1925 research outputs found
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Increasing evidence that thinning and burning treatments help restore understory plant communities in ponderosa pine forests
Get PDFThere is a general consensus that throughout their range, contemporary ponderosa pine forests exist outside of their natural range of variability in terms of overstory structure such as tree density (trees ac-1) and basal area (ft2 ac-1). As a result these ecosystems are increasingly susceptible to landscape-scale, high-intensity wildfires. Over the last century, a number of factors—particularly intensive livestock grazing, selective logging, and fire suppres- sion—have combined to favor pine establishment at the expense of understory diversity and productivity. This has given rise to uncharacteristically high tree densities with closed canopies, lower light availability, and deeper forest floor litter and duff layers (Covington and Moore 1994). A major consequence of this has been the degra- dation of understory integrity, including declines in understory cover, productivity, and diversity.
Restoration techniques for mitigating these changes include mechanical thinning, prescribed fire, or a combina- tion of the two. Empirical studies assessing treatment success have shown that a combination of mechanical thin- ning plus prescribed fire is most successful at reaching overstory restoration targets (Fulé et al. 2002; Roccaforte et al. 2015). Yet consensus on meeting understory objectives remains mixed and few studies have defined quanti- tative targets to assess understory response (Laughlin et al. 2006). Therefore, developing more specific restoration objectives for the understory plant community represents an under-developed and challenging area of research. However, a primary goal of ecological restoration for understory plant response following treatments is to max- imize cover and diversity of native vegetation.
Our first objective in this study was to evaluated understory response to alternative restoration treatments. We measured understory cover and species richness five years after treatments in the Mineral Ecosystem Manage- ment Area (Mineral) located in east-central Arizona and part of the Ecological Restoration Institute’s Long-term Ecological Assessment and Restoration Network (LEARN). An untreated control (Untreated) was used for com- parison of two alternative restoration treatments 1) thinning followed by prescribed fire (Thin + Burn) and 2) pre- scribed fire only (Burn-only). Our second objective was to compare the understory response patterns we observed at Mineral with those following similar treatments at other LEARN sites. To make comparisons we quantified a range of variability associated with understory cover and species richness to restoration using three comparison LEARN sites located in ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona: Fort Valley (FV), Mount Trumbull (MT), and Grandview (GV). All three sites are located across a gradient of precipitation and soil types, representing a broad range of ponderosa pine forest types with characteristic differences in the contribution of species and func- tional groups to understory cover and diversity
Plant genotype influences aquatic-terrestrial ecosystem linkages through timing and composition of insect emergence
Get PDFTerrestrial leaf litter provides aquatic insects with an energy source and habitat structure,and species differences in litter can influence aquatic insect emergence. Emerging insects also provide energy to riparian predators. We hypothesized that plant genetics would influence the composition and timing of emerging insect communities among individual genotypes of Populus angustifolia varying in litter traits. We also compared the composition and timing of emerging insect communities on litter from mixed genotypes of three cross types of a hybridizing cottonwood complex: P. angustifolia, P. fremontii, and their F1 hybrids. Using litter harvested from an experimental common garden, we measured emerging insect community composition, abundance, and production for 12 weeks in large litter packs affixed with emergence traps. Five major findings emerged. (1) In support of the genetic similarity hypothesis, we found that, among P. angustifolia tree genotypes, litter from more closely related genotypes had more similar litter thickness, nitrogen concentrations, decomposition rates, and emerging insect communities. (2) Genetic similarity was not correlated with other litter traits, although the litter fungal community was a strong predictor of emerging insect communities. (3) Litter decomposition rate, which was the strongest predictor of emerging aquatic insect communities, was influenced by litter thickness, litter N, and the litter fungal community. (4) In contrast to strong community composition differences among P. angustifolia genotypes, differences in community composition between P. fremontii and P. angustifolia were only marginally significant, and communities on F1 hybrids were indistinguishable from P. angustifolia despite genetic and litter trait differences. (5) Mixed litter packs muted the genetic effects observed in litter packs con- sisting of single genotypes. These results demonstrate that the genetic structure of riparian forests can affect the composition and timing of aquatic insect emergence. Because many riparian trees are clonal, including P. angustifolia, large clone size is likely to result in patches of genetically structured leaf litter that may influence the timing and composition of insect emergence within watersheds. Riparian restoration efforts incorporating different tree genotypes could also influence the biodiversity of emerging aquatic insects. Our work illustrates the importance of plant genes for community and ecosystem processes in riparian corridors
Democratizing federal forest management through public participation and collaboration.
