Accurate identification of whitebark and limber pine has become increasingly important following the 2022 listing of whitebark pine as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. However, morphological similarities make identification of the two species difficult where ranges overlap. Using a genetic test that differentiates whitebark and limber pine, we compared field identification by Forest Inventory and Analysis...

This study tested the success of fuel reduction treatments for mitigating wildfire behavior in an area that has had little previous research on fire, the southern Appalachian Mountains. A secondary objective of treatments was to restore the community to an open woodland condition. Three blocks of four treatments were installed in a mature hardwood forest in western North Carolina. Fuel reduction treatments included chainsaw fe...

Artificial neural network (ANN) methods are used to predict forest characteristics. The data source is the Southeast Alaska (SEAK) Grid Inventory, a ground survey compiled by the USDA Forest Service at several thousand sites. The main objective of this article is to predict characteristics at unsurveyed locations between grid sites. A secondary objective is to evaluate the relative performance of different ANNs. Data from the...

The growth of ponderosa pine and associated understory vegetation was evaluated for a 6 yr period following spring underburning of surface fuels. Underburn and control (unburned) plots were paired at 15 replicate sites in pole-sized ponderosa pine forests of central Oregon. The burns were generally low in severity, as noted by low 0 horizon mass reduction (24%) and tree mortality (6%). A small but significant decline in basal...