INITIATING A NEW INTEGRATED RESEARCH PROGRAM ON UVM RESEARCH FORESTS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: MCINTIRE-STENNIS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1003495
• Project Start Date: Dec 17, 2015
• Project End Date: Dec 16, 2020
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
(N/A)
BURLINGTON,VT 05405

Performing Department
School Of Natural Resources

Non Technical Summary
The University of Vermont owns four research forests throughout the state, totaling approximately 780 acres. The forest types vary from regenerating old fields to old growth, oak-pine to spruce-fir. The Jericho Research Forest (JRF) is largest of these, at 492 acres. The JRF is within a 30-minute drive of approximately 25% of the state's population and seven school districts (approximately 20,000 students). We propose to re-initiate and expand our research program at this location and the other three forests by integrating forest manipulations with investigations of value-based perceptions of native and non-native species, and by developing research evaluating the efficacy of UVM-based sustainability education involving the university's four research forests. We propose using these research forests for synergistic components that include: 1) archiving and making publically available historic records and research data from the past 70+ years of our forests' management and research history, 2) establishing a grid of permanent silvicultural treatments representing a range of management approaches for addressing invasive species and global change with associated measurement protocols, 3) exploring if and how educational interventions impact perceptions of those silvicultural treatments, and 4) assessing the effectiveness of sustainability education. A notable aspect of this work is to address diversity issues by linking forest-based history (component 1) and research work (component 2) with new Vermont residents who represent diverse populations (component 3) and environmental education (component 4).Component 1: Management, community, and research history of four research forestsThe long timeframes over which forests change and the influence of land-use legacies on contemporary forest conditions in Vermont necessitates a deep understanding of forest history so as to guide modern forest management and conservation (Foster et al. 2003). The repository of historical records, photographs, and past research documentation available for the UVM research forests provides a unique opportunity to generate a rich place-centered database that can be coupled with current research efforts in these areas to strengthen scientific inference and application of results. These records, including historical documents and photographs, and study descriptions and data from research conducted over many years, are currently vulnerable to damage or loss, as many of them exist only on paper. Digitizing this paperwork will make it readily available to graduate students and other researchers, or to historical societies or other interest groups. The JRF property has been settled and passed through multiple owners and land uses since the late 18th century; the property and the ca. 1802 farmhouse on it are of considerable local and regional historic interest, as would be UVM's related documentation.Component 2: Forest ecosystem responses to invasive species and associated adaptive management techniquesForest ecosystems in Vermont and the greater northern forest region have undergone significant changes over the past several decades stemming from the introduction of several species of invasive plants, insects, and diseases, including European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and beech bark disease complex (Cryptococcus fagisuga Lind., and Nectria coccinea var. faginata)(Frappier et al. 2003; Lovett et al. 2006). These changes, coupled with the emerging threats posed by other forest health issues (e.g., emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis) and climate change present substantial challenges to the sustainable management of forests in the region, continued delivery of critical ecosystem services, and the maintenance and conservation of native biodiversity (Dale et al. 2001).General strategies to reduce the impacts of these current stressors and disturbances and increase forest resilience to future threats have been broadly proposed (Millar et al. 2007; Agency of Natural Resources 2015a); however, there have been few formal empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of these adaptive strategies in Vermont forests and elsewhere. Moreover, it is unclear what tradeoffs may exist between managing for increased adaptive capacity and the achievement of other important objectives, including biodiversity conservation and maintenance of recreational benefits (cf. Bradford and D'Amato 2012). To address these key knowledge gaps, we propose to implement a series of replicated, adaptive silvicultural treatments designed to address a range of emerging forest management challenges, including the impacts of invasive species and climate change on forest ecosystem structure and function.Component 3: The impact of education on concern about and emotional reaction to forest management treatmentsRelationships with forests, and in particular the benefits of spending time in forests, are central to the well-being of many people (Russell et al. 2013). Millions of people visit Vermont's forests each year (the fall foliage season alone brings 3.5 million visitors annually (Agency of Natural Resources 2015b)) and benefit in myriad ways (e.g., spiritually, psychologically). As described in Component 2, Vermont forests (like many forests worldwide) are rapidly changing, and maintaining them as functioning ecosystems that sustain historic and current benefits such as syrup production and large tree habitat may require adaptive management activities. We have scant understanding of how people will react to these management actions, and even less understanding of how efforts to educate people about changing forest conditions may impact reactions (e.g., emotions, perceptions and value judgments) to those changes and efforts to manage them. Though some studies (e.g., Schreck Reis et al. 2011) have investigated how educational interventions impact knowledge retention, few, if any, have explored affective and values-based outcomes.Component 4: Evaluating sustainability education at four research forestsSustainability education (SE) is an increasingly popular field in higher education (Wals and Blewitt 2010, Jones et al. 2010). SE is hailed as a way for higher education to address issues of overconsumption, environmental degradation, and social justice. By helping students to develop knowledge, skills, and values related to sustainability, colleges and universities may be able to mobilize informed and thoughtful change agents (Stephens et al. 2008). UVM recently instituted a new Sustainability Learning Outcomes requirement, aimed at preparing students to "address the challenges of creating a sustainable world." What are the outcomes of such a requirement? The connection between attitudes and environmental behaviors is complex and multi-faceted (Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Steg and Vlek 2009) and some studies have found connections between particular attitudes and related behaviors (Vaske and Donelly 1999). Can instituting a sustainability requirement create a shift in attitudes that leads to sustainable behavior? To explore this question, we propose a research study to assess the outcomes of UVM's sustainability requirement. Specific methods are outlined below. We believe demonstrating the power of sustainability education may encourage requirements similar to UVM's across other institutions of higher education, and this will additionally inform future research and outreach educational work related to the UVM research forests.

Animal Health Component

30%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

30%

Applied

30%

Developmental

40%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
123	0699	3100	30%
123	0699	3020	50%
123	0599	3030	10%
136	0699	1070	10%

Knowledge Area
136 - Conservation of Biological Diversity; 123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0599 - Recreational resources, general/other; 0699 - Trees, forests, and forest products, general;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 3020 - Education; 3030 - Information and communication; 3100 - Management;

