Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC)
Publications
Ecosystems science: Genes to landscapes
The ecological uncertainty of wildfire fuel breaks: examples from the sagebrush steppe
Fuel breaks are increasingly being implemented at broad scales (100s to 10,000s of square kilometers) in fire‐prone landscapes globally, yet there is little scientific information available regarding their ecological effects (eg habitat fragmentation). Fuel breaks are designed to reduce flammable vegetation (ie fuels), increase the safety and...
Shinneman, Douglas; Germino, Matthew J.; Pilliod, David S.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Vaillant, Nicole; Coates, Peter S. Spatial variation in aquatic invertebrate and riparian songbird mercury exposure across a river-reservoir system with a legacy of mercury contamination
Mercury (Hg) loading and methylation in aquatic systems causes a variety of deleterious effects for fish and wildlife populations. Relatively little research has focused on Hg movement into riparian food webs and how this is modulated by habitat characteristics. This study characterized differences in Hg exposure in aquatic invertebrates and...
Jackson, Allyson K.; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Emery, Colleen
An experimental test of weed-suppressive bacteria effectiveness in rangelands in southwestern Idaho, 2016–18
Approaches and techniques for control of exotic annual grasses are a high priority in sagebrush-steppe and other rangelands. Strains of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf) have been proposed to be selectively pathogenic to multiple species of exotic annual grasses with effects evident by the second year, and with no effect on native or...
Lazarus, Brynne E.; Germino, Matthew J.
Wildland Fire Science—Supporting wildland fire and land management
The U.S. Geological Survey's Wildland Fire Science Program produces fundamental information to identify the causes of wildfires, understand the impacts and benefits of both wildfires and prescribed fires, and help prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events. Our fire scientists provide information and develop tools that are widely used by...
Steblein, Paul F.; Miller, Mark P.; Soileau, Suzanna C. Adaptive Management and Monitoring
This is a chapter in a technical report that is the second of two works describing longer-term actions to implement policies and strategies for preventing and suppressing rangeland fire and restoring rangeland landscapes affected by fire in the Western United States. The first part, Chambers et al 2017, "Science Framework for conservation and...
Wiechman , Lief A. ; Pyke, David A.; Crist, Michele R.; Munson, Seth; Brooks, Matthew; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Rowland, Mary M.; Kachergis, Emily J; Davidson, Zoe Three-dimensional partitioning of resources by congeneric forest predators with recent sympatry
Coexistence of ecologically similar species can be maintained by partitioning along one or more niche axes. Three-dimensional structural complexity is central to facilitating resource partitioning between many forest species, but is underrepresented in field-based studies. We examined resource selection by sympatric northern spotted owls (Strix...
Jenkins, Julianna M; Lesmeister, Damon B.; Wiens, David; Kane, Jonathan T; Kane, Van R.; Verschuyl, Jake V Changes in genetic diversity and differentiation in Red‐cockaded woodpeckers (Dryobates borealis) over the past century
Red‐cockaded woodpeckers (RCW; Dryobates borealis) declined after human activities reduced their fire‐maintained pine ecosystem to <3% of its historical range in the southeastern United States and degraded remaining habitat. An estimated 1.6 million RCW cooperative breeding groups declined to about 3,500 groups with no more than 10,000 birds by...
Miller, Mark P.; Vilstrup, Julia T.; Mullins, Thomas D.; McDearmon, Will; Walters, Jeffrey R.; Haig, Susan M.
Life-history model for sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) at Lake Ozette, northwestern Washington—Users' guide
Salmon populations spawning in the Lake Ozette watershed of northwestern Washington were once sufficiently abundant to support traditional Tribal fisheries, and were later harvested by settlers. However, in 1974 and 1975, the sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) harvest decreased to 0 from a high of more than 17,500 in 1949, thus stimulating...
Woodward, Andrea; Haggerty, Mike; Crain, Patrick Wildlife mortality at wind facilities: How we know what we know how we might mislead ourselves, and how we set our future course
To accurately estimate per turbine – or per megawatt – annual wildlife mortality at wind facilities, the raw counts of carcasses found must be adjusted for four major sources of imperfect detection: (1) fatalities that occur outside the monitoring period; (2) carcasses that land outside the monitored area; (3) carcasses that are removed by...
Huso, Manuela M. Stream metabolism increases with drainage area and peaks asynchronously across a stream network
Quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics of stream metabolism across stream networks is key to understanding carbon cycling and stream food web ecology. To better understand intra-annual temporal patterns of gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) and their variability across space, we continuously measured dissolved...
Mejia, Francine H.; Fremier, Alexander K.; Benjamin, Joseph R.; Bellmore, J. Ryan; Grimm, Adrianne Z.; Watson, Grace A.; Newsom, Michael Vegetation and precipitation shifts interact to alter organic and inorganic carbon storage in cold desert soils
Dryland ecosystems are experiencing shifts in rainfall and plant community composition, which are expected to alter cycling and storage of soil carbon (C). Few experiments have been conducted to examine long‐term effects on (1) soil organic C (SOC) pools throughout the soil profile, and (2) soil inorganic C (SIC) pools as they relate to dynamic...
Huber, David P.; Lohse, Kathleen A.; Commendador, Amy; Joy, Stephen; Aho, Ken A.; Finney, Bruce P.; Germino, Matthew J. Trends in landbird density at two national parks in fragmented, mixed-use landscapes of the Pacific Northwest
National parks play a key role in conserving species by providing landscapes where threats from anthropogenic disturbance are reduced. In a recent study of 3 large wilderness parks in the Pacific Northwest, nearly all landbird species were found to be stable or increasing. Nonetheless, contemporary results from the Breeding Bird Survey and mark-...
Holmgren, M.; Wilkerson, R.; Siegel, R.; Ransom, J.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Boetsch, J.; Ray, Chris; Holmgren, Mandy; Wilkerson, Robert L.; Siegel, Rodney B.; Boetsch, John R.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Ransom, Jason I.