Get PDFPublic participation and collaboration in federal forest management has evolved over the last century. Currently, the federal land management agencies are encouraged through statutes and regulations to actively and meaningfully collaborate with the public during project development and implementation. The hope is that through greater public engagement, the management gridlock that has impeded forest restoration and thinning since the 1990s will be reduced. It is also assumed that as a result of collaboration, environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will be improved leading to better natural resource management decisions. The Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), a collaborative effort to restore 2.4 million acres of ponderosa pine forest across four national forests in northern Arizona, is an example of how collaboration can lower conflict and create agreements that help avoid delays caused by litigation
Diagnostic bingo
Get PDFThe proposed instructional activity provides counseling instructors and supervisors an opportunity to apply diagnostic criteria utilizing the DSM-5. First, students or supervisees work in small groups to classify, describe, discuss, and identify diagnostic features as published in the DSM-5. Next, learners will compare, contrast, distinguish, and examine and apply various symptoms to diagnostic categories. Last, students test this knowledge in a non-threatening interactive environment, while having the opportunity to argue, defend, support, and evaluate the group’s decision similar to group supervision
Outside of the academic garden: Lifelong learning for engineers
Get PDFRecent discourse in information literacy and scholarly communication has centered on questions of information access and privilege. In essence, when we teach students to use our highly-specialized, subscription-only resources, are we setting them off on a path up a false summit? At Northern Arizona University, we are partnering with our engineering program to tailor our information literacy curricula to students' long-term needs. We presented the results of our initial environmental scan, including focus groups and interviews with engineers, to better understand the information needs and access issues facing our graduates. We also discussed what these findings mean for curriculum design, including not only open access options for locating engineering information, but broader issues of information privilege and access so that our students can navigate and help shape a more open and equitable future for lifelong access and lifelong learning
Monstrous schoolgirls: Casual sex in the twenty-first-century horror film
Get PDFIn a teaser trailer for Scream 4 (2011), the latest installment in a franchise famous for parodying the conventions of horror films, a character lists some of the new rules of twenty-first-century incarnations of the genre, one of which is “virgins can die now.” Though the line did not appear in the final cut, fans have seized it as an unofficial tagline for the film. With such a statement, Scream 4 obviously means to mock the tendency in the previous generation of slasher films to kill off any teenager who had sex and reserve survival for a virginal Final Girl, a convention first examined in detail by Carol Clover in Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (1992). The irony is, of course, that almost immediately after the publication of Clover’s seminal text, the first Scream film came along in 1996 and broke the rule by allowing its Final Girl, Sidney, to have sex and survive not only that movie but all of its installments so far. Since the very first of its films, then, the Scream franchise declared the fetishization of virginity within the horror movie a passé construct. However, I argue that another equally problematic ideology has replaced this older one. Specifically, the new “rule” the teenage girl needs to follow to survive a horror film is to only have “meaningful” sex, which usually means sex within the context of a relationship with a partner who is loving and loyal, equally (in)experienced, and conscientious about his partner’s pleasure. By contrast, girls who engage in casual or “meaningless” sex are often killed off quickly in horror films, a plot device that communicates very straightforwardly that their behavior is forbidden
Various trauma: Emotional disruption and approaches to coping
Get PDFCounselors attend to a variety of client situations in which exposure to traumatic information is frequent. A broad base of research exists regarding direct trauma experiences and research is beginning to examine its impact on the counselor. This paper explores a potentially pervasive and damaging condition referred to as vicarious traumatization. The underlying notion behind vicarious trauma suggests that counselors working with trauma survivors may be significantly impacted by repeated exposure to the trauma their clients share in session. The authors explore a foundation of clinical and anecdotal support and discuss construct clarity and research methodology. Suggested coping strategies are discussed along with the important recognition of underutilization. Information on coping is followed by a discussion focused on a new perspective, that of promoting the positive and beneficial aspects of trauma work in an effort to more fully understand the complexities of trauma work. Finally, recommendations for further research are presented and the need for additional information on specific populations discussed
Counseling & Wellness: A professional counseling journal 2016: Volume 5. Editor information and table of contents.