Keywords

digital records

demonstration

environmental learning

adaptive management

silviculture

invasive species

sustainability education

monitoring

experiential education

environmental attitudes

environmental concerns

environmental values

sense of place

long-term research

diversity

place-based approach

Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal is to increase the use of UVM research forests through researching forest ecosystem and human responses to adaptive silvicultural treatments and sustainability education. This will be accomplished by: 1) making available records and data from past management and research on UVM research forests, 2) implementing adaptive silvicultural treatments and examining ecosystem response, 3) evaluating the impact of education on perceptions of forest composition and management efforts on UVM research forests, and 4) evaluating environmental education programs.University of Vermont manages four experimental forests. These forests are used for various research projects dating back to the 1940s; however, campus, forest conservation and research communities agree that they are an underutilized resource with considerable untapped research potential (Forrer 2005). This proposal increases the capacity for UVM RSENR forests to be used for research by both UVM and the larger forest conservation and research community by addressing contemporary forest conservation and management issues of critical importance and establishing a long-term network of experiments. Funds are required for the development and maintenance of a digitized historical research records database, establishment of an initial data collection from permanent monitoring plots, expansion and establishment of replicated social science experiments addressing contemporary forest issues, and promotion of research products.Component 1: Management, community, and research history of four research forestsScan, digitize, and organize all of the documents and images currently stored at the JRF, with the assistance of the UVM library's Center for Digital Initiatives.Create and organize a database of forest research records from UVM forests, along with supporting metadata, so that past research may be searched and utilized by current researchers interested in comparisons to modern data, re-measurement of old plots, or re-examination of old findings.Conduct interviews in communities surrounding each UVM forest and with experts who have past ties to the forests; transcribe and prepare narratives for inclusion with digitized documentary evidence.Use our familiarity with existing resources to map out future phases of research on the cultural contexts and human history of these parcels.Component 2: Forest ecosystem responses to invasive species and associated adaptive management techniquesEstablishreplicated, long-term adaptive silviculture research plots on the four UVM research forests, including "forestry-for-the birds" treatments at JRF.Developand implementa series of adaptive treatments specifically designed to reduce the impacts of invasive species to sustain long-term forest functioning in these areas.Quantifythe impacts of the treatments developed under objective 2 on forest regeneration, native plant and insect communities, forest productivity, and carbon dynamics.Integratethese experiments into a network of demonstration areas on UVM research forests to facilitate studies, such as Component 3, examining human reactions to these practices and to serve as important points for stakeholder engagement and training.Component 3: The impact of education on concern about and emotional reaction to forest management treatmentsWork with the Refugee Resettlement Center to devise a sampling protocol that will allow us to divide participants with similar backgrounds (e.g. from similar nations) into "treatment" and "control" groups.Work with our three collaborators to develop two interactive pre-visit trainings. One training (the "treatment") will cover invasive species motivating the silvicultural treatments described in Component 2. The second training will involve participants in similar interpersonal interactions, but will not convey invasive species content.Implement trainings and conduct pre-visit surveys and observations of all training sessions. Our primary outcomes of interest will be: emotional (affective) reactions to invasive and non-invasive species and concern about the well-being of the forest.Take all participants on forest field trips, using the same schedule of sites visited and the same script. Conduct observations, including using interpreters if needed (to record conversations, particularly those between participants).Conduct post-visit surveys, both immediately and after six months. These surveys will collect data on the outcomes listed in #3 above, and will also add items inquiring after the quality of the visit experience (in terms of aesthetics, rejuvenation, spiritual fulfillment, and other variables commonly explored in studies of recreation visitation).Conduct semi-structured interviews after six months with a sub-set of participants from both control and treatment groups. Interviews will explore themes emerging from preliminary analysis of pre- and immediate-post visit surveys, and will encourage narrative descriptions of the visit experience.Analyze data, with attention to any potential differences between groups receiving the educational treatment, and those receiving no education.Compile results, share with collaborators, and write journal article.Component 4: Evaluating sustainability education at four research forestsDevelop a questionnaire survey to evaluate outcomes related to sustainability. Sustainability outcomes will be measured via indices (3-5 survey questions per index). These indices will be developed using existing research on sustainability education outcomes as a base.Pilot and refine survey instrument with Dr. Wallin's invasion ecology class and Dr. D'Amato's silviculture class at UVM, which will largely focus field labs on the treatments developed under Component 2, at the beginning and end of the semester. Refinement methods may include confirmatory factor analysis and focus groups.Identify appropriate populations of potential survey respondents and administer questionnaires at the start of the fall 2016 semester and again at the end of the spring 2017 semester. In addition to items exploring the outcomes described in #1, the survey will include items covering whether and how students fulfilled their sustainability requirement . We will use LISREL software to conduct structure equations model (SEM) with the data. SEM allows for nested models, thus we will be able to examine change scores among students who fulfilled their sustainability requirement as well as compare scores with students who did not fulfill their sustainability requirement.Compile results, share with participants, and prepare journal articles.

Project Methods
We propose four research components that address different aspects of a new integrated research program on UVM research foreststhat are relevant to Vermont and the broader northern forest region. Although each of the components address specific research hypotheses, they all contribute to the overall goal of increasing the use of UVM research forests by integrating ecological, societal, and educational responses to the changing environment. As such, each component addresses one or more of the key objectives described above.Conducting formative and summative evaluations of sustainable education throughout the duration of the project will also link these components. Formative evaluation will take place during research development and implementation, and can take the form of needs assessment or process evaluation. Summative evaluation deals with assessing the extent to which a program has met its intended goals and objectives. This will place UVM research forests in a framework to better understand ecological changes and value-based perceptions of these changes. Results will help shape university research, land-use and teaching policy decisions. Co-PIs will have primary responsibilities in one component, but will all work together on the synthesis team. Moreover, this project and the associated components are complementary to the other McIntire-Stennis projects currently ongoing at UVM. Involving PIs W. Keeton and J. Pontius as collaborators on this work will maximize the synergy among these efforts.Stakeholder engagement and involvement is central and vital to our proposed research. Each component will work closely with collaborating organizations, entities, and institutions throughout the duration of the research.Component 1: Management, community, and research history of four research forestsThe documentation of the history of UVM's forestland represents an initial phase of the project that focuses on organizing and archiving existing physical documents. To supplement this work and to gain a more holistic and substantive understanding of human interactions with the UVM forests, we will also conduct a series of interviews with experts, community members, interest group representatives, and other local people who have connections with or have used these landscapes and resources. The interviews will explore community members' historical and contemporary tangible interactions with these forest places (recreation visitation, consumptive and non-consumptive uses of the forests and lands) as well as symbolic meanings of the forest within local landscapes and communities. Interviews will be focused around the idea of "sense of place," and will include 20-30 persons with historic linkages to each forest and members of local communities. Excerpted narratives will be prepared for inclusion on document websites.Component 2: Forest ecosystem responses to invasive species and associated adaptive management techniquesGeneral strategies to reduce the impacts of current stressors and disturbances and increase forest resilience to future threats have been broadly proposed (Millar et al. 2007; Agency of Natural Resources 2015a); however, there have been few formal empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of these adaptive strategies in Vermont forests and elsewhere. Moreover, it is unclear what tradeoffs may exist between managing for increased adaptive capacity and the achievement of other important objectives, including biodiversity conservation and maintenance of recreational benefits (cf. Bradford and D'Amato 2012). To address these key knowledge gaps, we propose to implement a series of replicated, adaptive silvicultural treatments designed to address a range of emerging forest management challenges, including the impacts of invasive species and climate change on forest ecosystem structure and function.Component 3: The impact of education on concern about and emotional reaction to forest management treatmentsTo explore how educational efforts, management actions, and people's perceptions of the forest interact, we propose a Before-After-Control-Impact replicated study of emotional and concern-based (i.e., affective) reactions to invasive species and their management. We will partner with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, organizing for 100-200 participants in the Center's programming a series of interactive training sessions followed by forest field trips. We will share with participants a carefully selected variety of forest contexts, including the silvicultural treatments in Component 2. We will ensure that all researchers working with these vulnerable populations undergo extended and targeted training in working with refugee and immigrant populations (Birman 2005), and will pay special attention to any potential social implications of a focus on non-native species. We are enthusiastic about this partnership due to the opportunity to share Vermont's forests with communities less likely to have easy access to them, and because working with populations with less historical familiarity with Vermont's landscapes provides a unique opportunity for assessing the effects of environmental education efforts and learning about the forest in new ways. In all of this work (developing programming, delivering trainings, and in the field) we will view this work as a process of mutual discovery and discussion (discouraging 'deficit mindsets').Our trainings and data collection instruments will be informed by findings from research on environmental learning, attitudes, and behavior (Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Steg and Vlek 2009). One of the primary conclusions of this research is that knowledge is often weakly (or not at all) correlated with behavior; our research will respond to this finding in two ways. First, our outcomes of interest are attitudes and perceptions (which are considered precursors of behavior in many models). Second, we will design trainings to not only share information, but to also allow participants to interact with one another and explore their own emotions and values related to forest-human interactions.Component 4: Evaluating sustainability education at four research forestsWe will use before-after, control-impact (BACI) to evaluate UVM's new sustainability requirement. BACI uses the same evaluation tool to collect information about participants before the start of the program and then a second time at the end of the program. The effectiveness of the program is then measured by comparing the results of the post-test to that of the pre-test; the difference between the two tests is referred to as the "change score." Testing a comparison group adds another level of control by administering both pre- and post-tests to a group that has not participated in the program. This method allows evaluators to see if program participants' score differ from those of non-program participants (MEERA 2013).

