Jon Keeley
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.
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
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. (Botany) University of Georgia, Athens, 1977
M.S. (Biology) San Diego State University, 1973
B.S. (Biology) San Diego State University, 1971
Honors and 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
Simulating the effects of frequent fire on southern california coastal shrublands
Demographic patterns of postfire regeneration in mediterranean-climate shrublands of California
Inferring differential evolutionary processes of plant persistence traits in Northern Hemisphere Mediterranean fire-prone ecosystems
Heterogeneity in fire severity within early season and late season prescribed burns in a mixed conifer forest
Fire as a global ‘herbivore’: the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems
Fire history of the San Francisco East Bay region and implications for landscape patterns
Fuel reduction and coarse woody debris dynamics with early season and late season prescribed fire in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest
Fire suppression impacts on postfire recovery of Sierra Nevada chaparral shrublands
Factors affecting plant diversity during post-fire recovery and succession of mediterranean-climate shrublands in California, USA
Fire history of the San Francisco East Bay region and implications for landscape patterns
Determinants of postfire recovery and succession in mediterranean-climate shrublands of California
Chaparral fuel modification: what do we know --- and need to know?
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Simulating the effects of frequent fire on southern california coastal shrublands
Fire disturbance is a primary agent of change in the mediterranean-climate chaparral shrublands of southern California, USA. However, fire frequency has been steadily increasing in coastal regions due to ignitions at the growing wildland-urban interface. Although chaparral is resilient to a range of fire frequencies, successively short intervals between fires can threaten the persistence of some sAuthorsA.D. Syphard, J. Franklin, J. E. KeeleyDemographic patterns of postfire regeneration in mediterranean-climate shrublands of California
Eggs of captive black ducks fed diets containing DDE at 10 and 30 ppm (dry weight) experienced significant shell thinning and an increase in shell cracking when compared to eggs of untreated black ducks. Eggshells from dosed ducks were: 18-24 percent thinner at the equator than shells from undosed ducks; 28-31 percent thinner at the cap; and 29-38 percent thinner at the apex. Shell cracking averAuthorsJ. E. Keeley, C. J. Fotheringham, M. Baer-KeeleyInferring differential evolutionary processes of plant persistence traits in Northern Hemisphere Mediterranean fire-prone ecosystems
1 Resprouting capacity (R) and propagule-persistence (P) are traits that are often considered to have evolved where there are predictable crown fires. Because several indicators suggest a stronger selective pressure for such traits in California than in the Mediterranean Basin, we hypothesize that plant species should have evolved to become R+ and P+ more frequently in California than in the MeditAuthorsJ.G. Pausas, J. E. Keeley, M. VerduHeterogeneity in fire severity within early season and late season prescribed burns in a mixed conifer forest
No abstract available.AuthorsE. E. Knapp, J. E. KeeleyFire as a global ‘herbivore’: the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems
It is difficult to find references to fire in general textbooks on ecology, conservation biology or biogeography, in spite of the fact that large parts of the world burn on a regular basis, and that there is a considerable literature on the ecology of fire and its use for managing ecosystems. Fire has been burning ecosystems for hundreds of millions of years, helping to shape global biome distribuAuthorsWilliam J. Bond, Jon E. KeeleyFire history of the San Francisco East Bay region and implications for landscape patterns
The San Francisco East Bay landscape is a rich mosaic of grasslands, shrublands and woodlands that is experiencing losses of grassland due to colonization by shrubs and succession towards woodland associations. The instability of these grasslands is apparently due to their disturbance-dependent nature coupled with 20th century changes in fire and grazing activity. This study uses fire history recoAuthorsJon E. KeeleyFuel reduction and coarse woody debris dynamics with early season and late season prescribed fire in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest
Fire exclusion has led to an unnatural accumulation and greater spatial continuity of organic material on the ground in many forests. This material serves both as potential fuel for forest fires and habitat for a large array of forest species. Managers must balance fuel reduction to reduce wildfire hazard with fuel retention targets to maintain other forest functions. This study reports fuel consuAuthorsE. E. Knapp, J. E. Keeley, E. A. Ballenger, T. J. BrennanFire suppression impacts on postfire recovery of Sierra Nevada chaparral shrublands
A substantial portion of chaparral shrublands in the southern part of California's Sierra Nevada Mountain Range has never had a recorded fire since record keeping began in 1910. We hypothesised that such long periods without fire are outside the historical range of variability and that when such areas burn, postfire recovery is weaker than in younger stands. We predicted that long fire-free periodAuthorsJ. E. Keeley, A.H. Pfaff, H.D. SaffordFactors affecting plant diversity during post-fire recovery and succession of mediterranean-climate shrublands in California, USA
Plant community diversity, measured as species richness, is typically highest in the early post-fire years in California shrublands. However, this generalization is overly simplistic and the present study demonstrates that diversity is determined by a complex of temporal and spatial effects. Ninety sites distributed across southern California were studied for 5 years after a series of fires. CharaAuthorsJ. E. Keeley, C. J. Fotheringham, M. Baer-KeeleyFire history of the San Francisco East Bay region and implications for landscape patterns
The San Francisco East Bay landscape is a rich mosaic of grasslands, shrublands and woodlands that is experiencing losses of grassland due to colonization by shrubs and succession towards woodland associations. The instability of these grasslands is apparently due to their disturbance-dependent nature coupled with 20th century changes in fire and grazing activity. This study uses fire history recoAuthorsJ. E. KeeleyDeterminants of postfire recovery and succession in mediterranean-climate shrublands of California
Evergreen chaparral and semideciduous sage scrub shrublands were studied for five years after fires in order to evaluate hypothesized determinants of postfire recovery and succession. Residual species present in the immediate postfire environment dominated early succession. By the fifth year postfire, roughly half of the species were colonizers not present in the first year, but they comprised onlAuthorsJ. E. Keeley, C. J. Fotheringham, M. Baer-KeeleyChaparral fuel modification: what do we know --- and need to know?
No abstract available.AuthorsJ. E. Keeley - Software
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