Esther D Stroh, Ph.D.
Biography
Dr. Stroh designs and conducts research on species and habitats at multiple spatial scales in support of DOI and other Federal and state agencies. Primary research topics include: climate change, landscape scale conservation, invasive species, dynamics of small or isolated plant populations, and environmental contaminants.
Education
Ph.D. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005
M.S. Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 1993
M.A. Department of Biology, Indiana University-Bloomington, 1993
B.S. National-Louis University, 1983
Affiliations
1992-present, Natural Areas Association
1998-present, Society for Conservation Biology, Missouri Chapter
- 2006-2008, Treasurer, Missouri Chapter
- 2009-2013, President, Missouri Chapter
- 2013-present, Conservation Chair
1990-present, Society for Ecological Restoration
Science and Products
Fire and Climate Suitability for Woody Vegetation Communities in the South Central United States
Climate and fire are global drivers of plant species distributions in the south central United States. Long-term management of vegetation communities can benefit from information on projected spatial changes in climate and fire frequencies.
Developing a decision-support process for landscape conservation design
Planning for sustainable landscapes is hampered by uncertainty in how species will respond to conservation actions amidst impacts from landscape and climate change. Planning decisions, including tradeoffs among competing species objectives, are complex. We developed a decision-support framework that integrates dynamic-landscape metapopulation...
Bonnot, Thomas W.; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd; Thompson III, Frank R.; Millspaugh, Joshua J.; Fitzgerald, Jane A.; Muenks, Nate; Hanberry, Phillip; Stroh, Esther; Heggemann, Larry; Fowler, Allison; Howery, Mark; Hammond, Shea; Evans, Kristine Fire and climate suitability for woody vegetation communities in the south central United States
Climate and fire are primary drivers of plant species distributions. Long-term management of south central United States woody vegetation communities can benefit from information on potential changes in climate and fire frequencies, and how these changes might affect plant communities. We used historical (1900 to 1929) and future (2040 to 2069 and...
Stroh, Esther; Struckhoff, Matthew; Stambaugh, Michael C.; Guyette, Richard P. Future southcentral US wildfire probability due to climate change
Globally, changing fire regimes due to climate is one of the greatest threats to ecosystems and society. In this paper, we present projections of future fire probability for the southcentral USA using downscaled climate projections and the Physical Chemistry Fire Frequency Model (PC2FM). Future fire probability is projected to both increase and...
Stambaugh, Michael C.; Guyette, Richard P.; Stroh, Esther D.; Struckhoff, Matthew A.; Whittier, Joanna B.
Vulnerabilities of national parks in the American Midwest to climate and land use changes
Many national parks in the American Midwest are surrounded by agricultural or urban areas or are in highly fragmented or rapidly changing landscapes. An environmental stressor is a physical, chemical, or biological condition that affects the functioning or productivity of species or ecosystems. Climate change is just one of many stressors on park...
Stroh, Esther D.; Struckhoff, Matthew A.; Shaver, David; Karstensen, Krista A.
A floral survey of cliff habitats along Bull Run at Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia, 2014
Isolated patches of native vegetation in human-modified landscapes are important reservoirs of biological diversity because they may be the only places in which rare or native species can persist. Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia, is an island embedded in a matrix of intensively modified lands; it is becoming increasingly isolated due...
Stroh, Esther D.; Struckhoff, Matthew A.; Grabner, Keith W. Effects of mining-associated lead and zinc soil contamination on native floristic quality
We assessed the quality of plant communities across a range of lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) soil concentrations at a variety of sites associated with Pb mining in southeast Missouri, USA. In a novel application, two standard floristic quality measures, Mean Coefficient of Conservatism (Mean C) and Floristic Quality Index (FQI), were examined in...
Struckhoff, Matthew A.; Stroh, Esther D.; Grabner, Keith W. Paper birch: Sentinels of climate change in the Niobrara River Valley, Nebraska
The Niobrara River Valley in the northern Great Plains supports scattered stands of paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh), a species more typical of boreal forests. These birch stands are considered to be relictual populations that have persisted since the end of the Wisconsin glaciation. Localized summer microclimates have likely facilitated the...
Stroh, Esther D.
Vegetation communities at Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Missouri
New and existing data were used to describe and map vegetation communities at Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Existing data had been gathered during the growing seasons of 2002, 2003, and 2004. New data were collected in 2007 to describe previously unsampled communities and communities within which insufficient data had been collected...
Struckhoff, Matthew A.; Grabner, Keith W.; Stroh, Esther D.
Paper birch decline in the Niobrara River Valley, Nebraska: Weather, microclimate, and birch stand conditions
The Niobrara River Valley in north-central Nebraska supports scattered stands of paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh), a species more typical of boreal forests. These birch stands are considered to be relictual populations that have persisted since the end of the Wisconsin glaciation, when regional flora was more boreal in nature (Wright 1970,...
Stroh, Esther D.; Miller, Joel P. Exotic plant species associations with horse trails, old roads, and intact native communities in the Missouri Ozarks
We compared the extent to which exotic species are associated with horse trails, old roads, and intact communities within three native vegetation types in Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri. We used a general linear model procedure and a Bonferroni multiple comparison test to compare exotic species richness, exotic to native species ratios...
Stroh, E.D.; Struckhoff, M.A.
Mapping vegetation communities in Ozark National Scenic Riverways: final technical report to the National Park Service
Vegetation communities were mapped at two levels in Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR) usign a hybrid combination of statistical methods and photointerpretation. The primary map includes 49 cover classes, including 24 cleasses that relate to vegetation associations currenly described by the United States National Vegetation Classification...
Chastain, Robert A.; Struckhoff, Matthew A.; Grabner, Keith W.; Stroh, Esther D.; He, Hong; Larsen, David R.; Nigh, Timothy A.; Drake, Jim