Jon Keeley
Biography
Dr. Keeley is currently a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, stationed at Sequoia National Park. Prior to this appointment, he served one year in Washington, D.C. as director of the ecology program for the National Science Foundation. He was professor of biology at Occidental College for 20 years and spent a sabbatical year at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has more than 350 publications in national and international scientific journals and books. His research has focused on ecological impacts of wildfires as well as other aspects of plant ecology, including rare plants, rare habitats such as vernal pools, and plant physiology. In 1985 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and an Honorary Lifetime Member of the California Botanical Society. He has served on the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning Environmental Review Board, and the State of California Natural Communities Conservation Program (NCCP) Board of Scientific Advisors.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D. (Botany) University of Georgia, Athens, 1977
- M.S. (Biology) San Diego State University, 1973
- B.S. (Biology) San Diego State University, 1971
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Adaptation
- Biodiversity
- Biogeography
- Chaparral Ecology
- Coastal Sage Ecology
- Community ecology
- Conservation biology
- Ecotone
- Endangered habitat
- Environmental impacts
- Evolution
- Extinction
- Fire ecology
- Forest ecology
- Global change biology
- Grassland Ecology
- Historical Reconstruction
- Invasive species ecology
- Landscape ecology
- Landscape patterns
- Natural history
- Phylogeny
- Physiological plant ecology
- Plant ecology
- Plant taxonomy
- Population biology
- Restoration ecology
- Species identification
- Species interactions
- Species introduction
- Species inventory
- Species/Population management
- Systematics
- Vegetation classification
- Vernal Pool Conservation
- Vernal Pool Ecology
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Research Scientist
- (ST Scientist), 2015–present
- (GS series 0408), 1998–present
- University of California, Los Angeles, Adjunct Full Professor, 2001-present
- Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Research Associate, 1997–present
- National Science Foundation, Program Director 1997–1998
- Occidental College,
- Professor 1988–1998
- Department Chair 1982–1988
- Assist/Assoc Professor 1977–1988
- University of Cape Town, Visiting Professor 1990
AWARDS
- Fellow, Ecological Society of America, 2014
- Distinguished MEDECOS Fellow, 2011
- USGS Performance Award, 2011
- USGS Star Award, 2008
- Honorary Lifetime Member, California Botanical Society, 1998
- Fellow, Southern California Academy of Sciences, l994
- Guggenheim Fellow, l985–l986
- Sterling Award for Outstanding Teaching, l985
Science and Products
Environmental Change and Fire
The effects of a changing environment can ripple throughout an ecosystem. Increased temperatures and more frequent and severe droughts in the future may influence wildfire patterns as well as water resources for communities. Dr. Jon Keeley and partners are using nearly a century’s worth of fire data to aid local landowners, and state and Federal agencies in planning for wildfire on evolving...
Balancing Fire Hazards and Resource Protection
Human impacts on fires across California have been quite diverse. In many forests, fires have been nearly excluded over the past century, causing an unhealthy accumulation of dead vegetation and a greater threat of severe fires. However, on much of California’s lower elevation foothills and valleys, humans have greatly increased fire frequency. These landscapes are often juxtaposed with...
Sequoia and Kings Canyon Field Station
The Sequoia and Kings Canyon Field Station is home to research programs that focus on wildfire patterns in Southern California, and the effects of drought on Sierra Nevada forests. Select the "Science" tab for a more comprehensive summary.
Human presence diminishes the importance of climate in driving fire activity across the United States
Growing human and ecological costs due to increasing wildfire are an urgent concern in policy and management, particularly given projections of worsening fire conditions under climate change. Thus, understanding the relationship between climatic variation and fire activity is a critically important scientific question. Different factors limit fire...
Syphard, Alexandra D.; Keeley, Jon E.; Pfaff, Anne Hopkins; Ferschweiler, Ken Characters in Arctostaphylos taxonomy
There is value in understanding the past and how it has affected the present. Science focuses on empirical findings, and we know that our prior experiences and those of our predecessors play important roles in determining how we interpret the present. We learn from accomplishments and foibles of predecessors and appreciate the real life...
Keeley, Jon E.; Parker, V. Thomas; Vasey, Michael C. Why were California's wine country fires so destructive?
As of late October more than a dozen wildfires north of San Francisco had killed more than 40 people, burned approximately 160,000 acres and destroyed more than 7,000 structures.This tragic loss of life and property is unprecedented in California. However, the fires are not anomalous events in terms of their size, intensity or the speed with which...
Keeley, Jon E. Epicormic resprouting in fire-prone ecosystems
Many plants resprout from basal buds after disturbance, and this is common in shrublands subjected to high-intensity fires. However, resprouting after fire from epicormic (stem) buds is globally far less common. Unlike basal resprouting, post-fire epicormic resprouting is a key plant adaptation for retention of the arborescent skeleton after fire...
