WERC Fire Science
Science Center Objects
WERC scientists are defining the past, present, and future of wildfires for wildlife and human communities. Explore this webpage to learn about specific, ongoing projects across California and parts of Nevada.
Wildfires may seem like untamable forces of nature, but there are very real environmental and human factors driving them. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) are providing resource managers with regional- and national-scale findings on the effects of historical fire and forest management, influences on current fire patterns, and the future of fire across California.
WERC is a USGS Ecosystems Mission Area center serving primarily California and Nevada. Eight WERC Principal Investigators operate out of field stations located in the two states’ diverse ecosystems. Their unique positions allow them to study wildfire history and behavior from the chaparral landscapes of southern California, to the Mojave Desert, and the forests of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. WERC scientists’ studies of this complex network of ecosystems lends their research both small- and large-scale applications.
USGS natural hazards and ecosystems science can assist managers and planners in finding solutions to reduce the risk of home and habitat loss — and help California truly learn to live with fire. Examples include investigations into the characteristics of wildfires from the Sierra Nevada to the Mojave; effects of wildfire on Greater Sage-grouse populations and habitat; recovery and post-fire restoration of critical habitat for listed species; changes in desert landscapes from increasingly frequent fires; effects of habitat disturbance, ash, and debris from wildfires on amphibians and reptiles; studies on fire trends and efficacy of fire management strategies to enhance forest resilience; and environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing wildfire size, severity, and frequency in southern California.
The USGS collaborates with the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Defense, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nevada Department of Wildlife, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife on fire science.
Download the current handout on WERC's fire science and explore specific projects under the "Related Science" tab.
Joshua trees burning in the Bulldog Fire in Mojave Desert tortoise habitat of southwestern Utah. These fires result in population losses of tortoises and modify the habitat in ways that takes decades to centuries to recover. (Credit: Todd C. Esque/USGS. Public domain.)
Prescribed fire in the Sierra Nevada. Resource managers with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and other management agencies use controlled fires to clear dead vegetation and low-lying brush from a forest, lowering the risk that future wildfires will have enough fuel to grow to dangerous sizes. (Credit: Eric Knapp/USFS. Public domain.)
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Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveWildland Fire Science in Forests and Deserts
Fuel conditions and fire regimes in western forests and deserts have been altered due to past land management, biological invasions, and recent extreme weather events and climate shifts. These changes have created extreme fire risk to local and regional communities, threatening their economic health related to wildland recreation, forest production, livestock operations, and other uses of...
Contacts: Matthew Brooks -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveProcess-based Approaches for Ecological Restoration of Degraded Drylands
Surface disturbances ranging from military training, recreation, energy exploration and development, and wildfires impact a large majority of federal lands in the western US, but the ecological and economic impacts are poorly understood. Explore this webpage to learn how Dr. Lesley DeFalco and her research team are currently evaluating and refining conventional approaches for post-fire...
Contacts: Lesley DeFalcoAttribution: Ecosystems, Western Ecological Research Center -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveConservation of Rare, Sensitive, and At-risk Desert Plant Species
The Mojave Desert is among the hottest and driest of the North American drylands, but in spite of these extreme conditions, and in part because of them, a diverse flora exists. This diversity of rare, endemic, and endangered species is threatened by the complex interaction between fluctuating climate and human-mediated disturbances. USGS studies have identified rare species “hotspots” for...
Contacts: Lesley DeFalcoAttribution: Western Ecological Research Center -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveAridlands Disturbances and Restoration Ecology
Desert landscapes are rapidly changing due to increases in invasive plant species, frequency of wildfires, urban and energy development, recreational use, military training, and climate variation. Dr. Todd Esque, USGS researchers, and collaborators are working together to investigate these changes and provide managers with key information that can be used to manage natural resources more...
Contacts: Todd Esque -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveDesert Tortoise Ecology, Health, Habitat, and Conservation Biology
The desert tortoise is listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. USGS WERC scientists, along with project partners have been conducting long-term analyses on how changes in the southwestern deserts of the United States can affect desert tortoise populations. Dr. Todd Esque and his team are investigating how habitat disturbances and restoration projects influence tortoise...
Contacts: Todd Esque -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveAmphibian Research in Southern California
Amphibian populations have declined in many areas around the world. Initially, there was skepticism as to whether the observed declines were merely minor population fluctuations, but it has become increasingly clear that many declines are both real and sustained. At the request of the U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) scientists are supporting the...
Contacts: Robert N Fisher -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActivePopulation Structure and Demography of the Least Bell’s Vireo and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and Use of Restored Riparian Habitat
Riparian woodlands are highly productive ecosystems that support a disproportionately high fraction of regional biodiversity. They are also one of the most endangered terrestrial systems in temperate North America, and have been reduced to just 5% of their former extent in California and throughout the American southwest. These losses have been accompanied by steep declines in numerous plant...
Contacts: Barbara Kus -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveDistribution, Occupancy and Population Genetic Structure of California Gnatcatchers in Southern California
The coastal California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica), a federally threatened species, is considered a flagship species for southern California conservation planning. Dr. Barbara Kus collaborates with Dr. Amy Vandergast and local agencies to provide information to managers that can be used to conserve this species and its habitat.
Contacts: Barbara Kus -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveFire Severity Trends in the Western U.S.
How will increased drought affect forest fire severity? WERC’s Dr. Phil van Mantgem is testing the idea increased drought stress may affect forest fire severity independent of fire intensity. Drought stress prior to fire can affect tree health, potentially resulting in a higher sensitivity to fire-induced damage. Thus, with drought there may be ongoing increases in fire severity (the number of...
Contacts: Phillip van MantgemAttribution: Ecosystems, Western Ecological Research Center -
Date published: October 30, 2017Status: ActiveForest Restoration in the Western U.S.
This project uses new and existing field data to assess forest restoration treatment effects across broad spatial and temporal scales. WERC's Dr. Phil van Mantgem and project partners are considering the effects of restoration treatments in terms of forest structure, forest stand development, subsequent tree mortality patterns mortality, and how climate influences the success or failure of...
Contacts: Phillip van MantgemAttribution: Ecosystems, Western Ecological Research Center