Plant-Soil-Environment Laboratory (FRESC)
Science Center Objects
We produce basic and applied science needed to manage landscapes in ways that make them resistant and resilient to stressors such as wildfire, exotic plant invasions, drought, and temperature extremes. These stressors impact ecosystem productivity and functioning and pose costly risks to human health and safety in the western United States. We team with other state and federal agencies to find efficient and effective ways of mitigating their impacts.
Our program integrates biophysical ecology, ecophysiology, ecohydrology, and biogeomorphology at scales ranging from plants to populations, communities, ecosystems and landscapes. Current projects evaluate emerging approaches for soil stabilization, control of exotic annual grasses, and restoration of desirable native perennials following wildfire in sagebrush steppe. Understanding plant adaptation to temperature and water limitation, and applying this knowledge to management practices such as post-fire restoration seeding or landscape vulnerability assessments, is a major focus.
Principal Investigator
Matt Germino - Supervisory Research Ecologist
Federal Staff
Cara Applestein - Ecologist
David Barnard - Ecologist
Matt Fisk - Ecologist
Bill Davidson - Ecologist
Brynne Lazarus - Botanist
University/Contractor/Volunteer/Other
Lar Svenson - Contractor
Andril Zaiats - Volunteer
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Date published: March 10, 2020Status: ActiveWeed-Suppressive Bacteria – Testing a Control Measure for Invasive Grasses in the West
Recent popular news has implied that Weed-Suppressive Bacteria (WSB) holds promise for cheatgrass control, yet a lack of peer-reviewed research exists to support this claim. USGS researchers stepped up to the challenge of objectively and rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of WSB for controlling exotic annual grasses, such as...
Contacts: Matthew J Germino -
Date published: May 23, 2019Status: ActiveCheatgrass and Medusahead
Invasive annual grasses, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae), are one of the most significant stressors to rangeland ecosystems in the western U.S. Their expansion and dominance across this area are the most damaging ecosystem agents on this iconic landscape.
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Date published: November 14, 2017Status: ActiveWildfire Impacts, and Post-Fire Rehabilitation and Restoration
Land use and unintentional (e.g., wildfire) disturbances are increasingly dominant factors affecting land-use planning and management of semiarid landscapes, particularly in sagebrush steppe rangelands. In the last 10-20 years, wildfires are occurring more frequently and increasingly in very large burn patches.
Contacts: Matthew J GerminoAttribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: November 13, 2017Status: ActivePlant Responses to Temperature and Water Limitation
Weather and climate impacts on dominant native perennials must be understood in order to efficiently manage our western landscapes. We use an ecophysiological approach, linking to population, community, and landscape ecology, to understand the impacts and responses of plants on or to their environment.
Contacts: Matthew J GerminoAttribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: November 13, 2017Status: ActiveIntegrating Science and Adaptive Land Management
Widespread habitat deterioration due to fire and invasive species in the Great Basin have created a need for coordination across land agencies and between science and management activities in the Great Basin.
Contacts: Matthew J Germino
New Invasive Annual Grass Book Addresses Critical Questions for the Western U.S.
BOISE, Idaho — Bromus species – such as cheatgrass – are exotic annual grasses that have become the dominant annual grasses in the western hemisphere. Their spread and impacts across the western U.S. continue despite the many attempts by land managers to control these species.
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Date published: November 29, 2018Post-fire Sagebrush Recovery Looks to Landsat Time Series Data for Solutions
When a wildfire rampages through a sagebrush domain, restoring the landscape’s natural vegetation afterward is often a dicey proposition. But now complicate that situation with soil-moisture-robbing drought either before or after the fire. What becomes the best restoration solution then?
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Date published: August 10, 2018Alpine Plant Community Composition, Phenology, and Physiology in Relation to Snow Melt Timing
Earlier snowmelt affects many ecosystems worldwide, especially in montane settings. USGS and other federal and university scientists determined how alpine plant species respond to snow melt gradients in a high-alpine area of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center