An international collaboration including Oregon State University researcher Bev Law says the health of a terrestrial ecosystem can be largely determined by three variables: vegetations’ ability to uptake carbon, its efficiency in using carbon and its efficiency in using water.

Mechanical thinning alone can calm the intensity of future wildfires for many years, and prescribed burns lengthen thinning’s effectiveness, according to Oregon State University research involving a seasonally dry ponderosa pine forest in northeastern Oregon.

Beavers are often translocated to restore populations in areas, reduce their conflicts with humans and to take advantage of their ability to improve ecosystems.

In a paper published this week in Ecological Applications, Andrew Merschel, James Johnston and Meg Krawchuk of the OSU College of Forestry also join other researchers in acknowledging the role of Indigenous fire stewardship in past and present landscapes and the value of restoring that stewardshi

A group of scientists and forest managers at OSU and the US Forest Service are asking community members who experienced the June 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave event to participate in foliage scorch research.

Authors led by OSU’s William Ripple and Christopher Wolf, in a paper published July 27 in BioScience, are calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels in response to the climate crisis.