The geographic distribution and size of wild pig (Sus scrofa) populations has rapidly expanded in recent years globally, resulting in increased impacts on natural and anthropogenic environments. In this review, we discuss the impacts of wild pigs on native ecosystems in terms of habitat degradation, competition with and depredation of native species, and disease transmission, and highlight recent developments in population control techniques, including areas where further research is required. We also provide an overview of many of the behavioral and demographic characteristics that make it difficult to control wild pigs and additional factors affecting the success of pig management programs in natural areas. Finally, based upon our review of contemporary research and successfully conducted pig eradication campaigns, we provide recommendations for the development of effective wild pig management programs. Overall, we recommend (1) managers implement strategies to detect wild pigs prior to the establishment of stable, breeding populations, (2) management strategies be tailored to specific regional habitat and climatic characteristics, and (3) control be implemented within an adaptive management framework, when possible, to allow further refinement of management objectives and improved characterization of the effects of wild pigs on natural areas.

The national historic trails in the National Trails System of the United States are designated with the purpose of identifying and protecting historic routes and their artifacts for public use and enjoyment. In 1978, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail was established to commemorate the expedition of 1804–1806 through preservation of historical, cultural, and natural resources. We conducted a quantitative assessment of the condition and character of the landscape immediately surrounding the Trail. Specifically, we investigated the composition of land cover and status of vegetation condition, as well as the proportions of the trail passing through federal, state, and private ownership with various levels of conservation protections. We used a national index of “wildness” (i.e., ecological condition and impact of human development) to summarize landscape qualities and identify the wildest sections along the Trail. Much of the Trail has been altered through agricultural development and land use, but several areas remain relatively wild. Most of the Trail passes through land with no known conservation strategy and very little passes through wilderness or national parks. We did identify several areas where the Trail passes through existing federal land administered as “roadless” where permanent legislative protections could ensure the remaining wild and intact lands be preserved for future generations.

Each year, the US Forest Service uses prescribed fires within the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest (GWJNF). Burns are prescribed in the growing (late April–October) and dormant season (November–mid-April). The goal of the burns is to reinstate the natural fire regime, returning forests to their original species composition. Currently in GWJNF, Appalachian pine-oak forests are experiencing an increase in fire-intolerant species, while Quercus species and Gaylussacia brachycera, an endangered shrub species, are declining. In the summer of 2014, a vegetation survey was conducted on Buck Mountain, West Virginia, to determine if there was a significant difference between dormantand growing-season burns compared to a no-burn control. A total of 60 plots (15 per treatment) was established within a site burned once (in the dormant season), a site burned twice (dormant season burn followed by a growing-season burn), a site burned twice (both dormant season), and a site protected from fire (control). We hypothesized that burns would have differing effects on woody vegetation, depending on fire treatment and species' shade tolerance. We predicted that Quercus species and G. brachycera would increase after a growing season burn. We found that Quercus species regeneration, as well as G. brachycera, were more abundant at burn sites, regardless of season. Our results suggest that seasonality of burns did not affect oak and G. brachycera regeneration at Buck Mountain. Future vegetation monitoring is needed to determine if time intervals between burns affects regeneration of desired species rather than the season of burn.

Nonnative pasture grasses established for agriculture and livestock husbandry have replaced countless acres of natural habitat in the last century of Florida history. Many endemic species, such as cutthroat grass (Coleataenia abscissa), are now endangered and may not return to areas until the dominant pasture grass has been removed. To determine the best strategy for native revegetation, we examined the effects of two soil preparations (tilling and no tilling) in pasture plots dominated by bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) on the Archbold Reserve in south-central Florida. In preparation for the experiment, the No-Till and Till plots were first herbicided with glyphosate and burned to remove bahiagrass cover and expose the seed bank, then the Till plots were disked to a depth of 5–10 cm. Reference plots were left undisturbed to provide a pre-restoration baseline. The pre-tilling herbicide application and burn reduced bahiagrass cover in experimental plots to an average of 24% compared to 80% in reference plots. In the first year following tilling, overall plant community composition differed between tillage treatments, with 52 and 38 plant taxa found in the No-Till and Till plots, respectively, compared to only 14 in the reference plots. Importantly, native species richness was significantly higher in the No-Till treatment, and tilling resulted in minimal reduction of cover of bahiagrass and other exotic grasses. Seedling species composition differed among experimental blocks, suggesting soil moisture or other local abiotic conditions may significantly influence seedling establishment and restoration outcomes regardless of mechanical soil preparations.

