Graduate Take-Home Exam

Type your answers and conform to word limits. Submit the completed exam by 12 May 1999 at 11:00 a.m. Please use an alias for identification. The exam is open-book and open-notes.

1. Devise a previously undescribed harvest-regeneration system that generates revenue, is simple and inexpensive to employ, and that ensures >50% tree cover on the site at all times. The system must be applicable to mixed-conifer forests or ponderosa pine forests in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. [250 words or fewer; 20 points]

2. According to our host on the field trip to the White Mountains, contemporary goals of management by the Forest Service including sustaining the health of ponderosa pine forests. Translate this goal into one or more goals that can be quantified in an objective manner. [300 words or fewer; 30 points]

In-Class Exam

1. List two (2) possible effects of increased levels of atmospheric CO2, which we discussed in class. [6 points]

2. Briefly describe one (1) possible interaction between two (2) of the following aspects of global change in the future: increased levels of atmospheric CO2, increased temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns (eg., El Nino, La Nina). [7 points]

3. Describe the nascent foci approach to managing invasions of exotic plants IN ONE (1) SENTENCE. [4 points]

4. Briefly describe the grass-fire cycle in the Sonoran Desert or Great Basin and its effects on native perennial vegetation. [6 points]

5. The resource management staff at Saguaro National Park recognizes that the ponderosa pine forests in the Rincon Mountains evolved with frequent (every 3-10 years) low intensity fires. They would like to reestablish this level and frequency of fire in these forests. Why don't they simply burn their ponderosa pine forests every 3-7 years? Please provide a general rationale, not a list of specific factors. [7 points]

6. Differentiate between clearcutting and deforestation. [4 points]

7. List 3 different reasons the Forest Service removed trees on Mt. Lemmon in the late 1980s. [3 points]

8. Briefly but specifically describe the influence of site productivity--as mediated by elevation--on aspen growth on Mt. Lemmon. [4 points]

9. Determine the habitat type of the site described on the attached page. [8 points]

10. List two understory plants you would expect to find on this site (i.e., species is found on at least 80% of sites with this habitat type) that would have cover of less than 1%. [2 points]

11. The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest uses the Vegetative Structural Stage (VSS) system to describe overstory vegetation. Which of the classes is used to describe a ponderosa pine forest with 30% overstory canopy cover and an average dbh of 14"? [2 points]
    1. VSS3B
    2. VSS3C
    3. VSS4A
    4. VSS4B
    5. VSS4C
    6. VSS5A
    7. VSS5B
    8. VSS5C

12. If the forest stand in the previous question is re-evaluated in 10 years and it changes classes, which class would it "grow into?" [2 points]
    1. VSS3B
    2. VSS3C
    3. VSS4A
    4. VSS4B
    5. VSS4C
    6. VSS5A
    7. VSS5B
    8. VSS5C

13. If you reduce canopy cover of the original stand (question 10a) by half, but average dbh remains the same, which class would describe the stand? [2 points]
    1. VSS3B
    2. VSS3C
    3. VSS4A
    4. VSS4B
    5. VSS4C
    6. VSS5A
    7. VSS5B
    8. VSS5C

14. How has management of snags and downed logs changed on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in the last 3 decades? [5 points]

15. What factors constrain the area treated with prescribed fire on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest? [3 points]

16. Recycling is generally believed to be an environmentally "friendly" activity. Describe a consequence of recycling that constrains management of vegetation in the White Mountains. [6 points]

17. The implicit goal of vegetation management at the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is restoration of pre-Columbian conditions. Why is this a goal of management? [4 points]

18. Select one of the categories of research described by McArdle (1996). Provide an example of the use of this type of research in vegetation management. [4 points]

19. Approximately how many people occupy earth? [3 points]

20. List 6 steps that can be used to increase biological diversity in communities managed for multiple use. [9 points]

21. List and briefly describe the three most important items or concepts you learned in this class. In your response, indicate why these items are particularly important for management of natural resources. [9 points]