Lesley DeFalco
Dr. Lesley DeFalco is a Plant Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Ecological Research Center.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Restoration of Aridlands
- Conservation biology
- Desert Community Ecology
- Ecological monitoring
- Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbance
- Evaluation of management
- Fire ecology
- Global climate change
- Invasive species ecology
- Physiological plant ecology
- Plant ecology
- Species interactions
- Threatened and endangered species
EDUCATION
PhD, Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 2003
MS, Botany, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 1995
BS, Biological Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 1989
COMMITTEES
- Botanical Society of America
- California Native Plant Society (Mojave Chapter)
- Ecological Society of America
- Nevada Native Plant Society
- Society for Ecological Restoration (Southwest Chapter)
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 66
Deserts Deserts
The deserts of California (Lead photo, Fig. 1) occupy approximately 38% of California’s landscape (Table 1) and consist of three distinct deserts: the Great Basin Desert, Mojave Desert, and Colorado Desert, the latter of which is a subdivision of the Sonoran Desert (Brown and Lowe 1980). The wide range of climates and geology found within each of these deserts result in very different...
Authors
Jayne Belnap, Robert H. Webb, Todd Esque, Matthew L. Brooks, Lesley A. DeFalco, James A. MacMahon
Landscape genomics of Sphaeralcea ambigua in the Mojave Desert: a multivariate, spatially-explicit approach to guide ecological restoration Landscape genomics of Sphaeralcea ambigua in the Mojave Desert: a multivariate, spatially-explicit approach to guide ecological restoration
Local adaptation influences plant species’ responses to climate change and their performance in ecological restoration. Fine-scale physiological or phenological adaptations that direct demographic processes may drive intraspecific variability when baseline environmental conditions change. Landscape genomics characterize adaptive differentiation by identifying environmental drivers of...
Authors
Daniel F. Shryock, Caroline A. Havrilla, Lesley DeFalco, Todd C. Esque, Nathan Custer, Troy E. Wood
Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert
Wildfires burned 24,254 ha of critical habitat designated for the recovery of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in southern Nevada during 2005. The proliferation of non-native annual grasses has increased wildfire frequency and extent in recent decades and continues to accelerate the conversion of tortoise habitat across the Mojave Desert. Immediate changes to...
Authors
K. Kristina Drake, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Lesley DeFalco, Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Andrew T. Modlin, Philip A. Medica
Direct and indirect effects of environmental variability on growth and survivorship of pre-reproductive Joshua trees, Yucca brevifolia Engelm (Agavaceae) Direct and indirect effects of environmental variability on growth and survivorship of pre-reproductive Joshua trees, Yucca brevifolia Engelm (Agavaceae)
• Premise of study: Accurate demographic information about long-lived plant species is important for understanding responses to large-scale disturbances, including climate change. It is challenging to obtain these data from desert perennial plants because seedling establishment is exceptionally rare, and estimates of survival are lacking for their vulnerable early stages. Desert...
Authors
Todd C. Esque, Phil A. Medica, Daniel F. Shryock, Lesley A. Defalco, Robert H. Webb, Richard B. Hunter
Life-history traits predict perennial species response to fire in a desert ecosystem Life-history traits predict perennial species response to fire in a desert ecosystem
The Mojave Desert of North America has become fire-prone in recent decades due to invasive annual grasses that fuel wildfires following years of high rainfall. Perennial species are poorly adapted to fire in this system, and post-fire shifts in species composition have been substantial but variable across community types. To generalize across a range of conditions, we investigated...
Authors
Daniel F. Shryock, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd C. Esque
Contrasting long-term survival of two outplanted Mojave Desert perennials for post-fire revegetation Contrasting long-term survival of two outplanted Mojave Desert perennials for post-fire revegetation
Post-fire recovery of arid shrublands is typically slow, and planting greenhouse-raised seedlings may be a means of jump-starting this process. Recovery can be further accelerated by understanding the factors controlling post-planting survival. In fall 2007 and 2009, we outplanted seedlings of two contrasting native evergreen shrubs—fast-growing Nevada jointfir and slow-growing...
Authors
Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Lesley A. Defalco, Todd C. Esque
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 66
Deserts Deserts
The deserts of California (Lead photo, Fig. 1) occupy approximately 38% of California’s landscape (Table 1) and consist of three distinct deserts: the Great Basin Desert, Mojave Desert, and Colorado Desert, the latter of which is a subdivision of the Sonoran Desert (Brown and Lowe 1980). The wide range of climates and geology found within each of these deserts result in very different...
Authors
Jayne Belnap, Robert H. Webb, Todd Esque, Matthew L. Brooks, Lesley A. DeFalco, James A. MacMahon
Landscape genomics of Sphaeralcea ambigua in the Mojave Desert: a multivariate, spatially-explicit approach to guide ecological restoration Landscape genomics of Sphaeralcea ambigua in the Mojave Desert: a multivariate, spatially-explicit approach to guide ecological restoration
Local adaptation influences plant species’ responses to climate change and their performance in ecological restoration. Fine-scale physiological or phenological adaptations that direct demographic processes may drive intraspecific variability when baseline environmental conditions change. Landscape genomics characterize adaptive differentiation by identifying environmental drivers of...
Authors
Daniel F. Shryock, Caroline A. Havrilla, Lesley DeFalco, Todd C. Esque, Nathan Custer, Troy E. Wood
Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert
Wildfires burned 24,254 ha of critical habitat designated for the recovery of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in southern Nevada during 2005. The proliferation of non-native annual grasses has increased wildfire frequency and extent in recent decades and continues to accelerate the conversion of tortoise habitat across the Mojave Desert. Immediate changes to...
Authors
K. Kristina Drake, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Lesley DeFalco, Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Andrew T. Modlin, Philip A. Medica
Direct and indirect effects of environmental variability on growth and survivorship of pre-reproductive Joshua trees, Yucca brevifolia Engelm (Agavaceae) Direct and indirect effects of environmental variability on growth and survivorship of pre-reproductive Joshua trees, Yucca brevifolia Engelm (Agavaceae)
• Premise of study: Accurate demographic information about long-lived plant species is important for understanding responses to large-scale disturbances, including climate change. It is challenging to obtain these data from desert perennial plants because seedling establishment is exceptionally rare, and estimates of survival are lacking for their vulnerable early stages. Desert...
Authors
Todd C. Esque, Phil A. Medica, Daniel F. Shryock, Lesley A. Defalco, Robert H. Webb, Richard B. Hunter
Life-history traits predict perennial species response to fire in a desert ecosystem Life-history traits predict perennial species response to fire in a desert ecosystem
The Mojave Desert of North America has become fire-prone in recent decades due to invasive annual grasses that fuel wildfires following years of high rainfall. Perennial species are poorly adapted to fire in this system, and post-fire shifts in species composition have been substantial but variable across community types. To generalize across a range of conditions, we investigated...
Authors
Daniel F. Shryock, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd C. Esque
Contrasting long-term survival of two outplanted Mojave Desert perennials for post-fire revegetation Contrasting long-term survival of two outplanted Mojave Desert perennials for post-fire revegetation
Post-fire recovery of arid shrublands is typically slow, and planting greenhouse-raised seedlings may be a means of jump-starting this process. Recovery can be further accelerated by understanding the factors controlling post-planting survival. In fall 2007 and 2009, we outplanted seedlings of two contrasting native evergreen shrubs—fast-growing Nevada jointfir and slow-growing...
Authors
Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Lesley A. Defalco, Todd C. Esque