The amount of mercury found in plants and animals is continuing to rise to toxic levels making it extremely dangerous to the infected plant or animal as well as any higher level food chain animals that may eat it. This research study focuses on proposing strategies that will set limits on power plants, cars, farms and other industrial processes in order to slow down the effects and production of acid rain, algal blooms and mercury. Nitrogen Deposition Effects in California and the Pacific Northwest As drought regimes change, the ability to quantify and predict the impacts on forests and rangelands is critical to developing and implementing management actions to increase resiliency and adaptation. Management actions can either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of drought. Historical and paleoclimatic evidence shows that drought has always impacted the physical environment and will continue to do so. Drought can be a severe natural disaster with substantial social and economic consequences. In simple terms, drought is a lack of water over a given temporal and spatial scale. Current Research Highlights Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands in the United States Watershed Management Tools can also be used to educate the general public about ways to protect and improve watersheds.
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These tools help natural resource managers, planners, and landowners decide how to manage forest and grassland watersheds. Scientists also look at the effects of these events on watersheds located in the forest or grassland.
This research focus area examines how extreme events, including storms, fire, invasive species, and more, have on the water, air and soil in a natural area. Pollution added to an atmosphere, water, or soil will directly or indirectly affect a natural area, either immediately or in the future.
This research focus area looks at the long term effects of climate change on the water, air and soil within a natural area. This research focus area strives to understand the basic processes of water, air and soil and how they are affected by many disturbances including fire, drought, invasive species and more. Forest Service Research and Development focuses on the following four focus areas involving water, air and soil: Basic Processes Research on water, air and soil provides scientists with information about these critical natural resources, how they are changing, and what is affecting them. What research is being conducted to protect these natural resources? Forest activities that can affect air quality such as prescribed burning, ski areas, and mining are also monitored to ensure compliance with air regulations for human health and to monitor possible impacts to natural resources. The Forest Service monitors the effects of air pollution that may impair visibility, harm human health, injure trees and other plants, acidify or cause unnatural fertilization of streams and lakes, leach nutrients from soils, and degrade cultural resources, like archeological sites and historical buildings. Air must be monitored in order to control and lower pollution levels, control smoke caused by wildland fires, and to monitor air quality. Understanding the ability and capacity of soil to support an ecosystem plays an important role in land management decisions.Īir is a third critical resource for humans, plants, animals and all other organisms within a natural area. Soil provides nutrients, water, oxygen and heat to natural land areas. The Forest Service manages the largest single source of water in U.S., with about one-fifth originating from 193 million acres of land which provides drinking water to 180 million people every day. Water is one of the most important natural resources flowing from forests. The Forest Service strives to protect, maintain, and restore these valuable assets now and into the future. Water, air, and soil are three natural resources that we cannot live without.
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