Fire Ecology in Dynamic Ecosystems Team (FRESC) Active
Understanding how fire and other disturbances affect ecosystem health and resiliency is critically important for land managers and for society as a whole.
Our research centers on three related areas of interest to:
- develop a better understanding of the historical role of fire and other natural disturbances in shaping ecosystem diversity, structure, and function
- investigate how plant communities and disturbance regimes change over time, especially due to land use, nonnative species, and climate
- aid effective management, restoration, and conservation of ecosystems and the goods and services they provide
Although Fire Ecology is a primary focus, our research is shaped by the disciplines of Landscape Ecology, Restoration Ecology, and Conservation Biology and is applied across a variety of forest, woodland, and shrubland ecosystems in numerous North American locations. Our research projects typically encompass broad temporal and spatial scales, and we use a wide-variety of tools, including traditional vegetation sampling techniques, dendrochronology, GIS, statistical analysis, and ecosystem modeling.
Specific research topics include Disturbance History in Natural Communities, Role of Fire and Fuels in Ecological Restoration, and Modeling Disturbance and Ecosystem Change at Landscape Scales.
Primary Investigator
Doug Shinneman - Supervisory Research Fire Ecologist
Federal Staff
Susan McIlroy - Ecologist, 208-426-5218, smcilroy@usgs.gov
Kaitlin Maguire - Ecologist, 208-426-2892, kmaguire@usgs.gov
Science Themes of the FRESC Fire Ecology in Dynamic Ecosystems Team are highlighted below.
Role of Fire and Fuels in Ecological Restoration
Modeling Disturbance and Ecosystem Change at Landscape Scales
Disturbance History in Natural Communities
- Overview
Understanding how fire and other disturbances affect ecosystem health and resiliency is critically important for land managers and for society as a whole.
Our research centers on three related areas of interest to:
- develop a better understanding of the historical role of fire and other natural disturbances in shaping ecosystem diversity, structure, and function
- investigate how plant communities and disturbance regimes change over time, especially due to land use, nonnative species, and climate
- aid effective management, restoration, and conservation of ecosystems and the goods and services they provide
Although Fire Ecology is a primary focus, our research is shaped by the disciplines of Landscape Ecology, Restoration Ecology, and Conservation Biology and is applied across a variety of forest, woodland, and shrubland ecosystems in numerous North American locations. Our research projects typically encompass broad temporal and spatial scales, and we use a wide-variety of tools, including traditional vegetation sampling techniques, dendrochronology, GIS, statistical analysis, and ecosystem modeling.
Specific research topics include Disturbance History in Natural Communities, Role of Fire and Fuels in Ecological Restoration, and Modeling Disturbance and Ecosystem Change at Landscape Scales.
Primary Investigator
Doug Shinneman - Supervisory Research Fire Ecologist
Federal Staff
Susan McIlroy - Ecologist, 208-426-5218, smcilroy@usgs.gov
Kaitlin Maguire - Ecologist, 208-426-2892, kmaguire@usgs.gov
- Science
Science Themes of the FRESC Fire Ecology in Dynamic Ecosystems Team are highlighted below.
Role of Fire and Fuels in Ecological Restoration
Fuel loads are important drivers of fire behavior, and fire is an important natural process that can also be used as a tool for ecological restoration purposes. Land managers and fire experts attempt to track and manipulate fuel loads in order to assess fire risk, control fire behavior, and restore ecosystems. Thus, understanding the relationships between fire, vegetation dynamics, and fuel loads...Modeling Disturbance and Ecosystem Change at Landscape Scales
Models can be used to investigate changes in ecosystems and disturbance regimes across large landscapes and over long periods of time, i.e., at spatial and temporal scales that are typically not possible or practical using field-based observational or experimental methods. These spatially explicit models can also be used to investigate complex relationships and interactions among various...Disturbance History in Natural Communities
Disturbance is an important process in most natural communities, shaping ecosystem composition, structure, and function. Studying and quantifying natural disturbance regimes (e.g., fire) often reveal complex relationships with climate, vegetation, and topography, as well as with other disturbance agents (e.g., insects and wind). Characterizing and quantifying past disturbances regimes is also key... - News