Progress 12/17/15 to 12/16/20

Outputs
Target Audience:This work has multiple target audiences. These include the two communities where work is conducted (Burlington, VT and New York City), foresters and other natural resource managers in the northeastern US, the scholarly community studying forestry in the United States, and particularly the U.S. Northeast, the scholarly community studying cultural ecosystem services, and the scholarly community studying environmental education. The target audience for component 4 includes practitioners and scholars of forest-based and sustainability education, both at UVM and at other colleges and universities. Changes/Problems: Due to COVID-19, our plans for an in-person educational intervention at the Intervale were not possible. We converted this work into two online surveys. Also due to COVID-19, we were not able to hire additional staff to complete analysis of the interviews for Component 1. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project trained multiple graduate and undergraduate students. An MS student was trained in telephone interview research, interview transcribing and project coordination. PhD students were trained in a variety of research practices from multiple disciplines. Skills gained included formal literature review; statistical and qualitative data analysis; and a variety of field-based data-collection techniques. All PhD students learned about developing partnerships of many types. All students engaged in interdisciplinary academic partnerships: given the nature of the project, students partnered with researchers from federal agencies (USFS); other UVM schools; and other universities. Students also developed and maintained community partnerships. These included collaboration with local and regional non-governmental organizations and community-engaged governmental entities. The postdoctoral scholar supported under this component received regular mentoring from the faculty member (Rachelle Gould), and began a faculty position in January 2019. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?PIs are in active communication with communities of interest, and continuously share results as they emerge. We have also disseminated work through academic articles and presentations at academic events. See "Other Products" section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Below we summarize accomplishments for 2020. These are in addition to accomplishments described in previous Progress Reports. Component 1: Generating A More Complete Picture Of Current And Past Use Of UVM Research Forests Will Enhance The Research Capacity Of UVM's Forests In this component, 1265 pages of paper documents and photographs have been scanned, and metadata on each item is now recorded in a database. The work concluded by creating digital documents, grouped by theme, from scanned pages of paper research forest records. The variety of content contained is now more accessible and findable as we used object recognition software to convert the image-based text from the original scans into a machine-readable form. Scanned pages were grouped, named, and consolidated into 80 digital documents. These documents are now accessible and securely preserved in off-site University servers. Having these in a digital format is the first step to facilitate access and sharing of these materials by other researchers and will serve as a backup repository should the physical copies become lost or damaged. Social Science Research: The social science research conducted as part of Component 1 was intended to assess how scholars, forest professionals and community members use and value UVM's School Forests. A total of 28 telephone interviews were completed during 2017-2018. Another 10 individuals responded by email and/or telephone to decline the interview based on their limited involvement with School Forest lands. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in 2018. During 2019, the textual data were analyzed and formed the basis for a research chapter in a PhD student's dissertation. This work later became the focal point for a scholarly journal article (though slowed by pandemic circumstances, the article will be completed and submitted for journal review in 2021). Component 2: Forests, Invasive Species, Climate Change And Adaptive Management The fourth full field season associated with Component 2 was completed in 2019-2020. This included measurement of forest research experiments established as part of this project at the Jericho, Wolcott, and Washington Research Forests and Dartmouth's Second College Grant. These experiments and associated activities from 2019-2020 are summarized below. Regeneration Response of Future Adapted Tree Species Project: This project is evaluating proposed adaptive silviculture treatments for addressing the impacts of changing climate regimes and invasive insects and diseases. Silvicultural treatments that include manipulations of forest canopy conditions and artificial regeneration of species projected to be adapted to future climate were established at three UVM Research Forests and Dartmouth College's Second College Grant in 2016-2017. In 2019-2020 the following activities were completed. Third year measurements of future, climate-adapted seedlings (planted at each site in spring 2018) were conducted in 2019-2020 at each site. A total of 6400 seedlings were measured in June and again in September Measurement plots established in 2016-2017 for characterizing forest structural and compositional responses to treatments were remeasured in 2019-2020 for the third year of post-harvest measurements at all locations Germination under Manipulated Precipitation: As a companion project to the work examining adaptive silvicultural techniques, we established and completed a precipitation manipulation experiment at the Jericho Research Forest for evaluating the influence of extreme precipitation events on tree germination and establishment. This experiment was established in 2017-2018 and we completed the final measurements on this study in 2019-2020. In 2019-2020 the following activities were completed The two precipitation manipulation shelters established as part of this study were removed from experimental harvest gaps in summer 2020 Seedlings from ten forest tree species sown under multiple precipitation and substrate conditions (mineral soil, leaf litter) were harvested at the end of the 2020 growing season and evaluated for the influence of precipitation extremes on seedling morphology and carbon allocation How does evolutionary history facilitate invasion? In this study, we had two aims: To assess the relative effects of known drivers on global invasion success, and to disentangle the effect of scale on global invasion processes. For the first, we estimated the likelihood of successful plant invasion in non-native regions as a function of 1) divergence of evolutionary history between regions; 2) connectedness of native and non-native regions; and 3) suitability of habitat in the non-native region. For the second, we obtained GloNAF database to better understand dynamics of the distribution and spread of introduced species by investigating population differentiation in the native range and its effect on invasiveness. Using this data of invasive plants for which genetic surveys have been conducted in the native range, modeled the effect of population differentiation on the extent of spread in an introduced range. Component 3: Study of Cultural Ecosystem Services and Values from Northeastern Forests Education and cultural ecosystem services: This component involves four studies. Progress made in the last year is described below. On the survey about values related to a multifunctional forest-agricultural site: We continued collaborating with the Intervale Center in Burlington. We also continued collaboration with a team of researchers at UVM who specialize in participatory research. The survey with site visitors focused on cultural ecosystem services that they receive from the multifunctional landscape of the Intervale Center. We have nearly completed analysis of surveys collected at the Intervale in Summer 2019, and will submit a manuscript within four months. Educational intervention study: Due to COVID, we modified our plans to investigate the impacts of education to be conducted via an online survey of a national sample pool. This survey (n=810) explores the impact of presenting information about watershed and forest management using three different values frames (intrinsic, instrumental, and relational). Outcome variables include concern, values related to forests and watersheds, and behavioral intention. We have conducted the survey and are analyzing data and preparing publications. "Letters to trees" project. We partnered with the Intervale to create an innovative data collection mechanism to understand visitors' relationships to forests and trees: we designed ten invitations to visitors to write "letters" to particular trees in the landscape. We collected over 50 letters and have analyzed the results. We will submit a manuscript with the results and a description of the method in mid-December 2020. Climate change extreme events, information, and values: This study explores the interactions between exposure to climate-change related extreme events (e.g., hurricanes and wildfires); information about climate change and its impacts; and environmental values. We have conducted a national-scale experimental survey (n=5600) and are analyzing data and preparing publications. Forest foraging, cultural ecosystem services, and stewardship: We completed data collection for the research project in New York City: in-depth, lengthy interviews conducted in person with foragers of Russian descent. Data analysis is complete for this project. The first draft of a manuscript is circulating among co-authors, and will be submitted for publication soon. Component 4: Sustainability Education in UVM's School Forests As described in previous progress reports, in this component we assessed sustainability education at UVM, analyzed results, and published a manuscript to report and share those results with the scholarly community.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020531
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Jakobcic, Y. 2020. Creating Place Meanings: The Rhetorical Qualities of Outdoor Experience Narratives. Chapter 2, in: Planning for People in Communities and Outdoor Recreation Places: Fostering Community Cohesion, Shaping Place Meanings, and Exploring Imaginaries. PhD Dissertation, University of Vermont, May.

Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:This work has multiple target audiences. These include the two communities where work is conducted (Burlington, VT and New York City), the scholarly community studying forestry in the United States, and particularly the U.S. Northeast, the scholarly community studying cultural ecosystem services, and the scholarly community studying environmental education. The target audience for component 4 was both practitioners and scholars of forest-based and sustainability education, both at UVM and at other colleges and universities. Changes/Problems:Making the digitized resources searchable and findable is a larger task than anticipated. Loss of one of the team members (Justin Waskiewicz) and his associated familiarity and enthusiasm for this work has been a setback that has made progress more difficult. Gary Hawley continued with the work on a part-time basis in July and August 2019. We will no longer be working with the Burlington refugee communities. The research does not address issues of interest to the community at this time. We have added the NYC site. It is a northeastern forest with complex and unique human dimensions issues, and is ideal for studying the cultural ecosystem services that diverse populations receive from forests. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?An MS student was trained in telephone interview research, interview transcribing and project coordination. A PhD student was trained in qualitative research methods of textual data analysis. The PhD student has learned about developing partnerships in multiple ways: Academic partnerships: the project involves, and the student regularly interacts with, USFS staff; faculty and students in UVM's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and faculty at another university Community partnerships: Student has participated in multiple meetings with various community partners to collaboratively design research, with close faculty mentorship The PhD student has learned how to conduct and present a lit review suitable for publication. The postdoctoral scholar supported under this component received regular mentoring from the faculty member (Rachelle Gould), and began a faculty position in January 2019. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our March 2018 event with the Burlington refugee community shared a background information and answered questions from that community. The experience lead to the conclusion that a partnership may not be in the interest of that community at this time. The PhD student has made multiple presentations; see the "Other Products" section (#4). The results were disseminated through academic articles. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Update and add to the database of digitized records, consolidate and categorize the digital records to facilitate their digital "findability". Relocate original documents to the most appropriate storage locations. We are completing a scholarly journal article to disseminate results of the study. Work with the Intervale Center to finalize research design (including educational interventions that meet research goals and partner needs), recruit participants, and conduct the first round of the experiment. Establish relationships with 20+ foragers in New York City who will serve as participants and interviewees. Conduct in-depth fieldwork in Spring and Fall 2019. Establish partnerships with the New York City Parks Department (and other possible NYC area partners).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Component 1:Generating A More Complete Picture Of Current And Past Use Of UVM Research Forests Will Enhance The Research Capacity Of UVM's Forests 1,073 pages of paper documents and photographs have been scanned with metadata on each item recorded in a database. Having these in a digital format is the first step to facilitate access and sharing of these materials by other researchers and will serve as a backup repository should the physical copies become lost or damaged. Social Science Research: The social science research conducted as part of Component 1 was intended to assess how scholars, forest professionals and community members use and value UVM's School Forests. During 2017-2018, we conducted and transcribed 28 interviews with individuals involved in School Forest activities. Component 2: Forests, Invasive Species, Climate Change And Adaptive Management The third full field season associated with Component 2 of our McIntire-Stennis project was completed in 2018-2019. This included establishment and measurement of new forest research experiments at the Jericho, Wolcott, and Washington Research Forests and Dartmouth's Second College Grant. These experiments and associated activities from 2018-2019 are summarized below. Regeneration Response of Future Adapted Tree Species Project-this project is evaluating proposed adaptive silviculture treatments for addressing the impacts of changing climate regimes and invasive insects and diseases. Silvicultural treatments that include manipulations of forest canopy conditions and artificial regeneration of species projected to be adapted to future climate were established at three UVM Research Forests and Dartmouth College's Second College Grant in 2016-2017. In 2017-2018 the following activities were completed: Ten seedling species were planted at each site in spring 2018 Black birch, Bitternut hickory, American chestnut, Red spruce, Eastern white pine, Bigtooth aspen, Black cherry, Northern red oak, American linden, Eastern hemlock A total of 6400 species were planted across the experiments, with half caged to investigate the influence of herbivory on future-adapted species. All seedlings were measured in June and again in September for initial year performance o Measurement plots established in 2016-2017 for characterizing forest structural and compositional responses to treatments were remeasured in 2017-2018 for the first year of post-harvest measurements at all locations. Germination under Manipulated Precipitation: As a companion project to the work examining adaptive silvicultural techniques, we established a precipitation manipulation experiment at the Jericho Research Forest for evaluating the influence of extreme precipitation events on tree germination and establishment. In 2017-2018 the following activities were completed Two precipitation manipulation shelters were established in harvest gaps and maintained throughout the growing season to deliver three precipitation regimes (ambient, reduction, and increase) Within each shelter the following activities occurred: Microclimatic measurements were collected on soil moisture across the growing season. Seed from ten forest tree species sown under multiple precipitation and substrate conditions (mineral soil, leaf litter) with germination and growth recorded across the growing season Specifically, how does evolutionary history facilitate invasion? Relative Effects of Known Drivers on Global Invasion Success--We have estimated the likelihood of successful plant invasion in non-native regions as a function of 1) divergence of evolutionary history between regions; 2) connectedness of native and non-native regions; and 3) suitability of habitat in the non-native region. Disentangle the Effect of Scale on Global Invasion Processes--We have obtained GloNAF database to better understand dynamics of the distribution and spread of introduced species by investigating population differentiation in the native range and its effect on invasiveness. Using this data of invasive plants for which genetic surveys have been conducted in the native range, we are modeling the effect of population differentiation on the extent of spread in an introduced range. Quantify Population Differentiation in the Native Range to Measure Its Effect on Local Adaptation and Spread After Introduction--We are investigating invasion patterns over four scales to disentangle the effect of scale on the processes driving species invasiveness and regional invasibility. We will test whether the effect of known drivers and interactions therein change over different scales. Using an established dataset, we will develop hierarchical models that incorporate 1) the divergence of evolutionary history between native and non-native regions; 2) connectedness of native and non-native regions; 3) suitability of habitat in non-native regions; and the interactions among them over four scales to explain global patterns of invasive plant distributions. Component 3: Community Studying Cultural Ecosystem Services Education and cultural ecosystem services study: The team conducted a literature review on the impacts of nature on well-being of refugee communities. The manuscript has been published in Ecosystem Services Journal. The team continued collaborating with the Intervale Center in Burlington. In May 2018, the graduate student piloted an environmental education experiment with participants of the Invasive Species Removal Day. In Summer 2019 the graduate student conducted 114 surveys with the visitors of the Intervale Center. Four undergraduate Dorks Duke fellows helped the PhD student with the data collection. The survey focused on cultural ecosystem services that visitors of the Intervale receive from the multifunctional landscape of the Intervale Center. We continued collaboration with a team of researchers at UVM who specialize in participatory research. Forest foraging, cultural ecosystem services, and stewardship study: The PhD student completed data collection for the research project in New York City. The student completed 10 in-person interviews with foragers and began data analysis. Component 4 ?We assessed sustainability education at UVM, analyzed results, and prepared a manuscript to report and share those results with the scholarly community during the last reporting period.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Coleman K, Perry E, Thom D, Gladkikh T, Clark P, Tursini R, Keeton W, Wallin KF 2020. The Woods around the Ivory Tower: A Systematic Review Examining the Value and Relevance of School Forests in the United States. Sustainability, 12, 531. Abstract: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/531 PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/531/pdf
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: D'Amato, A.W., C.W. Woodall, K. Evans, B.J. Palik, and L.N. Nagel. 2019. Operational evaluations of adaptive silviculture strategies for northern hardwood-dominated ecosystems: the New England Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change project. June 25. North American Forest Ecology Workshop, Flagstaff, AZ.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Clark, P., and A.W DAmato. 2019. Germination, phenology, and plant allocation patterns of northeastern tree seedlings in response to future precipitation scenarios. June 24. North American Forest Ecology Workshop, Flagstaff, AZ.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: D'Amato, A.W. 2019. Adaptive management of northeastern forests: building on the past to address future challenges. April 19. Department of Environmental Conservation Seminar Series, UMass, Amherst, MA.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: D'Amato, A.W., and B.J. Palik. 2019. Integrating novel with natural dynamics in the design of silvicultural adaptation strategies. April 4. Congress of Quebec Foresters, Quebec City, Quebec.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Clark, P., and A.W. D'Amato. 2019. Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change: Examining transitional strategies for adapting northern forests to global change. March 28. New England Society of American Foresters Winter Meeting, Burlington, VT.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gladkikh, T.M., Gould, R.K., Coleman, K.J. (2019). Cultural ecosystem services and the well-being of refugee communities. Ecosystem Services 40, 101036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.101036
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Exploring the links between cultural values and stewardship through foraging. (2019). 2019 Student Conference on Conservation Science-New York. New York, NY.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Coleman, K., Gould, R.K. One Universitys Sustainability Requirement: Disciplines, Diversity and Equity. Journal of Environmental Education.

