Influence of moisture, nutrients, and distance from stream on early-stage mass loss of western red cedar leaf litter in headwater riparian forests

Western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D.Don) is a dominant species in forests of the Pacific Northwest in North America, but little is known about its decomposition in riparian habitat. We experimentally tested how early-stage mass loss of cedar leaf litter varied with distance from the stream (five distances from 1 to 40 m away) and responded to nutrient and water additions near four headwater streams in southwestern British Columbia. We ran three coarse-mesh litterbag trials in durations between five months to one year from January 2013 and January 2014. Litterbags were either untreated or given the following treatments: water additions during dry summer months, nitrogen and phosphorus additions, or additions of both. Control litterbags lost 21% initial mass over 12 months (January 2013 – January 2014), 20% over five months (January 2013 – June 2013), and 15% over eight months (June 2013 – January 2014). Rates of mass loss did not increase with water in any trial but did increase with nutrients in the 12-month trial. Litter located 40 m from the stream lost 7% more mass than that located 1 m away in this same trial. Our study indicates that cedar leaf litter mass loss responded primarily to nutrient additions.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Communicating science: Sending the right message to the right audience

For science communication to be effective, scientists must understand which sources of information their target audiences most frequently use and trust. We surveyed academic and non-academic scientists, natural resource managers, policymakers, students, and the general public about how they access, trust, and communicate scientific information. We found trust and use of information sources was related to participant age and group identity, but all groups had high levels of use and trust of personal experience and colleagues. Academic journals were the most trusted source by all groups, and social media the least trusted by most groups. The level of communication between target groups was not always bilateral, with the public generally perceiving their interaction with all other groups as low. These results provide remarkable insight into the flow of scientific information. We present these findings in the context of facilitating information flow between scientists and other stakeholders of scientific information