The mesosphytic forests of eastern North America represent a forest region characterized by dramatic 20^th century changes in disturbance regimes, notably the exclusion of fire. Tree-ring reconstructions of forest disturbance can inform restoration and management plans by placing these changes into a historical context. This study examined forest disturbance with regard to land use change and drought in the New River Gorge region of West Virginia. I developed a 182-year pitch pine (Pinus rigida) growth chronology (1833–2014) using samples collected from 33 trees along 2 km of southand southwest-facing slopes at Babcock State Park. Samples cut from fire-scarred pitch and Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) were used to generate a fire chronology for the site. Temporal trends in pitch pine growth variability were assessed using regime shift and growth release detection methods. There was no change in pitch pine growth during the transition from the early settlement to industrial era (ca. 1885), while a significant decrease in annual growth variability characterized the post-industrial era (1963–2014). Seventeen fire events were recorded between 1887 and 1968. Growth releases displayed a temporal relationship with fire and there was a strong, but not significant, association between drought and fire years. These results suggest a coupled system in which anthropogenic fires driven by periodic drought maintained pitch pine before and during industrialization. Reintroducing fire to the post-industrial forest may not meet management objectives as decades of fire exclusion have altered forest fuels and species composition such that its effects would be difficult to predict.

Oak savanna remnants contribute substantially to the biodiversity of graminoid-dominated landscapes in the Great Plains Region. Most of these ecologically important ecosystems have either been altered or lost altogether since the arrival of Europeans in the early to mid-1800s. Changes in land use have been accompanied by reduced oak regeneration, which may be attributable to grazing and other management practices. At present, numbers of surviving oak seedlings are insufficient for sustaining the recruitment of oaks into savanna overstory strata. Herbivore exclosures were used to distinguish sources of mortality in first-year bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) seedlings to determine the impacts of large mammalian herbivores, small mammals, and drought on oak regeneration in savanna remnants in Custer County, Nebraska. Results suggested an uncertain future for extant oak savannas on private land in central Nebraska. Seedlings without exclosures exhibited 97% mortality over the first growing season, and 100% mortality was observed during the subsequent dormant season in seedlings without exclosures that had survived the growing season. Although drought and small mammals contributed to overall oak seedling mortality, cattle and deer impacts were the leading causes of mortality in seedlings without exclosures. Trampling, grazing, and browsing may compromise efforts to restore and sustain these ecologically valuable ecosystems. However, effects of these factors may be reduced through management involving exclosures and limiting grazing to seasons when young oaks are less susceptible to damage.

Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity have been heavily impacted by anthropogenic activities, with land use change being the most important factor in terrestrial environments. One of the most important strategies for preserving biodiversity has been the establishment of protected areas. The reserve network of Chihuahua, Mexico's largest state, was first established in 1939 and currently includes 13 protected areas. The effectiveness of this conservation network to represent species, populations, and habitats has not been evaluated. We assess Chihuahuan protected areas with regard to the avifauna by evaluating ecological, geographical, and phylogenetic data. We compiled records from published literature, curatorial databases, reports, and recent field work to determine the species present in the reserves and to evaluate taxonomic distinctness. Index of taxonomic distinctness helps identify areas that have similar or identical species richness. We gathered data representing bird distributions, vegetation types, ecoregions, physiographical provinces, and priority areas to identify those species and ecosystems underrepresented or poorly represented in the current conservation network. We found that 98.3% of all bird species in Chihuahua are represented in protected areas, but important hotspots of species richness (containing 288–290 and 300 species), protected species (39–42 species), restricted-range species, and quasiendemic species (11 species) are poorly represented. Twelve vegetation communities and seven physiographical provinces are little represented. Ecoregion representativeness is relatively good and Chihuahua´s bird conservation areas are fairly well represented. We propose sites where new protected areas can be useful and can have the largest impact on bird conservation, particularly for those poorly represented species, hotspots, or ecosystems.

