samples from nearby stumps and dead trees to pinpoint dates of previous forest fires.

As in many forested areas in the western U.S., fire is much less frequent than it once was. Results showed that the study area had not burned since 1889. Prior to 1889, the forest burned on average every six years.

The forest currently contains 2.4 times more trees than it did in 1929—mostly in the small and intermediate size classes. The excess density was nearly identical in the plots logged in 1929 and plots without a history of logging, suggesting that over the long-term other factors, including fire suppression, may be exerting more influence than past logging on forest density and the current susceptibility to uncharacteristically severe fire. Historical logging removed many of the largest trees and often targeted the most fire-resistant pines. Very large trees were still less abundant than in the old-growth condition in 1929. The forest today also contains more fir and cedar and fewer pines than it once did. Shrubs, which provide food and cover for wildlife, covered 29 percent of the forest floor in 1929. Currently, the same shrubs cover only two percent of the forest floor —a decline that appears to be the result of higher tree density.

"The forest changes we found in this study are emblematic of similar changes that have occurred in the absence of fire throughout the western U.S., and help to explain why fires such as the nearby Rim Fire burn as intensely as they now do," said Dr. Knapp.

The plots measured in this study are among the oldest known to still exist on Forest Service lands in California, and the historical data showing what the forest once looked like provide valuable information about how to restore greater fire resilience and improve biodiversity in forests today.

### The full report can be found at: http://treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/45212

Headquartered in Albany, Calif., the Pacific Southwest Research Station develops and communicates science needed to sustain forest ecosystems and other benefits to society. It has research facilities in California, Hawaii and the U.S.–affiliated Pacific Islands. For more information, visit http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Cedars-Sinai researchers target cancer stem cells in malignant brain tumors

2014-01-06
Cedars-Sinai researchers target cancer stem cells in malignant brain tumors Approach aims to prevent brain cancer recurrence by attacking tumors at the source LOS ANGELES (Jan. 6, 2014) – Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Department ...

Yeast's lifestyle couples mating with meiosis

2014-01-06
Yeast's lifestyle couples mating with meiosis PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — From a biological point of view, the world's most exotic sex lives may be the ones lived by fungi. As a kingdom, they are full of surprises, and a new one reported in the journal ...

Supervolcano eruptions are triggered by melt buoyancy

2014-01-06
Supervolcano eruptions are triggered by melt buoyancy Jointly issued by ETH Zurich, ESRF and CNRS Supervolcanos are not usual volcanos. By effectively "exploding" as opposed to erupting, they leave a giant hole in the Earth's crust instead of a volcanic cone – a caldera, ...

Pulsar in stellar triple system makes unique gravitational laboratory

2014-01-06
Pulsar in stellar triple system makes unique gravitational laboratory Neutron star, 2 white dwarfs give best opportunity yet to study complex gravitational interactions and may give clue to true nature of gravity Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's ...

Ground-breaking work sheds new light on volcanic activity

2014-01-06
Ground-breaking work sheds new light on volcanic activity Factors determining the frequency and magnitude of volcanic phenomena have been uncovered by an international team of researchers. Experts from the Universities of Geneva, Bristol and Savoie ...

Population stability 'hope' in species' response to climate change

2014-01-06
Population stability 'hope' in species' response to climate change Stable population trends are a prerequisite for species' range expansion, according to new research led by scientists at the University of York. The climate in Britain has warmed over the last ...

After a 49-million-year hiatus, a cockroach reappears in North America

2014-01-06
After a 49-million-year hiatus, a cockroach reappears in North America The cockroach in the genus Ectobius is a major textbook example of an invasive organism, and it is the most common cockroach inhabiting a large region from northernmost Europe to ...

Mine landslide triggered quakes

2014-01-06
Mine landslide triggered quakes Record-breaking slide would bury Central Park 66 feet deep SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 6, 2014 – Last year's gigantic landslide at a Utah copper mine probably was the biggest nonvolcanic slide in North America's modern history, and included two ...

Self-driving vehicles offer potential benefits, policy challenges for lawmakers

2014-01-06
Self-driving vehicles offer potential benefits, policy challenges for lawmakers Self-driving vehicles offer the promise of significant benefits to society, but raise several policy challenges, including the need to update insurance liability regulations and privacy concerns ...

Study: Half of black males, 40 percent of white males arrested by age 23

2014-01-06
Study: Half of black males, 40 percent of white males arrested by age 23 First contemporary findings on how the risk of arrest varies across race and gender Nearly half of black males and almost 40 percent of white males in the U.S. are arrested by age 23, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

[Press-News.org] 79 years of monitoring demonstrates dramatic forest change