FRESC Snake River Field Station
FRESC Cascadia Field Station
FRESC Olympic Field Station
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Scientists from the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center capitalize on their diverse expertise to answer scientific questions shaped by the environments of the western United States. We collaborate with each other and with partners to provide rigorous, objective, and timely information and guidance to support management, conservation, and restoration of the Nation's natural resources.
FRESC Research Teams
FRESC Research Teams
FRESC scientists, individually or collaboratively with partners, investigate high-priority questions about biological systems.
News
Inaugural USGS Wildlife Health Awareness Day - April 25, 2025
Inaugural USGS Wildlife Health Awareness Day - April 25, 2025
New study on the economics of public land treatments reveals treatment characteristics influence costs
New study on the economics of public land treatments reveals treatment characteristics influence costs
Long-term drought assessment: hydrologic, ecological, and social impacts
Long-term drought assessment: hydrologic, ecological, and social impacts
Publications
Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress
An ecological threshold is the point at which a comparatively small environmental change triggers an abrupt and disproportionately large ecological response. In the face of accelerating climate change, there is concern that abrupt ecosystem transformations will become more widespread as critical ecological thresholds are crossed. There has been ongoing debate, however, regarding the...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center
Costs of land treatments on public lands in the western United States
Public land managers often conduct rehabilitation and restoration actions to achieve desired conditions or specific natural resource objectives. These “land treatments” include a variety of techniques, such as biomass removal or manipulation, seeding, and herbicide application. Limited information exists on the costs of conducting many common types of land treatments, but such...
Invasion of perennial sagebrush steppe by shallow-rooted exotic cheatgrass reduces stable forms of soil carbon in a warmer but not cooler ecoregion
Soil organic carbon ('SOC') in drylands comprises nearly a third of the global SOC pool and has relatively rapid turnover and thus is a key driver of variability in the global carbon cycle. SOC is also a sensitive indicator of longer-term directional change and disturbance-responses of ecosystem C storage. Biome-scale disruption of the dryland carbon cycle by exotic annual grass...
Science
USGS Technical Transfer for Department of Defense Installations in the Sagebrush Biome
The USGS has initiated a new collaboration effort with Department of Defense (DoD) in the sagebrush biome. The goal of this effort is to establish a network with DoD resource managers to define pervasive natural resource issues facing DoD installations and to identify existing innovative USGS science and tools that support DoD resource managers. Through this effort, the USGS will provide subject...
Prey Availability
Migratory wildlife need to balance the benefits of migration and reproduction with the physiological costs. This is particularly challenging in dynamic environments like wetlands, where food levels can vary greatly from year to year. For shorebirds in the Great Basin region, saline or terminal lakes provide essential habitats during their annual life cycle. To understand how changes in hydrology...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Nevada Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment
LTDL and LTET Team (FRESC)
The Land Treatment Digital Library (LTDL) and The Land Treatment Exploration Tool (LTET) are practical resources for land managers planning restoration and rehabilitation projects on public lands.