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:This work has multiple target audiences. These include the two communities where work is conducted (Burlington, VT and New York City), the scholarly community studying forestry in the United States, and particularly the U.S. Northeast, the scholarly community studying cultural ecosystem services, and the scholarly community studying environmental education. Another target audience is both practitioners and scholars of forest-based and sustainability education, both at UVM and at other colleges and universities. Changes/Problems:Making the digitized resources searchable and findable is a larger task than anticipated. Loss of one of the team members (Justin Waskiewicz) and his associated familiarity and enthusiasm for this work has been a setback that has made progress more difficult. However, we have recruited Gary Hawley, who has familiarity with the resources, to complete the work during June-August 2019. We will no longer be working with the Burlington refugee communities. The research does not address issues of interest to the community at this time. We have added the NYC site. It is a northeastern forest with complex and unique human dimensions issues, and is ideal for studying the cultural ecosystem services that diverse populations receive from forests. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This project has 3 PhD students: Peter Clark (Advised by Anthony D'Amato) Kirsten Tyler (Advised byKimberly Wallin) Tatiana Gladkikh (Advised by Rachelle Gould) One MSc student: Margaux Reckard (Advised by Patricia Stokowski) And one Postdoctoral Associate: Kimberly Coleman (Mentored by Rachelle Gould) The PhD students havelearned about developing partnerships in multiple ways: Academic partnerships: the project involves, and the student regularly interacts with, USFS staff; faculty and students in UVM's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and faculty at another university Community partnerships: Student has participated in multiple meetings with various community partners to collaboratively design research, with close faculty mentorship How to conduct and present a lit review suitable for publication. The postdoctoral scholar supported under this component received regular mentoring from the faculty member (Rachelle Gould), and began a faculty position in January 2019. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Our March 2018 event with the Burlington refugee community shared a background information and answered questions from that community. The experience lead to the conclusion that a partnership may not be in the interest of that community at this time. The PhD students havemade multiple presentations; see the "Other Products" The results will be disseminated through the academic articles. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Update and add to the database of digitized records, consolidate and categorize the digital records to facilitate their digital "findability". Relocate original documents to the most appropriate storage locations. Work with the Intervale Center to finalize research design (including educational interventions that meet research goals and partner needs), recruit participants, and conduct the first round of the experiment. Establish relationships with 20+ foragers in New York City who will serve as participants and interviewees. Conduct in-depth fieldwork in Spring and Fall 2019. Establish partnerships with the New York City Parks Department (and other possible NYC area partners).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Component 1.Including known contacts and referrals, a total of 65 persons were contacted during 2017-2018 and asked to participate in telephone interviews. These included former and current faculty or staff members in the Rubenstein School, nearby town administrators, community members or officials, agency or organization leaders, and forestry professionals. Three rounds of email messages from the PI were sent to encourage participation; follow-up emails were used to schedule interview times/dates. From these initial contacts, a total of 28 telephone interviews were completed. Another 10 individuals responded by email and/or telephone to decline the interview but to describe their limited involvement with School Forest lands and to provide further referrals. The other 28 individuals who failed to respond to initial email requests were mostly local community leaders and members of volunteer organizations. Based on informal conversations with others interviewed, it appears that most/all of the non-respondents had no personal or organizational relationship with the School Forests. The 28 completed interviews were recorded and transcribed; two interviews were not recorded (one due to technology failure, and one a refusal to be recorded), but their responses were recorded by hand by the interviewer. A copy of the interview questions / response form is available. 1,073 pages of paper documents and photographs have been scanned with metadata on each item recorded in a database. Having these in a digital format is the first step to facilitate access and sharing of these materials by other researchers and will serve as a backup repository should the physical copies become lost or damaged. Component 2. The second full field season associated with Component 2 of our McIntire-Stennis project was completed in 2017-2018. This included establishment and measurement of new forest research experiments at the Jericho, Wolcott, and Washington Research Forests and Dartmouth's Second College Grant. These experiments and associated activities from 2017-2018 are summarized below: Regeneration Response of Future Adapted Tree Species Project: This project is evaluating proposed adaptive silviculture treatments for addressing the impacts of changing climate regimes and invasive insects and diseases. Silvicultural treatments that include manipulations of forest canopy conditions and artificial regeneration of species projected to be adapted to future climate were established at three UVM Research Forests and Dartmouth College's Second College Grant in 2016-2017. In 2017-2018 the following activities were completed. Ten seedling species were planted at each site in spring 2018 Black birch, Bitternut hickory, American chestnut, Red spruce, Eastern white pine, Bigtooth aspen, Black cherry, Northern red oak, American linden, Eastern hemlock A total of 6400 species were planted across the experiments, with half caged to investigate the influence of herbivory on future-adapted species. All seedlings were measured in June and again in September for initial year performance Measurement plots established in 2016-2017 for characterizing forest structural and compositional responses to treatments were remeasured in 2017-2018 for the first year of post-harvest measurements at all locations. Germination under Manipulated Precipitation: As a companion project to the work examining adaptive silvicultural techniques, we established a precipitation manipulation experiment at the Jericho Research Forest for evaluating the influence of extreme precipitation events on tree germination and establishment. In 2017-2018 the following activities were completed. Two precipitation manipulation shelters