Get PDFEditor information and table of contents (with hyperlinks) for Volume 5 of the Counseling & Wellness: A Professional Counseling Journal.
About this publication:
Counseling & Wellness: A Professional Counseling Journal is published annually and dedicated to publishing refereed articles related to professional counseling in general and issues and counseling approaches that focus on wellness and personal adjustment. Publication priority was given to current Masters and Doctoral students from CACREP-‐accredited Counseling Programs with active Chi Sigma Iota Chapters.
Counseling & Wellness: A Professional Counseling Journal is the official publication of the Beta Alpha Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota at Northern Arizona University
Five-year post-restoration conditions and simulated climate change trajectories in a warm/dry mixed-conifer forest, southwestern Colorado, USA
Get PDFWildfire frequency and severity in the western United States has increased as a result of fire suppression, increasing tem-perature, and prolonged drought. Detrimental ecological im-pacts from these uncharacteristic disturbances include loss of critical wildlife habitat, increased vulnerability to invasive plant species, ecosystem shifts from forest to non-forest. Warm/dry mixed conifer forests were historically dominated by fire-resistant tree species and low-severity fire regimes. Management in these dry coniferous forests has primarily focused on thinning smaller trees followed by prescribed fire to reduce wildfire severity, restore forest structure and in-crease resiliency across landscapes. Evaluating treatment effectiveness in terms of reducing wildfire severity and eco-logical responses is a flourishing topic. However, there is limited information on the longevity of these treatments, spe-cifically with respect to their effectiveness in maintaining ecosystem integrity, such as composition, structure, and function (Tierney et al. 2009), and increasing resilience to disturbances under future climate conditions.
In this study, we field tested alternative treatments (thin plus burn, burn-only, and control) for restoring a warm/dry mixed-conifer forests and then simulated stand dynamics under various future climate scenarios over the next 50 years. Mixed-conifer forests provide unique habitats for rare species, valuable biodiversity, and numerous recreational oppor-tunities. Recent landscape-scale fires (e.g., Rodeo-Chediski Fire [2002], Hayman Fire [2002], Las Conchas fire [2011], and Wallow Fire [2011]) have burned large severe patches, compromising the integrity of these ecosystems
Community perceptions of ecosystem services and human well-being from tree plantations in Argentina
Get PDFSustainable biofuels have the potential to help lower greenhouse gas emissions while providing socioeconomic benefits to local communities that supply and produce biofuel feedstocks. Global and regional demand for sustainably produced biofuels and renewable energy targets have recently created a market for woody biofuels derived from unused forestry residues in the Argentine forestry sector. Currently, less than one percent of tree plantation residues is converted into biofuel products (e.g., wood pellets) in Argentina, but growing global interest in biofuels may prompt increased tree plantation developments in the region. Little is known about people’s perceptions of tree plantation effects on their communities. The purpose of this research was to: 1) investigate how
people define and construct ecosystem services, and how they perceive effects of tree plantations on ecosystem services and well-being; and 2) explore how tree plantations are shaped by land tenure and land use history and how this shape people’s perceptions of tree plantations.
In Chapter 2, I examine responses gathered from in-depth, qualitative interviews to identify community member definitions of ecosystem services and perceived effects of
local tree plantation developments on ecosystem services and well-being. I compared these data with the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) ecosystem services
conceptual framework. While respondents defined ecosystem services similarly to the MEA, not all MEA ecosystem services were defined, and some definitions were
integrated or altogether novel. Respondents viewed tree plantations as both positively and negatively impacting ecosystem services and well-being, indicating the need to evaluate tradeoffs if tree plantation expansion continues. In Chapter 3, I explore how land tenure and land use history shape tree plantation developments. I also examine people’s perceptions of the effects of tree plantation development on land tenure, ecosystem services, and well-being. Results indicate links between land tenure and land use history in determining where and how tree plantations are established. Respondent perceptions align clearly with local land tenure and land use histories. This work contributes to a growing body of literature that explores biofuel sustainability across the Americas