Trees compete for various resources such as sunlight, water, and nutrients, which can be expressed as numerical terms, called competition indices (CI). Competition between individual trees is correlated with their growth and mortality. Therefore, CIs are used as independent variables to develop, improve and modify growth and yield models. This study was conducted to test the effect of neighborhood competition on tree diameter growth among Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg) and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), in the Pacific Northwest Coast Range, USA. After testing seven distance-independent CIs and three distance-dependent CIs, only the distance-independent CIs were found to significantly affect the diameter growth model. Among them, CIs with basal area and diameter information were the most impactful. As a result, a simple CI was very effective in a model that accounts for the basal area information of different tree species.

On August 12, 2009, the Lockheed Fire ignited the west slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains burning approximately 7,819 acres. Foresters and other land managers were left with challenging decisions on how to evaluate tree mortality. Big Creek Lumber Company, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly)’s Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR), and other resource professionals familiar with this region teamed up to develop a method for evaluating damage and thereby mortality for redwood, California nutmeg, live oak, tanoak, California bay, Pacific madrone, big leaf maple, Douglas-fir, Monterey pine, and knobcone pine. Quantitative damage criteria were used to design three Mortality Assessment models (MA), divided into three diameter at breast height classes (1-8.9, 9-16.9, >17 inches), for all tree species. These models were compared against pre-fire data from 82, one-fifth acre fixed plots from SPR’s Continuous Forest Inventory. Since the initial evaluation using the new MA in Fall 2009, each of the 2,877 trees were re-evaluated in Spring 2010 and Spring 2011 to determine if initial evaluations from the MA in 2009 were correct. To date, predictions to determine individual tree mortality using the Mortality Assessment models have been 89.3% correct.

There are two prevailing views today about our forests and natural resources. Both views are considered the "right" view, each position comprising a set of values by which we make decisions and choices about using our natural resources. The "dominant world view," is anthropocentric and agriculturally based, with a strong belief that we can "fix" environmental problems through the use of technology. The key result of this view is a belief in the efficiency of economic expansion and its continued growth. The second view maintains we are part of nature, not masters of it, and that we have developed an arrogant attitude toward nature, believing we have the right to do as we wish regardless of the consequences. The result of this view is a belief in the interconnectedness of all life, thus all life has rights. This work argues that the "dominant" worldview shaped the policies of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Consistent with this worldview, the USFS management. paradigm was to provide the greatest return, a commodity-driven focus. However, when public values changed towards a more ecocentric view, the USFS should have reevaluated its method of doing business. Instead, it remained entrenched in its management objective- timber production. After the courts enjoined the USFS against cutting in the Pacific Northwest, aftet struggling with confrontational environmentalists and increased activism within the agency, the USFS attempted to re-write its management paradigm. However even though the policy sounds eco-friendly, the USFS is still mandated by Congress, and forced by appropriations approved by Congress, to cut trees. Different ideologies are accommodated only when they do not conflict with economics. Thus, in spite of changing values, it is still business as usual.

Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the critical factors that affect climate change, increasing flooding risk and threatening human life. The use of traditional construction materials is responsible for a higher percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the use of sustainable materials in the construction industry. The substitution of current building materials with sustainable materials is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and positively influence climate change when the current construction demand in the world is considered. Wood is one of the primary environmentally friendly construction materials in regard to high carbon storage and low carbon emissions. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is prefabricated and this type of composite wood material is convenient for constructing middle to high rise buildings because materials are able to be cut to specific specifications which lowers onsite labor time. This research observed the hygrothermal behavior of partially submerged CLT wall panels during the wetting and drying period and simulated the flooding of the panels with a software tool, Wärme Und Feuchte Instationär (WUFI). The higher number of CLT layers caused a slower water penetration rate throughout the layers with a lower water absorption rate corresponding to the first layer than the other layers, so the water was primarily retained in the first layer. Also, water penetration through axial direction significantly decreased due to gravity impact when the height of CLT panels was increased. The visual assessment showed that the 3-day-wetted CLT panel configurations did not show any type of fungi growth through the wetting and drying period. However, both untreated and treated CLT panels with the envelope system did have fungi growth on the drywall after a 20-day-wetting period.