were established in harvest gaps and maintained throughout the growing season to deliver three precipitation regimes (ambient, reduction, and increase) Within each shelter the following activities occurred: Microclimatic measurements were collected on soil moisture across the growing season. Seed from ten forest tree species sown under multiple precipitation and substrate conditions (mineral soil, leaf litter) with germination and growth recorded across the growing season. Relative Effects of Known Drivers on Global Invasion Success:We have estimated the likelihood of successful plant invasion in non-native regions as a function of 1) divergence of evolutionary history between regions; 2) connectedness of native and non-native regions; and 3) suitability of habitat in the non-native region. Disentangle the Effect of Scale on Global Invasion Processes:We have obtained GloNAF database to better understand dynamics of the distribution and spread of introduced species by investigating population differentiation in the native range and its effect on invasiveness. Using this data of invasive plants for which genetic surveys have been conducted in the native range, we are modeling the effect of population differentiation on the extent of spread in an introduced range. Quantify Population Differentiation in the Native Range to Measure Its Effect on Local Adaptation and Spread After Introduction:We are investigating invasion patterns over four scales to disentangle the effect of scale on the processes driving species invasiveness and regional invasibility. We will test whether the effect of known drivers and interactions therein change over different scales. Using an established dataset, we will develop hierarchical models that incorporate 1) the divergence of evolutionary history between native and non-native regions; 2) connectedness of native and non-native regions; 3) suitability of habitat in non-native regions; and the interactions among them over four scales to explain global patterns of invasive plant distributions. Component 3. Education and cultural ecosystem services study: The team conducted a literature review on the impacts of nature on well-being of refugee communities. The manuscript is currently under review. In March 2018, the team conducted an introductory meeting with the Burlington refugee community, but unfortunately did not find overlapping research interests. We have established relationships with a new research partner, the Intervale Center in Burlington, VT. The Intervale Center includes some of the largest tracts of forest in Burlington, including the rare silver maple floodplain community. We have established collaboration with a team of researchers at UVM who specialize in participatory research. Three meetings with the research partner have taken place to gather their feedback and refine research questions as part of the community-based, participatory nature of this component. The graduate student has started working with the research partner on the first stage of the project. Forest foraging, cultural ecosystem services, and stewardship study: The team have expanded the component 3 to an additional study site: New York City parks and forested areas. Collaborations have been established with the USDA Forest Service researcher and a colleague at Ursinus College. We have designed the data collection instrument through an iterative joint effort with collaborators. The PhD student submitted a proposal to stay at the New York City Forest Service Urban Field Station for the duration of field work. The proposal was approved. The graduate student has initiated the IRB application, a pre-requisite for a research with human subjects. Component 4. We assessed sustainability education at UVM, analyzed results, and prepared a manuscript to report and share those results with the scholarly community.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Clark, P., and A.W. D'Amato. 2018. Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change: Examining strategies for adapting northern forests to global change. December 14. Presentation at Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative Conference. Burlington, VT.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: D'Amato, A.W. 2018. Adaptive silvicultural strategies for northern hardwood forests: building on the past to address future challenges. November 13. Invited Keynote at International Union of Forest Research Organizations: Uneven-aged Working Group Meeting. Valdivia, Chile.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Clark, P., and A.W. D'Amato. 2018. Exploring forest adaptation strategies in Vermont. September 14. Presentation at Green Mountain Division of Society of American Foresters Summer Meeting. Waterbury, VT.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: D'Amato, A.W. 2018. Silvicultural considerations for Vermont's ash within the context of emerald ash borer. June 20. Invited Webinar for Managing our Changing Forests Webinar Series. University of Vermont Extension.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Wallin KF. Risks and benefits biotechnology might pose to forest-health. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on forest health and biotechnology. February 8, Washington, DC.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tyler K and Wallin KF. Phylogenetic Diversity Facilitates Plant Invasions. 29th USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species. Annapolis, MD.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tyler K and Wallin KF. Investigating the Role of Phylogenetic Diversity in Facilitating Plant Invasions. RSENR Board of Advisors graduate presentation. Burlington, VT.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tyler K and Wallin KF. The Role of Native Range PD in Facilitating Plant Invasions. RSENR Graduate Research Symposium. Burlington, VT.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gladkikh, T., Gould, R., and Coleman, K. (in review). Cultural ecosystem services and the well-being of refugee communities. Ecosystem Services.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Coleman K, Perry E, Thom D, Gladkikh T, Clark P, Tursini R, Keeton W, Wallin KF. The Woods around the Ivory Tower: Examining the Value and Relevance of School Forests in the United States. Journal of Higher Education. In prep.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gladkikh, T., Gould, R., and Coleman, K. (2018). Impact of nature on well-being of refugee communities. Poster presented at the University of Vermont Student Research Conference, Burlington, VT.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gladkikh, T., Gould, R., and Coleman, K. (2018). Impact of nature on well-being of refugee communities. Presentation at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. Salt Lake City, UT.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gladkikh, T., Gould, R., and Coleman, K. (2018). Cultural ecosystem services and the well-being of refugee communities. Presentation at the Community on Ecosystem Services. Washington, D.C.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: (in press) Coleman, K., Gould, R.K. One Universitys Sustainability Requirement: Disciplines, Diversity and Equity. Journal of Environmental Education.

