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ScienceDaily_2013 16384.txt

#Science synthesis to help guide land management of U s. forestsa team of more than a dozen scientists from the U s. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest (PSW) and Pacific Northwest research stations universities and Region 5 Ecology Program recently released a synthesis of relevant science that will help inform forest managers as they revise plans for the national forests in the Sierra nevada and southern Cascades of California. The three most southern national forests in the Sierra nevada--Inyo Sequoia and Sierra--will be among the first of the 155 national forests to update their management plans. The new planning rule requires the forests to consider the best available science and encourages a more active role for research in plan development. At the request of Region 5 leadership and stakeholders the team embarked on a yearlong effort to summarize and integrate recent scientific advances across key topics including forest and fire ecology; soils; aquatic ecosystems; terrestrial wildlife; air quality; and social economic and cultural components--all of which make up socioecological systems. The synthesis distilled important findings from recent studies about how to make systems more resilient to stressors such as changes in climate introduced species and risk of uncharacteristically large and severe wildfires. The authors considered the connections between the terrestrial forests and the streams as well as how restoration of ecological processes interfaces with the social and economic concerns of communities. By examining concepts and issues that cut across science disciplines the authors sought to help managers address relevant challenges more holistically. Key findings from the synthesis were: The synthesis integrates scientific findings from diverse disciplines using a conceptual framework of how social and ecological systems function in the Sierra nevada and southern Cascades said Malcolm North a PSW research forest ecologist who worked on the report. This framework clarifies the current state of the science and provides information for managers as they develop forest plans with flexibility to make the best decisions for particular contexts. The full report is available at: http://www. fs. fed. us/psw/publications/reports/psw sciencesynthesis2013/Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service-Pacific Southwest Research Station. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h

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