In southwest Washington, rapid population growth and associated land use change have resulted in elevated stream nutrient concentrations. To evaluate the extent and nature of human alterations to stream nutrient concentrations in this region, we compiled four water years of total phosphorus (TP) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) data from two long-term monitoring programs. We also quantified watershed characteristics likely to affect aquatic nutrient loading, and tested for correlations between these characteristics and stream nutrient concentrations. Average nutrient concentrations in study streams were significantly elevated relative to EPA recommended nutrient criteria in all sites for DIN and in nine out of 14 sites for TP. Of the watershed characteristics investigated, percent “impervious” ( ) and percent “forested” (-) were the best predictors of TP concentration (R² = 0.41 and 0.64, respectively, and — indicate the slope of the regression). Percent “developed” ( ) and percent “forest and woody wetland” (-) were the best predictors of DIN concentration (R² = 0.75 and 0.73, respectively). In urban streams, the mean dry season DIN concentration was significantly higher than the mean wet season DIN concentration, but this pattern was reversed in less urban watersheds. Urban streams also had significantly higher DIN than non-urban streams. The strong relationship between DIN and “developed land” suggests that as southwest Washington's population continues to grow, targeted N management will become increasingly important. The strong negative relationship between “forest and woody wetland” and both TP and DIN concentration suggests that this land use type is particularly important in reducing stream nutrient loading.

Five white pine species were evaluated for their stand characteristics and white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch.) occurrence and incidence in 123 field plots established across their ranges in California. Tree data were collected on stem diameter, crown condition and position, and rust presence/absence; plot data included slope, aspect, elevation, Ribes cover, and climate factors associated with site. Crowns of live trees were generally healthy and crown positions varied by species. Stem diameters were smallest in whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.; WBP) and largest in Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva D.K. Bailey). For the two main species examined, western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl.; WWP) and whitebark pine, ranked comparisons of rust incidence were significantly different between northern versus southern and western versus eastern Sierra Nevada plots, but were not significantly different between those species. In rust-confirmed WWP plots, eight significant simple regression models related environmental factors to rust incidence; elevation had the highest r²of 0.46. WBP had one weak significant regression with relative humidity (r2 = 0.15). In northern foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana Grev. & Balf. subsp. balfouriana), the strongest fit of data from the five plots was positive with number of wet days (r2= 0.97). Two-factor models gave stronger fits of climate data with rust incidence in WWP (r2 = 0.60) and WBP (r2 = 0.42). The results suggest that environmental correlates vary among species and trends can be found across a large diverse landscape in spite of high variability in rust incidence.

Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) were introduced in Washington's Olympic Mountains during the 1920s. The population subsequently increased in numbers and expanded in range, leading to concerns by the 1970s over the potential effects of non-native mountain goats on high-elevation plant communities in Olympic National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) transplanted mountain goats from the Olympic Mountains to other ranges between 1981 and 1989 as a means to manage overabundant populations, and began monitoring population trends of mountain goats in 1983. We estimated population abundance of mountain goats during 18–25 July 2011, the sixth survey of the time series, to assess current population status and responses of the population to past management. We surveyed 39 sample units, comprising 39% of the 59,615-ha survey area. We estimated a population of 344 ± 72 (90% confidence interval [CI]) mountain goats in the survey area. Retrospective analysis of the 2004 survey, accounting for differences in survey area boundaries and methods of estimating aerial detection biases, indicated that the population increased at an average annual rate of 4.9% since the last survey. That is the first population growth observed since the cessation of population control measures in 1990. We postulate that differences in population trends observed in western, eastern, and southern sections of the survey zone reflected, in part, a variable influence of climate change across the precipitation gradient in the Olympic Mountains.

Despite Yellowstone National Park's (YNP) long history and well studied large mammals and vegetation, beavers (Castor canadensis), an important ecosystem driver, have received relatively little study. We summarize population surveys of beavers that began in 1921 and continued up to the present. The first surveys (1921 and 1923) were from the ground and conducted in a limited area in the northern portion (northern range; NR) of the park. Twenty-five colonies were found and beavers were considered abundant and using aspen (Populus tremuloides) and willow (Salix spp.) as a food source and building material. A follow up survey in 1953 found 6 NR sites, but none of the earlier sites from the 1920s were active and no aspen use was reported. Some locations were reported from the park interior. A limited ground survey was conducted in 1979–80. In 1988–89 and 1994 two incomplete, mostly ground surveys were conducted and estimated 71 and 44 colonies, respectively, in YNP. In 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 complete, park-wide aerial surveys were conducted and active colonies ranged from 44 (1996) to 127 (2007) with an increasing trend. Therefore, in a period of about 90 years (1920s—2000s) the beaver population in the northern portion of the park appears to have declined then increased probably because of a willow recovery.