Pausas, Juli G.; Keeley, Jon E. Trends and drivers of fire activity vary across California aridland ecosystems
Fire activity has increased in western US aridland ecosystems due to increased human-caused ignitions and the expansion of flammable exotic grasses. Because many desert plants are not adapted to fire, increased fire activity may have long-lasting ecological impacts on native vegetation and the wildlife that depend on it. Given the heterogeneity...
Syphard, Alexandra D.; Keeley, Jon E.; Abatzoglou, John T. Different historical fire–climate patterns in California
The relationship between annual variation in area burned and seasonal temperatures and precipitation was investigated for the major climate divisions in California. Historical analyses showed marked differences in fires on montane and foothill landscapes. Based on roughly a century of data, there are five important lessons on fire–climate...
Keeley, Jon E.; Syphard, Alexandra D. Flammability as an ecological and evolutionary driver
We live on a flammable planet yet there is little consensus on the origin and evolution of flammability in our flora.We argue that part of the problem lies in the concept of flammability, which should not be viewed as a single quantitative trait or metric. Rather, we propose that flammability has three major dimensions that are not necessarily...
Pausas, Juli G.; Keeley, Jon E.; Schwilk, Dylan W. The importance of building construction materials relative to other factors affecting structure survival during wildfire
Structure loss to wildfire is a serious problem in wildland-urban interface areas across the world. Laboratory experiments suggest that fire-resistant building construction and design could be important for reducing structure destruction, but these need to be evaluated under real wildfire conditions, especially relative to other factors. Using...
Syphard, Alexandra D.; Brennan, Teresa J.; Keeley, Jon E. Can private land conservation reduce wildfire risk to homes? A case study in San Diego County, California, USA
The purchase of private land for conservation purposes is a common way to prevent the exploitation of sensitive ecological areas. However, private land conservation can also provide other benefits, one of these being natural hazard reduction. Here, we investigated the impacts of private land conservation on fire risk to homes in San Diego County,...
Butsic, Van; Syphard, Alexandra D.; Keeley, Jon E.; Bar-Massada, Avi Historical reconstructions of California wildfires vary by data source
Historical data are essential for understanding how fire activity responds to different drivers. It is important that the source of data is commensurate with the spatial and temporal scale of the question addressed, but fire history databases are derived from different sources with different restrictions. In California, a frequently used fire...
Syphard, Alexandra D.; Keeley, Jon E. Mediterranean biomes: Evolution of their vegetation, floras and climate
Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs) possess the highest levels of plant species richness in the world outside of the wet tropics. Sclerophyll vegetation similar to today’s mediterranean-type shrublands was already present on oligotrophic soils in the wet and humid climate of the Cretaceous, with fire-adapted Paleogene lineages in southwestern...
Rundel, Philip W.; Arroyo, Mary T.K.; Cowling, R.M.; Keeley, J. E.; Lamont, B.B.; Vargas, Pablo Evolution of 'smoke' induced seed germination in pyroendemic plants
Pyroendemics are plants in which seedling germination and successful seedling recruitment are restricted to immediate postfire environments. In many fire-prone ecosystems species cue their germination to immediate postfire conditions. Here we address how species have evolved one very specific mechanism, which is using the signal of combustion...
Keeley, J. E.; Pausas, J.G.Southern California's fire ecology is unlike that of anywhere else in the United States. Fire control strategies developed for mountain forests don't have the same results here. So can science help uncover new answers to help Southern California communities manage and live with wildfires? This 11 minute film showcases ongoing USGS research supporting agencies on the frontlines of fire management.
Like earthquakes, southern California wildfires can't be prevented -- but the risks they pose to our communities and landscapes can be managed. USGS scientists hope to increase our understanding of wildfire factors. The resulting research can assist managers and planners in finding solutions to reduce the risk of home and habitat loss -- and help southern California truly learn to live with fire.
Note: News reel footage at open of program is licensed by the UCLA Film Archive for use by USGS in this specific production only. Inquiries about the footage should go to the UCLA Film Archive. Fire footage shown is owned by Photo One Productions, Bay 6 Productions and the Orange County Fire Authority.
A screenshot from the USGS film "Living with Fire".
"Living with Fire" is a 11-minute USGS production exploring ongoing USGS research on wildfire science in southern California -- where the fire ecology is unlike any other region in the United States.
USGS is investigating ways to balance community fire risk management and native habitat conservation as part of the USGS Southern California Wildfire Risk Scenario Project, analyzing both human factors and natural factors.
"Living with Fire" explores the fire risk factors being explored by USGS researchers, and how they impact southern California communities and ecosystems. The film seeks to jumpstart conversations on wildfire science in southern California.