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes many stakeholder groups: the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Green Forestry Education Initiative, Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative, UVM Center for Digital Initiatives, UVM Libraries Special Collections, Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, TNC's Wise on Weeds program, Vermont Urban and Community Forests, USDA Forest Service, the Vermont Land Trust, as well as researchers and practioners interested in our findings. Changes/Problems:Our initial findings from Component 4 indicated that the school research forests were not being widely used as a teaching tool to deliver sustainability coursework. Given this, we wrapped up Component 4 early, harvested and synthesized important findings from that research, and redirected the funds to support work on Component 3. Component 2 planned to study invasive plants and climate change interactions in the research forests. This was deemed not feasible due to continual removal of invasive plants. Additionally, we have had one significant personnel change: Justin Waskiewicz moved on to a new position and, as such, left this project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development has been provided through mentoring to nine undergraduate students (Calla Sopko, Liam Farley, Kanal Palawat, Hannah Epstein, Isabelle Federico, Jack Goldman, Süki Wilder, Josh Lagerquist, and Kristen Switzer) and four graduate students (Peter Clark, Kirsten Tyler, Margaux Rechard, and Tatiana Gladkikh).One undergraduate student (Isabelle Federico) was supported in presenting research under Component 4 at the University of Vermont's undergraduate research conference. One graduate student (Kirsten Tyler) was supported in presenting at three different research settings (see products section for more details).The postdoctoral associate (Kimberly Coleman) has received professional development both in term of mentoring from project PIs as well as through opportunities to lead as first author on academic manuscripts. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Stakeholder workshops and presentations D'Amato, A.W. 2017. Silviculture in the face of uncertainty: is the past still relevant? Invited Keynote Presentation. 11th North American Forest Ecology Workshop, Edmonton, Alberta. June 20. D'Amato, A.W. 2017. Strategies for managing forests to increase drought tolerance. Invited presentation. New England Society of American Foresters Winter Meeting, Bangor, ME. March 8. Products Coleman, K. and Gould, R. (in review) One University's Sustainability Requirement: Disciplines, Diversity and Equity. Journal of Environmental Education. Fredericko, I., Coleman, K., & Gould, R. (2017). Sustainability across the Disciplines. Poster presented at the University of Vermont Student Research Conference, Burlington, VT. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The following future tasksare planned: Component 1: Management, community, and research history of four research forests Identify stakeholders within the Rubenstein School of Environmental and Natural Resources and invite them to participate in interviews. Explore opportunities for practical products from the interviews, such as an interpretive exhibit about School Forests. Component 2: Forest ecosystem responses to invasive species and associated adaptive management techniques Continue with fieldwork on all subprojects listed above. Component 3:The impact of education on concern about and emotional reaction to forest management treatments Hold large meeting attended by community members and forest professionals. This will be a two-way learning meeting that involves education about forest areas appropriate for foraging, and methods that the community uses for foraging. Establish relationships with 10+ families that will serve as participants and interviewees for 1-2 years. Continue to develop relationship with community partner: New Farms for New Americans. Hire one undergraduate research assistant for the Spring, Summer, and Fall 2018. Conduct in-depth fieldwork in Summer 2018 with members of the New American community. Determine, in partnership with the community, what types of additional educational initiatives may be useful. Component 4:Evaluating sustainability education at four research forests Revise and resubmit paper for publication in peer-reviewed journal. Share paper through social networks and through the RSENR publicity avenues. Include results in conference presentations and talks (e.g., Dr. Gould's presentation at the North American Association for Conservation Biology in July, 2018).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Component 1: Management, community, and research history of four research forests Thirty interviews conducted with former faculty, staff, community members, and forestry professionals to understand changes in conditions and use of the Jericho Research Forest over time. Interviews have been transcribed and are being prepared for analysis. Component 2: Forest ecosystem responses to invasive species and associated adaptive management techniques This component has a number of integrated sub-projects within it. Goals and accomplishments of these sub-projects are reported below. Farm Woodlot Project. This project is reestablishing a long-term forest management experiment initiated on the Jericho Research Forest to examine the influence of past management on long-term structural and compositional development with implications for forest adaptation and mitigation. In 2016-2017 the following activities were completed: All archival datasheets manually entered into Excel 15 plots relocated and remeasured All trees stem mapped and permanently tagged Regeneration Response of Future Adapted Tree Species Project. This project is evaluating proposed adaptive silviculture treatments for addressing the impacts of changing climate regimes and invasive insects and diseases. Silvicultural treatments that include manipulations of forest canopy conditions and artificial regeneration of species projected to be adapted to future climate have been established at three UVM Research Forests and Dartmouth College's Second College Grant. In 2016-2017 the following activities were completed Measurement plots were established and baseline, preharvest measurements collected at all locations Ten seedling species were sourced and ordered, to be delivered for planting in spring 2018 Black birch, Bitternut hickory, American chestnut, Red spruce, Eastern white pine, Bigtooth aspen, Black cherry, Northern red oak, American linden, Eastern hemlock Germination under Manipulated Precipitation.As a companion project to the work examining adaptive silvicultural techniques, we have established a precipitation manipulation experiment at the Jericho Research Forest for evaluating the influence of extreme precipitation events on tree germination and establishment. In 2016-2017 the following activities were completed Plots established and baseline, preharvest measurements collected Ten forest tree species seed sourced and ordered Precipitation manipulation shelter prototype constructed Dataloggers sourced and microclimatic measurements initiated. The Role of PD in Facilitating Plant Invasions.This project will model the effect of native region phylogenetic diversity (PD) in predicting the probability of an introduced species becoming invasive in a new region. In addition to PD, other important variables, such as habitat suitability and global shipping routes, will be added to the model to explain invasibility. Dataset of 750 invasive plants, origin regions, and occurrences compiled All regional floras extracted from KEW, phylogenetic tree subset for each region, and PD estimated for each region in R Delta PD calculated for invaded / not invaded regions in R Habitat suitability models are progressing in R GLMM models, evaluations, and figures initiated in R Population Genetic Structure in the Native Range of Invasive Plants.This project will compare population genetic structure (Fst) in the native range between invasive and non-invasive plants. The objective is to explore the role of population diversity in facilitating the distribution of mutations that arise in the native range, which subsequently may be beneficial in invaded ranges. Project timeline initiated Abundance and Distribution of Picea rubens in an Elevational Tension Zone. This project will focus on the effects of climate and anthropogenic disturbances on the abundance of red spruce in VT. We will compare various silvicultural approaches over a 17 year period, considering other sources of variability such as light, climate, and beech regeneration. Plots established and baseline measurements were taken in 2001 Datasets compiled for previous years Field crews established and field season scheduled for July 2018 Grant proposal for additional funding is progressing Component 3:The impact of education on concern about and emotional reaction to forest management treatments Relationships have been established with members of the refugee community in Burlington, VT An initial meeting to gather feedback on research questions has been scheduled to support the community-based nature of this component. Component 4:Evaluating sustainability education at four research forests All data collected during the previous reporting period has been analyzed using NVivo 11 Software. Research under this component has been completed and a manuscript is currently under review in the Journal of Environmental Education. Integration across Components The postdoctoral associate (Kimberly Coleman) has convened a working group with member from each component. The working group is currently meeting bi-weekly to write a manuscript that integrates ideas and concepts from each component.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Fredericko, I., Coleman, K., & Gould, R. (2017). Sustainability across the Disciplines. Poster presented at the University of Vermont Student Research Conference, Burlington, VT.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2017 Citation: DAmato, A.W. 2017. Silviculture in the face of uncertainty: is the past still relevant? Invited Keynote Presentation. 11th North American Forest Ecology Workshop, Edmonton, Alberta. June 20.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2017 Citation: D'Amato, A.W. 2017. Strategies for managing forests to increase drought tolerance. Invited presentation. New England Society of American Foresters Winter Meeting, Bangor, ME. March 8.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2017 Citation: Coleman, K. and Gould, R. (in review) One Universitys Sustainability Requirement: Disciplines, Diversity and Equity. Journal of Environmental Education.

