Swing, batter! On a residential street in Anywhere, U.S.A., a colony of invasive emerald ash borers swarms inconspicuously on the periphery. Their sights are set on a row of lush, mature ash trees that line the quiet street. These trees have seen their community through World War II and the Civil Rights Movement, but meeting the ash borers will mark their final stand.
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Across western North America you can see them: hills blanketed with swaths of red and gray trees. These dead and dying stands of pine, aspen, and fir, totaling around 42 million acres—roughly the size of the state of Washington—are victims of bark beetles. And the dry, decaying trees that the beetles leave in their wake are not just eyesores; they also fuel hotter and larger wildfires.
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Is it possible to fully grasp a changing, natural system? Two scientists from UW’s Aquatic and Fishery Sciences say it is not, and that important policy moves should not hinge on knowing every fact. Instead, Daniel Schindler and Ray Hilborn suggest conservation managers learn to make decisions and develop robust policies that will remain effective even in an uncertain future. The scientists assert that managing ecosystems and natural resources where uncertainty is present often requires that tough, but necessary decisions be made without every detail.
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From blue whales and great white sharks to leatherback turtles, colossal squid, and giant clams, a paper published this week in the journal PeerJ looks at the true size of the ocean’s largest marine species. A team of scientists, including Aquatic and Fishery Sciences’ Trevor Branch, lead the charge aimed at addressing the challenges associated with accurately measuring and cataloging the largest animals in the sea.
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New research from the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences suggests that the choices we make about how we use our lands —such as for agriculture or development—has an impact on a landscape’s ability to effectively store carbon. Published in Nature Geoscience, the authors find that disturbance reintroduces carbon that is locked up on land back into the carbon cycle, often through runoff that deposits it into our rivers and wetlands.
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