Science Synthesis to support Forest Plan Revision in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascades

1. Jonathan Long and Carl Skinner With Contributions from the Science Synthesis Team USDA FS Pacific Southwest Research Station Integration Social Ecological Science Synthesis to support Forest Plan Revision in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascades

2. Outline • Focal Question:Socioecological Resilience and Stressors • Integrative Approaches in the Synthesis • Integrating social and ecologicaI considerations • Restoring reference disturbance regimes and heterogeneity at multiple scales • Applying strategic treatment at landscape scale with adaptive management

3. Overarching Question  • “Based on recent scientific advances, what management strategies are likely to promote resilience of socioecological systems and sustain values-at-risk in the synthesis area over the short and long term given expected stressors?”

4. Resilience of Socioecological Systems • Broadly considers systems in an integrated fashion Socioecological System • Connects to “ecological integrity” and “social and economic sustainability” in the Forest Planning Rule Ecological Processes and Components Social Processes and Components Integration Stressors

5. Interfaces with Forest Planning Rule • “Opportunities for landscape scale restoration” • Analyzing larger areas and changes over longer time periods • “Emphasis on wildland fire and opportunities to restore fire adapted ecosystems” • Consider the large landscape scales at which fire operates

6. Stressors are Creating Novel Conditions • Examples • Changing climate • Fire deficit and fuel build-up • Air pollution • Diseases (e.g., chytrid) • Invasive species •  Novel conditions • Need forward-thinking reference conditions • Evaluate synergistic effects Changes in fire regime (blue is less frequent fire) Nitrogen deposition

7. Integrative Approaches in the Synthesis Integrating consideration of social and ecological systems Restoring disturbance regimes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems Promoting large-scale adaptive management Social Processes and Components Ecological Processes and Components Integration

8. 1) Integrating social and ecologicaI considerations • Build upon existing community capacity by incorporating traditional and local ecological knowledge and facilitating social learning • Reduce vulnerabilities to major disruptions • Identify important socioecological values and promote community well-being

9. 1A) Build upon existing community capacity to promote resilience Important concepts and approaches • Community well-being • Sense of place • All lands approach • Collaboration • Traditional and local ecological knowledge • Social learning

10. 1B) Reduce vulnerabilities to major disruptions • Uncharacteristically large, severe, and dangerous wildfires • Short and long-term social, economic, and ecological impacts Hazardous wildfire conditions threaten community well-being Large patches of high-severity wildfire threaten ecological values

11. 1C) Identify important socioecological values • Wide range of ecosystem services and other social and economic benefits • Biodiversity and habitat • Favorable water flows • Forest products,traditional cultural resources and associated livelihoods and infrastructure Index of wildland fire threat to forests important to surface drinking water • Integrated, applied socioecological research

12. 1C) Consider opportunities to promote community well-being • Consider impacts on local communities and economies in treatment design • Pursue opportunities to facilitate joint benefits for social and ecological systems

13. 2) Restoring reference disturbance regimes and heterogeneity • Applying fire in concert with silvicultural treatments to reestablish fire regimes and heterogeneity at multiple scales • Designing treatments based upon reference disturbance regimes and ecological trajectories Terrestrial Systems andAquatic Systems

14. 2A) Applying fire with silvicultural treatments to restore process and heterogeneity  Considering reference fire regime and other ecological and social factors at multiple scales Fire regime Topography Fine-scale patchiness

15. 2B) Designing treatments based upon reference fire regimes and ecological trajectories • Forested riparian areas • Wildlife core areas • Post-fire landscapes Hat Creek within the Reading Fire (2012) • Identify areas that may benefit from treatment to reduce potential impacts from uncharacteristically severe wildfires but need more research especially on long-term effects

16. 2C) Consider conditions across forest types • Important habitat and biodiversity values • Altered fire regime and changing climate • increases in uncharacteristically severe wildfire • shifting precipitation Upper montane red fir forest with repeated fires

17. 3) Applying strategic treatment with adaptive management • Use large-scale experimental areas • Evaluate active management for riparian and wildlife zones • Apply phased approach to treatment • Address research gaps Riparian area in Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest

18. 3A) Large scale experimental areas • Most existing experimental areas are too small to evaluate dynamics of wildlife with large home ranges • Larger areas such as the owl demographic study areas offer an opportunity to conduct adaptive management projects designed to address research gaps

19. Treatment • 3B) Evaluate Management to Sustain Wildlife at Landscape Scales Wildfire Home Range Resting site Landscape

20. 3C) Apply phased strategic approach to treatment at landscape scale • Strategic defensive fuels reduction • Reclamation treatments in a fraction of the landscape  Need to evaluate that fraction using models in an adaptive management framework • Maintenance and rotation throughout the landscape in conjunction with managed wildfire and with adaptation to all wildfires

21. 3D) Example of Research Gaps: Evaluate Impacts of Wildfires • Social and ecological values • Watersheds and streams • Soci0economic values • Wildlife • Long-term and re-burn effects Chips Fire (2012) reburned study areas of the Storrie Fire (2000)

22. Questions and Discussion Science Synthesis Integration