Exploitative competition through resource utilization may occur between coyotes (Canis latrans) and other carnivores. In the southern periphery of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) range, there is concern that increased snowmobile activity may enable coyotes to increase their movements into deep snow areas during the winter months, thereby potentially creating heightened resource competition with lynx, mainly for the lynx's main prey, snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus). We studied the seasonal variation of coyote diets and the dietary overlap between coyotes and lynx in a 512-km² high-elevation study area in northwestern Wyoming. Dietary shifts by coyotes were documented during the winter, spring, summer, and fall from August 2006 through June 2008. Although lynx are known to primarily prey on snowshoe hares, lynx scats were also collected to assess their diet for comparative purposes. A total of 470 coyote scats and 24 lynx scats were collected, dried and analyzed. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) was the predominant prey item for coyotes by percent occurrence (20.1%) for all 3 years combined, followed by elk (Cervus elaphus, 12.5%), montane vole (Microtus montanus, 12.0%), and snowshoe hare (8.0%). Snowshoe hares were the dominant prey item for lynx during the winter, accounting for 85.2% of all prey occurrences. Coyote use of snowshoe hares peaked in the fall (24.1% of all occurrences). We found little dietary overlap between coyotes and lynx during the winter months when lynx mainly fed on snowshoe hares and coyotes fed mostly on ungulates.

Successful establishment of desired species is crucial for accelerating the development of functioning ecosystems. In the Pacific Northwest, Garry oak (Quercus garryana) woodlands are of significant conservation value as many have been lost or degraded due to anthropogenic factors. Restoration plantings are one strategy for reversing this loss and enhancing the resilience of wildlife habitats confronting climate change. We tested the effects of seedling age (1- vs. 3-years old at planting), plastic mulch, tree shelters, and first-year irrigation on the performance of Garry oak seedlings for three years after outplanting in the semiarid East Cascades of Washington state. Net survival was 33% after three years. Growth was minimal as basal area increment and height growth averaged 21 mm² and 5 cm, respectively, over this period. Most mortality occurred early in the first growing season after planting and was related, in part, to stock quality; this obscured the effects seedling age might have had on performance. Survival and growth were enhanced primarily by plastic mulch and to a lesser extent by tree shelters. First-year irrigation enhanced survival but not growth. We highly recommend the use of plastic mulch, which is easily installed and inexpensive, when planting Garry oak in semiarid environments. Irrigation, while beneficial, is not feasible for many projects. Tree shelters were of limited utility, likely because browse pressure was low. Attention to stock quality and the use of post-planting treatments appropriate to local climatic and site conditions are essential for restoration plantings to be ecologically and economically effective.

Faced with landscapes degraded by fire suppression, logging, and grazing, land managers in the interior western US are attempting to restore habitat structure and function. In southwest Oregon, landscape-scale fuels treatments are being implemented with goals including recreating historic vegetation structure, despite poor understanding of the nature of the landscape prior to widespread Euro-American influence, or the patterns and processes of vegetation change over time. We compared a General Land Office-based reconstruction of Euro-American settlement era (1850s) vegetation in southwest Oregon's interior valleys and foothills with modern vegetation interpreted from aerial orthoimages to determine patterns of vegetation distribution in both eras, trajectories of vegetation change, and environmental and disturbance factors related to these themes. We found that this landscape was primarily occupied by closed plant community types in both eras, with a comparatively minor proportion in open types; vegetation was distributed along a dominant environmental gradient that ran from prairies in xeric lowlands to conifer forests in steeper, cooler uplands. Temporal shifts from open to closed vegetation were consistent with expected effects of fire suppression in many cases, but in other cases, the long-term persistence of open vegetation in the absence of recorded fire indicated that other mechanisms were also in operation. Human encroachment into wildlands, particularly in valleys, has also been a major driver of landscape-level change in the past 150 yr. Our results suggest that conservation should focus on lowlands, particularly where uncommon vegetation types such as savanna, shrubland, and prairie still exist.

Upper atmospheric synoptic scale patterns associated with size-5 avalanches, the largest and most destructive types of avalanches, occur on Mt. Shasta, California in the Southern Cascade mountain range. We identified and analyzed fifteen size-5 avalanches over nine individual storm events in the last 50 years using composite and anomaly plots of surface and upper-air data and relationships between: 250hPa wind field, 500 hPa geopotential height field, 700 hPa precipitable water, atmospheric thickness, and surface temperature. Results indicated a strong correlation between synoptic scale warm air advection, moisture advection, strong southwest winds, and low geopotential heights and the formation of large, size-5 slab avalanches. The identification and orientation of a jet streak adds to the growing body of synoptic ingredients used for avalanche forecasting on Mt. Shasta.

Temperature is an important environmental variable in shaping the distribution of species. The American pika (Ochotona princeps) has been identified as a climate-change-sensitive species as documented by the extirpation of a number of populations at the southern end of the species' range. Limited tolerance to warm temperatures has previously been reported, yet recent evidence suggests that pikas are able to live outside of cool habitats with the discovery of warmer, low-elevation pika populations, such as those found in the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia. Here we characterize the temperatures experienced by pikas living along an elevation gradient at the northern end of their distribution. Additionally, we recorded temperatures both above and below the talus at one of our sites and the relationship between pika activity and temperature. Temperatures differed along the elevation gradient by up to 6 ^°C from low- to high-elevation sites. Below-talus temperatures were lower than above-talus temperatures at noon and during the afternoon, and were warmer than above temperatures in the morning and night, suggesting that talus has insulative properties that guard against extreme temperatures. Lastly, a negative relationship was observed between temperature and pika activity. We show that although at the northern end of pika distribution, ambient temperatures 1.5 m above the talus surface often exceeded the threshold for acute heat stress. Our results also suggest that behavioral thermoregulation or other adaptations may enable pikas to inhabit low-elevation habitat that was previously thought as inhospitable to pikas.