In 2024-25, the CAL poly humboldt mcintire-stennis grant will fund the following six projects: 1) mcintire-stennis research planning and administration: the goal of this project is to facilitate…

In 2024-25, the CAL poly humboldt mcintire-stennis grant will fund the following six projects: 1) mcintire-stennis research planning and administration: the goal of this project is to facilitate research planning and administrative activities for the mcintire-stennis research program at CAL poly humboldt. 2) year-5 assessment of replicated uneven-aged douglas-fir/tanoak silviculture experiment along northern california's coast range: the proposed research and demonstration project will compare different methods of converting degraded timberlands into healthy, vigorous, and resilient forests that sequester more carbon per acre annually and avoid loss of stored carbon from catastrophic wildfire. 3) tree responses to wildfire and drought in a conifer diversity hotspot: this project will focus on evaluating the drought responses (2013-2015 and 2020-2022) of three conifer species across 20 sites in varied habitats in northern california that experienced no fire and moderate-severity fire in 2008, a year when 1.6 million acres burned in the state. 4) climate change impacts on forest and water resources of northern california: the goals are to evaluate how the climate is changing and the likelihood of resulting drought conditions leading to losses in tree productivity, forest distribution, and summer water availability in regional soils, groundwater, and rivers. 5) recovery of human communities after wildfire - building social-ecological resilience: this research, 3-4 years after wildfire, will assess immediate post-disaster community responses and long-term community recovery. And 6) expansion of treeless patches in formerly forested landscapes of the klamath mountains due to repeated burning: how quickly are forests being converted to shrubland and will they recover? This project will use field-based and remotely sensed data to evaluate the trajectories of vegetation recovery after short-and long-interval fires and understand how subsequent fires might perpetuate and expand shrub patches. Deliverables from these projects will include progress reports (two projects), final reports (for projects), field demonstrations, sample collections, student professional development, and scientific presentations to increase public awareness about these projects and the current issues in forestry that they address.