LiDAR-derived digital elevation models can reveal road networks located beneath dense forest canopy. This study tests the accuracy of forest road characteristics mapped using LiDAR in the Santa Cruz Mountains, CA. The position, gradient, and total length of a forest haul road were accurately extracted using a 1 m DEM. In comparison to a field-surveyed centerline, the LiDAR-derived road exhibite...

Catalina Segura,* Peter Caldwell, Ge Sun, Steve McNulty and Yang Zhang 1 Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Department, North Carolina State University, 2800 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695-8208, USA 2 Forestry Engineering, Resources, and Management Department, Oregon State University, 280 Peavy Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA 3 Center for Forest Watershed Science, USDA Forest Service, Co...

The forest transition framework describes the temporal changes of forest areas with economic development. A first phase of forest contraction is followed by a second phase of expansion once a turning point is reached. This framework does not differentiate forest types or ecosystem services, and describes forests regardless of their contribution to human well-being. For several decades, deforest...

The United States' use of coal results in many environmental alterations. In the Appalachian coal belt region, one widespread alteration is conversion of forest to reclaimed mineland. The goal of this study was to quantify the changes to ecosystem structure and function associated with a conversion from forest to reclaimed mine grassland by comparing a small watershed containing a 15-year-old r...

Streamwater is affected by several processes in the watershed including anthropogenic activities that result in changes in water quality as well as in the functioning of these stream ecosystems. Therefore, this work aims to evaluate the concentration of major ions (Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Na(+), K(+), NH4(+), NO3(-), NO2(-), Cl(-), SO4(2-), PO4(3-), HCO3(-)) in streams in the state of São Paulo (southe...

Models of habitat selection have been developed primarily for mobile animals with well-defined home ranges. The assumptions made by traditional techniques about habitat availability are inappropriate for species with low mobility and large home ranges, such as the wood turtle. We used paired logistic regression, typically used in medical case 2 control studies, to model selection of habitat wit...

There is increasing concern over the possibility of adverse cumulative watershed effects from intensive forest management. It is impractical to address many aspects of the problem experimentally because to do so would require studying large watersheds for 100 yr or more. One such aspect is the long-term effect of forest management strategies on erosion and sedimentation and the resultant damage...

The forest transition framework describes the temporal changes of forest areas with economic development. A first phase of forest contraction is followed by a second phase of expansion once a turning point is reached. This framework does not differentiate forest types or ecosystem services, and describes forests regardless of their contribution to human well-being. For several decades, deforest...

Natural forests in southern China have been severely logged due to high human demand for timber, food, and fuels during the past century, but are recovering in the past decade. The objective of this study was to investigate how vegetation cover changes in composition and structure affected the water budgets of a 9.6-km Dakeng watershed located in a humid subtropical mountainous region in southe...

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