John B Bradford, Ph.D.
John Bradford is a Research Ecologist with the USGS Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. John studies dryland ecosystems in the context of global change and works with resource managers to identify adaptive strategies for sustaining these ecosystems in a changing world.
John focuses on understanding how changing climate, disturbances, and land use influence dryland vegetation, plant communities, and ecosystem services. He is currently engaged in the broad topics of ecohydrology and dryland sustainability in the western U.S. and has projects examining a) the potential influence of changing climatic conditions on the distribution and regeneration potential of trees and shrubs in the intermountain western U.S., b) strategies for understanding and enhancing dryland ecosystem resilience to changing climate and drought patterns, and c) ecosystem water balance and patterns of plant-available soil water in dryland regions.
Professional Experience
2011- Present: Research Ecologist - US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ
2006 - 2011: Research Ecologist - USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station, Grand Rapids, MN
2004 - 2006: Research Ecologist (Postdoctoral) - USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO
Education and Certifications
2004 - Ph.D., Ecology, Colorado State University
1996 - B.A., Biology, Cornell University
Science and Products
Life history characteristics may be as important as climate projections for defining range shifts: An example for common tree species in the intermountain western US
STEPWAT2: An individual‐based model for exploring the impact of climate and disturbance on dryland plant communities
Beyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau
Anticipatory natural resource science and management for a changing future
Functional group, biomass, and climate change effects on ecological drought in semiarid grasslands
Forest floor and mineral soil respiration rates in a northern Minnesota red pine chronosequence
Future soil moisture and temperature extremes imply expanding suitability for rainfed agriculture in temperate drylands
Long-term trends in restoration and associated land treatments in the southwestern United States
Topographic, edaphic, and vegetative controls on plant-available water
Competition amplifies drought stress in forests across broad climatic and compositional gradients
Climate and soil texture influence patterns of forb species richness and composition in big sagebrush plant communities across their spatial extent in the western US
Reclamation after oil and gas development does not speed up succession or plant community recovery in big sagebrush ecosystems in Wyoming
Science and Products
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Life history characteristics may be as important as climate projections for defining range shifts: An example for common tree species in the intermountain western US
AimPredictions of future suitable habitat for plant species with climate change are known to be affected by uncertainty associated with statistical approaches, climate models and occurrence records. However, life history characteristics related to dispersal and establishment processes as well as sensitivity to barriers created by land‐use may also play important roles in shaping future distributioAuthorsStella M. Copeland, John B. Bradford, Michael C. Duniway, Bradley J. ButterfieldSTEPWAT2: An individual‐based model for exploring the impact of climate and disturbance on dryland plant communities
The combination of climate change and altered disturbance regimes is directly and indirectly affecting plant communities by mediating competitive interactions, resulting in shifts in species composition and abundance. Dryland plant communities, defined by low soil water availability and highly variable climatic regimes, are particularly vulnerable to climatic changes that exceed their historical rAuthorsKyle A. Palmquist, John B. Bradford, Trace E. Martin, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, William K. LauenrothBeyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau is one of North America's five major deserts, encompassing 340,000 km2 of the western U.S., and offering many opportunities for restoration relevant to researchers and land managers in drylands around the globe. The Colorado Plateau is comprised of vast tracts of public land managed by local, state, and federal agencies that oversee a wide range of activities (e.g., mineral anAuthorsDaniel E. Winkler, Dana M. Backer, Jayne Belnap, John B. Bradford, Bradley J. Butterfield, Stella M. Copeland, Michael C. Duniway, Akasha M. Faist, Stephen E. Fick, Scott L. Jensen, Andrea T. Kramer, Rebecca Mann, Robert Massatti, Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson, Peggy Olwell, Steve D. Parr, Alix Pfennigwerth, Adrienne M. Pilmanis, Bryce A. Richardson, Ella Samuel, Kathy See, Kristina E. Young, Sasha C. ReedAnticipatory natural resource science and management for a changing future
Prolonged shifts in long‐term average climate conditions and increasing variability in short‐term weather conditions affect ecological processes, and represent a fundamental challenge for natural resource management. Recent and forthcoming advances in climate predictability may offer novel opportunities, but capitalizing on these opportunities will require focusing scientific research on understanAuthorsJohn B. Bradford, Julio L. Betancourt, Bradley J. Butterfield, Seth M. Munson, Troy E. WoodFunctional group, biomass, and climate change effects on ecological drought in semiarid grasslands
