Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
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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 for the management and conservation of biological systems in the West and worldwide.
FRESC Research Teams
FRESC scientists, individually or collaboratively with partners, investigate high-priority questions about biological systems.
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News
A Chemical and Bio-Herbicide Mixture Increased Exotic Invaders, Both Targeted and Non-Targeted, Across a Diversely Invaded Landscape After Fire
Herbicides sprayed to inhibit exotic annual grass germination and establishment can have unintended effects, including the release of secondary invaders or damage to native plant species.
Weather Affects Post-Fire Recovery of Sagebrush-Steppe Communities and Model Transferability Among Sites
Altered climate, including weather extremes, can affect vegetative recovery after disturbances. USGS researchers compared models to determine how annual and perennial grass cover and sagebrush density responded to wildfire and weather.
Surface-Air Mercury Fluxes and a Watershed Mass Balance in Forested and Harvested Catchments
Forest soils can act as repositories for atmospherically deposited mercury, yet forestry practices can influence mercury mobility and fluxes, food web dynamics, and bioaccumulation processes.
Publications
Weather affects post‐fire recovery of sagebrush‐steppe communities and model transferability among sites
Altered climate, including weather extremes, can cause major shifts in vegetative recovery after disturbances. Predictive models that can identify the separate and combined temporal effects of disturbance and weather on plant communities and that are transferable among sites are needed to guide vulnerability assessments and management...
Applestein, Cara; Caughlin, Trevor; Germino, Matthew Post-fire management targeting invasive annual grasses may have inadvertently released the exotic perennial forb Chondrilla juncea and suppressed its biocontrol agent
Top-down and bottom-up factors affecting invasive populations are rarely considered simultaneously, yet their interactive responses to disturbances and management interventions can be essential to understanding invasion patterns. We evaluated post-fire responses of the exotic perennial forb Chondrilla juncea (rush skeletonweed) and its...
Lazarus, Brynne E.; Germino, Matthew Examining historical mercury sources in the Saint Louis River estuary: How legacy contamination influences biological mercury levels in Great Lakes coastal regions
Industrial chemical contamination within coastal regions of the Great Lakes can pose serious risks to wetland habitat and offshore fisheries, often resulting in fish consumption advisories that directly affect human and wildlife health. Mercury (Hg) is a contaminant of concern in many of these highly urbanized and industrialized coastal...
Janssen, Sarah E.; Hoffman, Joel C.; Lepak, Ryan F.; Krabbenhoft, David P.; Walters, David; Eagles-Smith, Collin; Peterson, Greg; Ogorek, Jacob M.; DeWild, John F.; Cotter, Anne M; Pearson, Mark; Tate, Michael T.; Yeardley, Roger B.; Mills, Marc A.