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Publications

Below is a list of WERC's peer-reviewed publications. If you are searching for a specific publication and cannot find it in this list, please contact werc_web@usgs.gov

Filter Total Items: 3708

Benefits and impacts of road removal Benefits and impacts of road removal

Road removal is being used to mitigate the physical and ecological impacts of roads and to restore both public and private lands. Although many federal and state agencies and private landowners have created protocols for road removal and priorities for restoration, research has not kept pace with the rate of removal. Some research has been conducted on hydrologic and geomorphic...
Authors
T.A. Switalski, J.A. Bissonette, T.H. DeLuca, C.H. Luce, Mary Ann Madej

Sunrise nest attendance and aggression by least Bell's vireos fail to deter cowbird parasitism Sunrise nest attendance and aggression by least Bell's vireos fail to deter cowbird parasitism

We video-recorded three, natural, brood-parasitism events by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) at nests of Least Bell's Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus). All instances occurred near dawn, during both egg-laying and incubation stages of the nesting cycle. In each case, an adult vireo was on the nest when the female cowbird arrived. Both members of each parasitized pair vigorously...
Authors
Bryan L. Sharp, Barbara E. Kus

Sierra Nevada bioregion Sierra Nevada bioregion

This chapter addresses the immediately south of the Cascades in the Sierra Nevada bioregion, extending nearly half the length of the state of California. This bioregion is one of the most striking features of the state of California, extending from the southern Cascade Mountains in the north to the Tehachapi Mountains and Mojave Desert 700 km to the south. Moreover, the fire responses of...
Authors
J. W. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman

Testing a basic assumption of shrubland fire management: h=How important is fuel age? Testing a basic assumption of shrubland fire management: h=How important is fuel age?

This year's catastrophic wildfires in southern California highlight the need for effective planning and management for fire-prone landscapes. Fire frequency analysis of several hundred wildfires over a broad expanse of California shrublands reveals that there is generally not, as is commonly assumed, a strong relationship between fuel age and fire probabilities. Instead, the hazard of...
Authors
Max A. Moritz, Jon E. Keeley, Edward A. Johnson, Andrew A. Schaffner

American Indian influence on fire regimes in Calfornia's coastal ranges American Indian influence on fire regimes in Calfornia's coastal ranges

Understanding the historical pattern of human impacts on landscapes is critical to correctly interpreting the ecological basis for vegetation distribution. In some parts of the world, such as the Mediterranean Basin, a long and intensive utilization of resources has greatly altered the distribution of forests and woodlands. Was vegetation distribution in the coastal ranges of California...
Authors
Jon E. Keeley

Lessons from the 2003 wildfires in southern California Lessons from the 2003 wildfires in southern California

The Southern California fires of late Oct. 2003 burned 742,000 ac and destroyed 3,361 homes and 26 lives. Factors leading up to this event were very different between forests, which comprised about 5% of the area burned, and shrublands. Three lessons are (1) although these fires were massive, they were not unprecedented, and future fires of this magnitude are to be expected; (2) the...
Authors
Jon E. Keeley, C. J. Fotheringham, M. A. Moritz

Fire in California ecosystems Fire in California ecosystems

No abstract available at this time
Authors
N. G. Sugihara, J. W. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman, K. E. Shaffer, A. E. Thode
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