ABSTRACT Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) is an aggressive non-native and invasive forb that negatively impacts native arbuscular mycorrhizal communities and inhibits or prevents the growth of native plant species. Invasive species mitigation and management strategies that use native revegetation vary in success. This study focuses on which species naturally regenerate in areas where A. petiolata has been mitigated to help inform restoration efforts. Seedling emergence of species within the seed bank of four plot types (uninvaded, invaded, chemically treated, and mechanically treated) were observed two years post restoration efforts to determine which native species are likely to persist to seedlings following management. Species abundance and percent cover of all plant species were recorded to evaluate the presence of species in addition to plant health and physiological differences. Native species abundance was significantly reduced within herbicide treated plots as compared to untreated and invaded plots (p=0.02). Plots treated with mechanical removal had the greatest percent cover of native plants as compared to all other plot types but were dominated by colonizing species which is typical of a disturbed habitat. Mechanical removal also resulted in a greater abundance and stability among functional groups of native species, than those treated with herbicide. Forb species dominated coverage of plots over other functional groups when treated with herbicide. Alliaria petiolata invasion and management methods significantly impacted forb and graminoid species, as they had significantly lower abundance in plots treated with herbicide. The results demonstrate that the method of removal as well as the presence of A. petiolata affects emergence of plant species from the seedbank. The additional disturbance of mechanical removal may alter successional trajectories following invasion. Herbicide treatment resulted in the most similar species abundance as the uninvaded reference plots, which had the lowest seedling emergence and percent cover.

Heirs' property is generated through the intergenerational transfer of a property to several co-owners when the original owner dies without a will. Such co-owners hold undivided fractional interest in the entire land but lack a clear title. Co-owners face several legal, financial, and technical constraints to manage the forestlands and often seek partition of the land. However, the legal environment and empirical assessment of partition actions on forestlands owned as heirs' property has not been examined. This thesis evaluates statutory laws relevant to forestland partition and the factors instrumental in adjudicating partition lawsuits. The findings reveal that partition lawsuits are primarily adjudicated using common law rather than statutory law. The magnitude of co-owners' fractional interest, the income withheld from forestlands, and the presence of absentee co-owners favor partition claimants. The study results have implications for heirs' property owners, legal entities and personnel, and policymakers.

As replacement and removal of undersized culverts gains momentum as an effective technique for restoring natural stream flows and removing fish passage barriers, it is important to evaluate the benefits of these efforts on the in-stream and adjacent riparian habitat for other species of potential concern. This study compares stream-associated amphibian (SAA) occurrence in streams adjacent to different road crossing structures on unpaved forest roads in the Wilson River watershed located within the Tillamook State Forest, Oregon. Surveys were conducted at road crossing structures for three taxa of SAA; Pacific giant salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus), coastal tailed frog (Ascaphus truei), and Columbia torrent salamander (Rhyacotriton kezeri). Statistical models were created to analyze the effect of habitat variables on SAA occupancy, and determine whether those variables changed relative to road crossing structures. Results showed that coastal tailed frog occupancy was positively associated with dissolved oxygen and crayfish presence, negatively associated with longitude, and had a slight quadratic relationship to channel confinement. Because all sites were highly saturated with oxygen, percent dissolved oxygen was likely a surrogate for one or more other covariates, such as in-stream habitat or substrate size. Detection rates of Pacific giant salamander were too high and detection rates of Columbia torrent salamander were too low to provide reliable models, but they did provide some insight into the factors affecting occupancy in the study area, including information about their interactions with road crossing structures. Occupancy rates of Pacific giant salamanders in the study area appear to be unaffected by road crossings, fish passable or otherwise. Conversely, torrent salamanders seemed to be mostly absent from the study sites altogether, but based on the one stream where they were detected, they are not excluded from occupying fish barrier culvert sites. Top weighted habitat covariates, including dissolved oxygen, channel confinement, crayfish and fish presence, and flow constriction are all indicators of disturbance that can be linked to road crossings. Although the size and structure of road crossings did not prove to significantly influence SAA occupancy, indicators of stream disturbance that can be related to road crossings were included in the best models for predicting occupancy, demonstrating the importance of reducing disturbance related to road crossings on streams.

Historically, the Kentucky Inner Bluegrass blue ash-oak savanna-woodland was the primary ecosystem of the Inner Bluegrass Region (IBR) of Kentucky. After European settlement, the majority (>99%) of Bluegrass savanna was converted to agricultural and urban land uses. Currently remnant savanna tree species are failing to recruit. Therefore, a long-term restoration ecology project researching competition and disturbance on seedling establishment, survival, and growth has been established at Griffith Woods (the largest remaining savanna in Kentucky) in Harrison Co., KY. Fourteen native hardwood tree species (a total of 6,168 seedlings) have been experimentally planted. Light, soil, surrounding vegetation, and herbivory, factors thought to influence seedling survival, have been initially assessed. Results show that soils differed spatially in P, Ca, Mg, Zn, pH, N percent and soil organic matter percent. Light was significantly reduced by diffusive filtering through vegetation. Vegetation biomass was influenced by pH and Mg. Initial seedling survival was high, but significantly differed by species type, location, and soil pH, Mg, and Zn. This research demonstrates that under a similar range of conditions, native hardwood tree seedling establishment is possible. Therefore, the potential exists to restore Bluegrass savanna-woodland in order to return proper ecological functioning into a degraded landscape.