Cara V Applestein
Science and Products
Weather affects post‐fire recovery of sagebrush‐steppe communities and model transferability among sites
Altered climate, including weather extremes, can cause major shifts in vegetative recovery after disturbances. Predictive models that can identify the separate and combined temporal effects of disturbance and weather on plant communities and that are transferable among sites are needed to guide vulnerability assessments and management...
Applestein, Cara; Caughlin, Trevor; Germino, Matthew Weather and distance to fire refugia limit landscape‐level occurrence of fungal disease in an exotic annual grass
The enemy release hypothesis proposes that invasion by exotic plant species is driven by their release from natural enemies (i.e. herbivores and pathogens) in their introduced ranges. However, in many cases, natural enemies, which may be introduced or managed to regulate invasive species, may fail to impact target host populations. Landscape...
Applestein, Cara; Simler-Williamson, Allison Barbara; Germino, Matthew J. Detecting shrub recovery in sagebrush steppe: Comparing Landsat-derived maps with field data on historical wildfires
BackgroundThe need for basic information on spatial distribution and abundance of plant species for research and management in semiarid ecosystems is frequently unmet. This need is particularly acute in the large areas impacted by megafires in sagebrush steppe ecosystems, which require frequently updated information about increases in exotic...
Applestein, Cara; Germino, Matthew Impact of unburned remnant sagebrush versus outplants on post-fire landscape rehabilitation
Nearly half of the vast sagebrush steppe in the western United states has lost many or nearly all native plant species, largely due to the interaction of invasive species and increased wildfire. Re-establishing sagebrush, a keystone component of these ecosystems, has become a management focus in recent decades using aerial broadcast seeding or...
Applestein, Cara; Caughlin, Trevor; Germino, Matthew Bunchgrass root abundances and their relationship to resistance and resilience of a burned shrub-steppe landscape
Invasion of exotic annual grasses (EAG) and increased wildfire have motivated an emphasis on managing rangeland plant communities for resistance to invasion and resilience to disturbances. These traits are provided primarily by perennial bunchgrasses in rangelands such as shrub steppe, and specifically but also hypothetically, the abundances and...
Germino, Matthew J.; Fisk, Matthew; Applestein, Cara Can’t see the random forest for the decision trees: Selecting predictive models for restoration ecology
Improving predictions of restoration outcomes is increasingly important to resource managers for accountability and adaptive management, yet there is limited guidance for selecting a predictive model from the multitude available. The goal of this paper was to identify an optimal predictive framework for restoration ecology using eleven modeling...
Barnard, David; Germino, Matthew; Pilliod, David; Arkle, Robert; Applestein, Cara; Davidson, Bill; Fisk, Matthew Appropriate sample sizes for monitoring burned pastures in sagebrush steppe: How many plots are enough, and can one size fit all?
Statistically defensible information on vegetation conditions is needed to guide rangeland management decisions following disturbances such as wildfire, often for heterogeneous pastures. Here we evaluate the number of plots needed to make informed adaptive management decisions using >2000 plots sampled on the 2015 Soda Fire that burned across...
Applestein, Cara; Germino, Matthew J.; Pilliod, David; Fisk, Matthew; Arkle, Robert Vegetative community response to landscape-scale post-fire herbicide (imazapic) application
Disturbances such as wildfire create time-sensitive windows of opportunity for invasive plant treatment, and the timing of herbicide application relative to the time course of plant community development following fire can strongly influence herbicide effectiveness. We evaluated the effect of herbicide (imazapic) applied in the first winter or...
Applestein, Cara; Germino, Matthew J.; Fisk, Matthew Thresholds and hotspots for shrub restoration following a heterogeneous megafire
ContextReestablishing foundational plant species through aerial seeding is an essential yet challenging step for restoring the vast semiarid landscapes impacted by plant invasions and wildfire-regime shifts. A key component of the challenge stems from landscape variability and its effects on plant recovery.ObjectivesWe assessed landscape...
Germino, Matthew; Barnard, David; Davidson, Bill; Arkle, Robert; Pilliod, David; Fisk, Matthew; Applestein, Cara
Weather Affects Post-Fire Recovery of Sagebrush-Steppe Communities and Model Transferability Among Sites
Altered climate, including weather extremes, can affect vegetative recovery after disturbances. USGS researchers compared models to determine how annual and perennial grass cover and sagebrush density responded to wildfire and weather.
Weather and Distance to Fire Refugia Limit Landscape-Level Occurrence of Fungal Disease in an Exotic Annual Grass
Exotic species invasion may occur because of the lack of natural enemies, such as pathogens, in introduced ranges.
Detecting Shrub Recovery in Sagebrush Steppe: Comparing Landsat-Derived Maps with Field Data on Historical Wildfires
Sagebrush can be scarce after fires in a semiarid ecosystem and their paucity over vast burn areas creates challenges for detection by remote sensing.
Vegetative Community Response to Landscape Scale Post-fire Herbicide (Imazapic) Application
The timing of herbicide application following wildfire can strongly influence its effectiveness. USGS researchers evaluated the effect of the commonly used herbicide imazapic on targeted exotic annual grasses and non-target plants, applied the first winter or second fall after the 2015 Soda wildfire.
Sampling Strategies for Monitoring Post-Disturbance Treatments on Rangelands
Methodological guidelines are needed to rapidly determine vegetation responses to wildfire and post-disturbance treatments, such as seeding and herbicide applications.