Research and Publications
Read UT Conservation Plan.
This Plan identifies strategies to address localized threats to sage-grouse populations in Utah. Those strategies include—but are not limited to—the following:
- Identify the highest-priority sage-grouse habitats and migration corridors, and protect at least 5,000 of those acres annually through conservation easements, or other mechanisms.
- Improve and increase sage-grouse seasonal habitats by 75,000 acres each year, including riparian and mesic habitats.
- Monitor sage-grouse population trends annually and, if necessary, implement adaptive management responses to ensure that priority populations remain viable and stable.
- Coordinate with local, state and federal firefighting jurisdictions to include sage-grouse habitats as a priority during pre-fire attack planning and suppression, second only to the protection of human life and property.
- Fund, support and implement critical research that supports the implementation of this Plan.
View article.
Of our estimated 3.7 Mkm2 of rangeland in the continental US and Alaska, an average of 38 000 km2 burned per year between 2008 and 2017. To highlight the role of soils in fire ecology, we present 1) a conceptual framework explaining why soil information can be useful for fire models, 2) a comprehensive suite of literature examples that used soil property information in traditional soil survey for predicting wildfire, and 3) specific examples of how more detailed soil information can be applied for pre- and post-fire decisions.
The Revegetation Equipment Catalog provides provides descriptions, applications, photos, and vendors of equipment used for seed collection and cleaning, site preparation, revegetation, and vegetation management.
View progress report.
This document highlights work being done to address each goal of the Seed Strategy, followed by ecoregional projects that illustrate the extent of collaborations that are underway to lay the foundation for a more comprehensive network of collectors, testers, and growers to make native plants more available across the country.
Strategy actions are centered around four major goals:
- Identifying and quantifying seed needs
- Undertaking research and improving technologies for seed production and use
- Developing tools for land managers
- Ensuring good communications
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This article examines findings from a 2016 study on gender and leadership within the British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS), Canada. The study utilized action research to facilitate an in-depth conversation among wildland firefighters about gender and leadership, and to explore participant-derived actions steps within the BCWS towards a perceived ideal future(s). The study found widespread occurrences of gender discrimination in the day-to-day practice of leadership, and that gender made a difference for wildland firefighters’ experiences of normative workplace culture. In their practice of leadership, participants described a trade-off between gender diversity and excellence. The article concludes that the practice of leadership within wildland fire must include open dialogue about, and strategic engagement with, gendered cultural norms within the workplace in order to dispel myths and latent beliefs, and support what firefighters in this study defined as ‘excellent leadership’.
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In a collaborative study, we monitored plant species composition following control of non-native Tamarix trees along southwestern U.S. rivers using defoliation by an introduced biocontrol beetle, and three physical removal methods: mechanical using saws, heavy machinery, and burning. Physical removal favored secondary invasions immediately after Tamarix removal (0–3 yrs.), while in the biocontrol treatment, secondary invasions manifested later (> 5 yrs.). Within this general trend, the response of weeds to control was idiosyncratic; dependent on treatment type and invader. Two annual tumbleweeds that only reproduce by seed (Bassia scoparia and Salsola tragus) peaked immediately after physical Tamarix removal and persisted over time, even after herbicide application. Acroptilon repens, a perennial forb that vigorously reproduces by rhizomes, and Bromus tectorum, a very frequent annual grass before removal that only reproduces by seed, were most successful at biocontrol sites, and progressively spread as the canopy layer opened. These results demonstrate that strategies to control Tamarix affect secondary invasions differently among species and that time since disturbance is an important, generally overlooked, factor affecting response.
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Most people, including many familiar with fire ecology and future climate, assume that the area burned by wildfire will increase in a warmer climate. This depends a lot on what kind of ecosystem we mean. In all ecosystems, fuels must be available to fire for fires to get very big, but the climate controls on those fuels vary widely with vegetation. In wetter forests, it takes an abnormally warm, dry year to make normally wet fuels available. But in many drier ecosystems, fuels are dry enough to burn most years—whether fires get big depends also on whether there is sufficient fuel available to carry fires over large areas. In this kind of vegetation, abnormally wet years in the year prior to fire can create larger or more connected fuels that then lead to larger fires. In this study, we use this concept to investigate how future area burned might be affected by climate change. We found that some ecosystems will burn much more, just as expected. But some will actually burn less. We characterized these futures for 70 different ecosystems around the West. The similarities and differences illustrate the range of futures that might be expected under climate change.
View research brief.
We have been studying the WUI in the U.S. for more than 10 years, looking at where WUI areas were once located, where they are now, and where we expect them to be in the coming decades. Our new data set provides the first high-resolution data on WUI change from 1990 to 2010, revealing how housing growth and wildland vegetation have combined over time. We developed new algorithms that converted the decennial Census standalone data into a consistent dataset on housing growth across the conterminous U.S.
View report.
This report synthesized insights from current understanding of drought impacts at stand-to-biogeographic scales, including management options, and we identify challenges to be addressed with new research. Large stand-level shifts underway in western forests already are showing the importance of interactions involving drought, insects, and fire. Diebacks, changes in composition and structure, and shifting range limits are widely observed. Throughout the continental United States, the combination of projected large climate-induced shifts in suitable habitat from modeling studies and limited potential for the rapid migration of tree populations suggests that changing tree and forest biogeography could substantially lag habitat shifts already underway. Forest management practices can partially ameliorate drought impacts through reductions in stand density, selection of drought-tolerant species and genotypes, artificial regeneration, and the development of multistructured stands. However, silvicultural treatments also could exacerbate drought impacts unless implemented with careful attention to site and stand characteristics. Gaps in our understanding should motivate new research on the effects of interactions involving climate and other species at the stand scale and how interactions and multiple responses are represented in models. This assessment indicates that, without a stronger empirical basis for drought impacts at the stand scale, more complex models may provide limited guidance.
View Volume 1
View Volume 2
Fifty years ago, riparian habitats were not recognized for their extensive and critical contributions to wildlife and the ecosystem function of watersheds. This changed as riparian values were identified and documented, and the science of riparian ecology developed steadily. Papers in this volume range from the more mesic northwestern United States to the arid Southwest and Mexico. More than two dozen authors – most with decades of experience – review the origins of riparian science in the western United States, document what is currently known about riparian ecosystems, and project future needs. Topics are widespread and include: interactions with fire, climate change, and declining water; impacts from exotic species; unintended consequences of biological control; the role of small mammals; watershed response to beavers; watershed and riparian changes; changes below large dams; water birds of the Colorado River Delta; and terrestrial vertebrates of mesquite bosques. Appendices and references chronicle the field’s literature, authors, “riparian pioneers,” and conferences.