Progress 12/17/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Each component of the overall research will have specific stakeholders and audience groups of interest and our initial focus will be on projects discussed with partnering organizations, including the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Green Forestry Education Initiative, Vermont Monitoring Cooperative, UVM Center for Digital Initiatives, UVM Libraries Special Collections, Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, TNC's Wise on Weeds program, Vermont Urban and Community Forests, USDA Forest Service, and Vermont Land Trust. UVM graduate and undergraduate students will be engaged throughout the research. As part of the research team and by helping to organize and participate in working groups, the students will be engaged in all aspects of the proposed integrated research and will gain experience in collaboration across natural history, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. Each graduate student will lead the development of primary research and publications from his or her component of the project, with detailed input and feedback from co-PIs as mentors. In addition to the research itself, co-PIs will mentor the graduate and undergraduate students in developing research presentations for professional meetings (meeting attendance is included in funding) and preparing manuscripts for publication. In sum, the co-PIs consider research mentorship to encompass quantitative, qualitative, writing, and presentation skills as well as helping the mentee to develop his or her philosophy of scientific research. Moreover, given the applied nature of this project and high level of stakeholder engagement required, students will gain additional experience conducting engaged research, an important component of which is translating their research to a broad audience of laypeople, practitioners, and management agencies through formal and informal presentations and meetings. Finally, the project co-PIs are committed to fostering an environment of interdisciplinary inquiry, and involving both students and partners (according to interest) in that generative inquiry. To this end, the project will hold regular meetings throughout its duration to allow for interaction across disciplines and project components. This interdisciplinary environment will include connecting relevant results with other ongoing McIntire-Stennis projects in RSENR to encourage broad collaboration and exposure to a wide diversity of disciplines and perspectives. Changes/Problems:Component 1: Dr. Derrien (former post-doc) took a job out of Vermont, and her role on the project was substituted with a current graduate student (Margaux Reckard). Component 2:The "Forest for the Birds" lacks the pre-treatment data to include in our research, therefore we will no longer include these in the study. Component 3: None to report. Component 4: After meeting with stakeholders, we changed our plan for data collection and analysis to better work with partners across the university to answer the central question of how sustainability varies across the disciplinary units at UVM and role that place-based components play. Instead of constructing a survey geared at students enrolled in classes that met the sustainability requirements, we were able to obtain all of the proposals for courses that were approved under the university's sustainability requirement. This was a direct result of collaboration with stakeholders. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project is training and providing professional development, for instance through conference attendance, for post-docs and graduate students. These are: Kirsten Tyler, PhD student, attended Annual Interagency Forum on Invasive Species in Annapolis, MD. Kim Coleman, Research Associate, participated in an online course on R and RStudio. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated preliminary findings at a variety of professional meetings, conferences, and workshops. Presentations have included the following: D'Amato, A.W. 2016. Sustaining forest ecosystems in the face of global change. Marine Biological Laboratory Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series. Woods Hole, MA. September 16. Workshops included the following: None to report What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Component 1: Management, community, and research history of four research forests Complete data entry and scanning of JRF on-site documents, with priority documents being archived in University Library. Develop metadata describing dates, locations, methods, and measurements employed for each recorded research forest study. Conduct interviews with past University employees associated with research forests to flesh-out research metadata and locate additional research records. Conduct planned interviews with experts and local community leaders and residents, to develop forest narratives. Component 2:Forest ecosystem responses to invasive species and associated adaptive management techniques Mark treatments and establish permanent measurement plots for long-term silviculture experiments. Collect and integrate dendrochronological data with long-term plot measurements from historic "Farm Woodlot" study digitized under Component 1. Begin drafting manuscript based on long-term datasets collected at "Farm Woodlot" study that examines influence of management on biomass dynamics and functional composition. Attend and present at Annual Interagency Forum on Invasive Species in Annapolis, MD and AAAS in Austin, TX. Attend and present at New England Society of American Foresters Winter Meeting in Bangor, ME. Component 3:The impact of education on concern about and emotional reaction to forest management treatments Recruit PhD student. Establish relationships with organizations working with refugees. Collaborate with these organizations to design educational interventions that are culturally appropriate and meet our research objectives. Design survey, interview, and observational instruments for data collection. Make logistical arrangements for delivering interventions and conducting forest visits. Component 4:Evaluating sustainability education at four research forests Complete initial analysis of data and, based on findings, create a plan for future rounds of data collection and analysis. Undergraduate researcher to present at upcoming conference at UVM. Begin drafting manuscript based on preliminary findings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Component 1: Management, community, and research history of four research forests A portion of paper records and print photographs, and all slide photographs found in the Jericho Research Forest (JRF) filing cabinets have been digitized. We are developing a protocol for prioritizing further scanning and archiving with the Center for Digital Initiatives (they cannot archive all material, so mustchoose priorities). About 70% of data from the JRF old"Farm Woodlot" study has been entered into spreadsheets at this time - this study has the largest quantity of data currently stored in the JRF on-site files. All on-site files were inventoried and indexed by the undergraduate research technician last summer, and a rough timeline of research activities - as recorded in those files - has been developed. We have been developing lists of potential interviewees, gathering background materials to inform interview question development, and preparing required materials for Human Subjects Review by the UVM Institutional Review Board. Component 2:Forest ecosystem responses to invasive species and associated adaptive management techniques We have successfully recruited and hired 2 PhD students to co-lead the multiple objectives in Component 2. We have identified research areas for establishing long-term adaptive silvicultural treatments on the UVM research forests We recruited a UVM Honors student to work on examining the climate response of different tree species growing in long-term forest management experiments at Jericho Research Forest. Component 3:The impact of education on concern about and emotional reaction to forest management treatments We are finalizing selection of a PhD student to serve as the student lead on this research; our final selection will be the culmination of a multi-month process of interviewing and considering over 30 candidates for the position. We have developed relationships with the community of UVM researchers working with Burlington's refugee population. We have attended meetings of the group (~10 faculty from across the university) and had multiple one-on-one meetings to discuss the goals of this project, the needs and interests of the refugee community, and how they might intersect. This will position us well to build and solidify relationships once the PhD student comes on board. Component 4:Evaluating sustainability education at four research forests Successful outreach to stakeholders across the university involved with the new sustainability requirement, including Dr. Alan Tinkler and Wendy Verrrei-Berenback. This outreach led to collaboration and refinement of our data collection and analysis. Successfully collected initial data in the form of all the sustainability course proposals for 16/17 academic year. First round of data coding is scheduled to be complete by 2/16/17 and initial analysis will begin. This will inform the potential collection of additional data in the form of interviews. Our undergraduate research assistant will be presenting preliminary results at the UVM undergraduate research conference in April of 2017.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: D'Amato, A.W. 2016. Sustaining forest ecosystems in the face of global change. Marine Biological Laboratory Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series. Woods Hole, MA. September 16.