Recreation is a fundamental component of human culture and the economy. In this paper, we elucidate ways in which recreation should be reconsidered in discussions of climate change. Ecosystems that support outdoor recreation can be significantly altered, extreme climatic conditions can affect plant and animal health, and extreme weather events can limit human outdoor activity. Projections indicate global temperatures will rise and precipitation will shift from historical conditions to less predictable regimes. These projected changes affect recreation and the economies recreation supports. To encourage the inclusion of recreation as a topic in future assessment synthesis reports, a snapshot of climate change impacts on regional recreation in the US is developed, using the National Park Service and Forest Service as case studies. After examining peer-reviewed and agency literature, we suggest that the impact of projected climate change on US recreation needs further scrutiny. Federal land management approaches to identifying, measuring, and managing climate change-induced recreation impacts are developing, but remain fragmented at the local and regional scale. We identify opportunities to address and improve research efforts at the intersection of climate change and outdoor recreation.

It is no longer conventional nor desirable practice for protected area managers to disregard the needs and desires of indigenous people. Several frameworks attempting to identify the roots of indigenous-external conservation actor conflict have emerged in recent decades. The rise of private protected areas (PPAs), however, is yet to be fully represented in these frameworks. We conducted interviews with Mapuche leaders and community members at three PPA sites in Chile's Los Ríos region to explore how they perceived PPAs and their social impacts. Our analysis suggests Mapuche were not resisting constraints on resource rights and use created by Chile's property-rights system. Informants, particularly community leaders and elders, adopted a deliberate and cautious approach to relationship building with PPA administrations, perhaps because of a Mapuche history negotiating colonialism, corporate exploitation, political marginalization, environmental degradation, and capitalism. Our results suggest that to be inclusive of PPAs in Los Ríos, future conflict frameworks should attend less to the notion of controlling territories and people and more on how private property regimes inhibit park-people partnerships, what global and state mechanisms contribute to conflict at the local level, and how locals respond to PPA creation.

Early detection and rapid response (EDRR) are critical tools for managing invasive plants. A watch list made up of high-priority early detection species that are not yet known to occur in the target area is an important EDRR tool. To make a watch list I used the EDDMapS database of plant occurrences to identify nonnative plants reported within 150 miles of the District of Columbia. I sorted the list to include only species not reported by park staff to be invasive in park natural areas. The resulting 97 candidate species were prioritized using NatureServe's Invasive Species Assessment Protocol (ISAP) to produce an Invasive Species Impact Rank (I-Rank). The ISAP includes questions in four categories (Ecological Impact, Current Distribution and Abundance, Trend in Distribution and Abundance, and Management Difficulty). Each category contributes to an overall I-Rank. The 20 species with the highest I-Rank became the basis for a priority watch list. The watch list will be used to guide presence/absence data collection and treat all identified populations on park land. Removing these populations will protect natural areas and reduce management costs in future years.

The United States Northern Great Plains (NGP) has a high potential for landscape-scale conservation, but this grassland landscape is threatened by encroachment of woody species. We surveyed NGP land managers to identify patterns in, and illustrate a broad range of, individual managers' perceptions on (1) the threat of woody encroachment to grasslands they manage, and (2) what management practices they use that may influence woody encroachment in this region. In the 34 surveys returned, which came from predominantly public lands in the study area, 79% of responses reported moderate or substantial woody encroachment. Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) and Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) were the most problematic encroachers. Thirty-one survey respondents said that prescribed fire was used on the lands they manage, and 64% of these responses reported that controlling woody encroachment was a fire management objective. However, only 18% of survey respondents using prescribed fire were achieving their desired fire return interval. Most respondents reported using mechanical and/or chemical methods to control woody species. In contrast to evidence from the central and southern Great Plains, few survey respondents viewed grazing as affecting encroachment. Although the NGP public land managers we surveyed clearly recognize woody encroachment as a problem and are taking steps to address it, many feel that the rate of their management is not keeping pace with the rate of encroachment. Developing strategies for effective woody plant control in a variety of NGP management contexts requires filling ecological science gaps and overcoming societal barriers to using prescribed fire.

Grassland conservation efforts in the central United States are challenging because much of the land is privately held. The Patch Burn-Grazing Working Group was formed by a small group of professionals in an effort to share information and resources related to the practice of patch burn-grazing and creation of heterogeneity in grasslands. After a decade of collaboration, the group has developed into a diverse community of professionals and private producers that come together to learn from each other. We developed a survey to assess the impact of this group on grassland conservation after a decade of existence. Our results indicate this grass roots organization has impacted the management of a substantial number of grassland acres in the United States. As we recounted the history of this group, we discovered that it has transitioned into what we propose is a community of practice rather than a working group.