Water relations in plant communities are influenced both by contrasting functional groups (grasses, shrubs) and by climate change via complex effects on interception, uptake and transpiration. We modelled the effects of functional group replacement and biomass increase, both of which can be outcomes of invasion and vegetation management, and climate change on ecological drought (soil water potentiAuthorsScott D. Wilson, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, John B. Bradford, William K. Lauenroth, Michael C. Duniway, Sonia A. Hall, Khishigbayar Jamiyansharav, Gensuo Jia, Ariuntsetseg Lkhagva, Seth M. Munson, David A. Pyke, Britta TietjenForest floor and mineral soil respiration rates in a northern Minnesota red pine chronosequence
We measured total soil CO2 efflux (RS) and efflux from the forest floor layers (RFF) in red pine (Pinus resinosaAit.) stands of different ages to examine relationships between stand age and belowground C cycling. Soil temperature and RS were often lower in a 31-year-old stand (Y31) than in 9-year-old (Y9), 61-year-old (Y61), or 123-year-old (Y123) stands. This pattern was most apparent during warmAuthorsMatthew Powers, Randall Kolka, John B. Bradford, Brian J. Palik, Martin JurgensenFuture soil moisture and temperature extremes imply expanding suitability for rainfed agriculture in temperate drylands
The distribution of rainfed agriculture is expected to respond to climate change and human population growth. However, conditions that support rainfed agriculture are driven by interactions among climate, including climate extremes, and soil moisture availability that have not been well defined. In the temperate regions that support much of the world’s agriculture, these interactions are complicAuthorsJohn B. Bradford, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth, Charles B. Yackulic, Michael C. Duniway, Sonia A. Hall, Gensuo Jia, Khishigbayar Jamiyansharav, Seth M. Munson, Scott D. Wilson, Britta TietjenLong-term trends in restoration and associated land treatments in the southwestern United States
Restoration treatments, such as revegetation with seeding or invasive species removal, have been applied on U.S. public lands for decades. Temporal trends in these management actions have not been extensively summarized previously, particularly in the southwestern United States where invasive plant species, drought, and fire have altered dryland ecosystems. We assessed long-term (1940–2010) trendsAuthorsStella M. Copeland, Seth M. Munson, David S. Pilliod, Justin L. Welty, John B. Bradford, Bradley J. ButterfieldTopographic, edaphic, and vegetative controls on plant-available water
Soil moisture varies within landscapes in response to vegetative, physiographic, and climatic drivers, which makes quantifying soil moisture over time and space difficult. Nevertheless, understanding soil moisture dynamics for different ecosystems is critical, as the amount of water in a soil determines a myriad ecosystem services and processes such as net primary productivity, runoff, microbial dAuthorsSalli F. Dymond, John B. Bradford, Paul V. Bolstad, Randall K. Kolka, Stephen D. Sebestyen, Thomas S. DeSutterCompetition amplifies drought stress in forests across broad climatic and compositional gradients
Forests around the world are experiencing increasingly severe droughts and elevated competitive intensity due to increased tree density. However, the influence of interactions between drought and competition on forest growth remains poorly understood. Using a unique dataset of stand-scale dendrochronology sampled from 6405 trees, we quantified how annual growth of entire tree populations respondsAuthorsKelly Gleason, John B. Bradford, Alessandra Bottero, Tony D'Amato, Shawn Fraver, Brian J. Palik, Michael Battaglia, Louis R. Iverson, Laura Kenefic, Christel C. KernClimate and soil texture influence patterns of forb species richness and composition in big sagebrush plant communities across their spatial extent in the western US
Article for outlet: Plant Ecology. Abstract: Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities are widespread non-forested drylands in western North American and similar to all shrub steppe ecosystems world-wide are composed of a shrub overstory layer and a forb and graminoid understory layer. Forbs account for the majority of plant species diversity in big sagebrush plant communities aAuthorsVictoria E. Pennington, Kyle A. Palmquist, John B. Bradford, William K. LauenrothReclamation after oil and gas development does not speed up succession or plant community recovery in big sagebrush ecosystems in Wyoming
Article for intended outlet: Restoration Ecology. Abstract: Reclamation is an application of treatment(s) following a disturbance to promote succession and accelerate the return of target conditions. Previous studies have framed reclamation in the context of succession by studying its effectiveness in re-establishing late-successional plant communities. Re-establishment of these plant communitiesAuthorsCaitlin M. Rottler, Ingrid C. Burke, Kyle A. Palmquist, John B. Bradford, William K. Lauenroth - Science
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