A5046666853- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Forest ecology and management
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
- Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies
- Forest Management and Policy
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Plant responses to elevated CO2
- Tree-ring climate responses
- Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
- Seedling growth and survival studies
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Yeasts and Rust Fungi Studies
- Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
- Plant Pathogens and Resistance
- Plant and animal studies
- Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications
The Nature Conservancy
2014-2024
Oregon State University
2007-2019
Increasing fire severity and warmer, drier postfire conditions are making forests in the western United States (West) vulnerable to ecological transformation. Yet, relative importance of interactions between these drivers forest change remain unresolved, particularly over upcoming decades. Here, we assess how interactive impacts changing climate wildfire activity influenced conifer regeneration after 334 wildfires, using a dataset from 10,230 field plots. Our findings highlight declining...
Increased understanding of how mechanical thinning, prescribed burning, and wildfire affect subsequent severity is urgently needed as people forests face a growing crisis. In response, we reviewed scientific literature for the US West completed meta-analysis that answered three questions: (1) How much do treatments reduce within treated areas? (2) effects vary with treatment type, age, forest type? (3) does fire weather moderate treatments? We found overwhelming evidence thinning pile...
Abstract The future of dry forests around the world is uncertain given predictions that rising temperatures and enhanced aridity will increase drought‐induced tree mortality. Using forest management ecological restoration to reduce density competition for water offers one few pathways managers can potentially minimize Competition during drought leads elevated mortality in dense stands, although influence on heat‐induced stress durations hot or conditions most impact remain unclear....
Abstract Restoring forest ecosystems has become an increasingly high priority for land managers across the American West. Millions of hectares are in need drastic yet strategic reductions density (e.g., basal area). Meeting restoration and management goals requires quantifying metrics vertical horizontal structure, which relied upon field‐based measurements, manned airborne or satellite remote sensing datasets. We used unmanned aerial vehicle ( UAV ) image‐derived Structure‐from‐Motion (SfM)...
Higher tree density, more fuels, and a warmer, drier climate have caused an increase in the frequency, size, severity of wildfires western U.S. forests. There is urgent need to restore forests across United States. To address this need, Forest Service began Four Restoration Initiative (4FRI) four national Arizona. The objective study was evaluate how restoration ~400,000 ha under 4FRI program projected change would influence carbon dynamics wildfire from 2010 2099. Specifically, we estimated...
Drought-induced tree mortality is predicted to increase in dry forests across the globe as future projections show hotter, drier climates. This could potentially result large-scale die-offs, changes species composition, and loss of forest ecosystem services, including carbon storage. While some studies have found that stands with greater basal areas (BA) higher drought mortality, many not evaluated extent which restored lower densities via restoration activities affect mortality. The...
Abstract Wildland fires have a multitude of ecological effects in forests, woodlands, and savannas across the globe. A major focus past research has been on tree mortality from fire, as trees provide vast range biological services. We assembled database individual-tree records prescribed wildfires United States. The Fire Tree Mortality (FTM) includes 164,293 individual with fire injury (crown scorch, bole char, etc.), diameter, either or top-kill up to ten years post-fire. Data span 142...
Abstract The escalating climate and wildfire crises have generated worldwide interest in using proactive forest management (e.g. thinning, prescribed fire, cultural burning) to mitigate the risk of wildfire-caused carbon loss forests. To estimate western United States (US) conifer forests, we used a generalizable framework evaluate interactions among hazard exposure vulnerability. By evaluating where high social adaptive capacity for overlaps with most vulnerable loss, identified opportunity...
Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests are widely distributed throughout North America and subject to mountain beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) epidemics, which have caused mortality over millions of hectares mature trees in recent decades. Mountain is known influence stand structure, has the ability impact many forest processes. Dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum) also influences structure occurs frequently post-mountain epidemic lodgepole forests. Few studies incorporated both...
Abstract Increasing aridity is a challenge for forest managers and reducing stand density to minimize competition recognized strategy mitigate drought impacts on growth. In many dry forests, the most widespread common management programs currently being implemented focus restoration of historical structures, primarily fire risk enhance watershed function. The implications these projects vulnerability are not well understood. Here, we examined how planned treatments in Four Forests...
We investigated the vertical pattern of foliage retention Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in western Oregon Coast Range where Swiss needle cast, a disease caused by Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, is causing loss and growth impacts. cast reduced more upper crown than lower within epidemic area, which unusual as diseases usually reduce most crown. hypothesized that increased across environmental gradients it would also increase at greater rate randomly selected 72 sites from population...
Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins; MPB), a bark native to western North America, has caused vast areas of tree mortality over the last several decades. The majority this been in lodgepole (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon) forests and heightened concerns potential for extreme fire behavior across large landscapes. Although considerable research emerged concerning influence MPB on forest fuels, there little work climax south-central Oregon, USA. Specifically, we assessed...
Western land managers desire a method to discriminate between individual live and dead trees support postfire management decisions such as salvage logging. Logistic regression models have been suggested for this purpose following prescribed fire wildfire ponderosa pine (Pinus Dougl. Ex Laws.). Goodness of fit the model is not sufficient good discrimination. We demonstrate methods evaluate discriminatory ability using six previously published logistic five data sets tree mortality. The area...