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
Variation in the establishment of a non-native annual grass influences competitive interactions with Mojave Desert perennials Variation in the establishment of a non-native annual grass influences competitive interactions with Mojave Desert perennials
Competition between native and non-native species can change the composition and structure of plant communities, but in deserts, the highly variable timing of resource availability also influences non-native plant establishment, thus modulating their impacts on native species. In a field experiment, we varied densities of the non-native annual grass Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens around
Authors
L.A. DeFalco, G.C.J. Fernandez, R.S. Nowak
The importance of physiological ecology in conservation biology The importance of physiological ecology in conservation biology
Many of the threats to the persistence of populations of sensitive species have physiological or pathological mechanisms, and those mechanisms are best understood through the inherently integrative discipline of physiological ecology. The desert tortoise was listed under the Endangered Species Act largely due to a newly recognized upper respiratory disease thought to cause mortality in...
Authors
C.R. Tracy, K.E. Nussear, T. C. Esque, K. Dean-Bradley, L.A. DeFalco, K.T. Castle, L.C. Zimmerman, R.E. Espinoza, A.M. Barber
Effects of desert wildfires on desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and other small vertebrates Effects of desert wildfires on desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and other small vertebrates
We report the results of standardized surveys to determine the effects of wildfires on desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and their habitats in the northeastern Mojave Desert and northeastern Sonoran Desert. Portions of 6 burned areas (118 to 1,750 ha) were examined for signs of mortality of vertebrates. Direct effects of fire in desert habitats included animal mortality and loss of...
Authors
T. C. Esque, C.R. Schwalbe, L.A. DeFalco, R.B. Duncan, T.J. Hughes
Are Mojave Desert annual species equal? Resource acquisition and allocation for the invasive grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens (Poaceae) and two native species Are Mojave Desert annual species equal? Resource acquisition and allocation for the invasive grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens (Poaceae) and two native species
Abundance of invasive plants is often attributed to their ability ot outcompete native species. We compared resource acquisition and allocation of the invasive annual grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens with that of two native Mojave Desert annuals, Vulpia octoflora and Descurainia pinnata, in a glasshouse experiment. Each species was grown in monoculture at two densities and two...
Authors
Lesley A. Defalco, David R. Bryla, Vickie Smith-Longozo, Robert S. Nowak
Evaluating options for revegetation following a catastrophic fire in a pinyon-juniper community at Grand Canyon/Parashant National Monument, Arizona Evaluating options for revegetation following a catastrophic fire in a pinyon-juniper community at Grand Canyon/Parashant National Monument, Arizona
No abstract available at this time
Authors
S.J. Scoles, T. C. Esque, L.A. DeFalco, S.E. Eckert, D.F. Haines
Mortality of adult Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) due to small mammal herbivory at Joshua Tree National Park, California Mortality of adult Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) due to small mammal herbivory at Joshua Tree National Park, California
No abstract available at this time
Authors
T. C. Esque, D.F. Haines, L.A. DeFalco, J.E. Rodgers, K.A. Goodwin, S.J. Scoles
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 66
Variation in the establishment of a non-native annual grass influences competitive interactions with Mojave Desert perennials Variation in the establishment of a non-native annual grass influences competitive interactions with Mojave Desert perennials
Competition between native and non-native species can change the composition and structure of plant communities, but in deserts, the highly variable timing of resource availability also influences non-native plant establishment, thus modulating their impacts on native species. In a field experiment, we varied densities of the non-native annual grass Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens around
Authors
L.A. DeFalco, G.C.J. Fernandez, R.S. Nowak
The importance of physiological ecology in conservation biology The importance of physiological ecology in conservation biology
Many of the threats to the persistence of populations of sensitive species have physiological or pathological mechanisms, and those mechanisms are best understood through the inherently integrative discipline of physiological ecology. The desert tortoise was listed under the Endangered Species Act largely due to a newly recognized upper respiratory disease thought to cause mortality in...
Authors
C.R. Tracy, K.E. Nussear, T. C. Esque, K. Dean-Bradley, L.A. DeFalco, K.T. Castle, L.C. Zimmerman, R.E. Espinoza, A.M. Barber
Effects of desert wildfires on desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and other small vertebrates Effects of desert wildfires on desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and other small vertebrates
We report the results of standardized surveys to determine the effects of wildfires on desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and their habitats in the northeastern Mojave Desert and northeastern Sonoran Desert. Portions of 6 burned areas (118 to 1,750 ha) were examined for signs of mortality of vertebrates. Direct effects of fire in desert habitats included animal mortality and loss of...
Authors
T. C. Esque, C.R. Schwalbe, L.A. DeFalco, R.B. Duncan, T.J. Hughes
Are Mojave Desert annual species equal? Resource acquisition and allocation for the invasive grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens (Poaceae) and two native species Are Mojave Desert annual species equal? Resource acquisition and allocation for the invasive grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens (Poaceae) and two native species
Abundance of invasive plants is often attributed to their ability ot outcompete native species. We compared resource acquisition and allocation of the invasive annual grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens with that of two native Mojave Desert annuals, Vulpia octoflora and Descurainia pinnata, in a glasshouse experiment. Each species was grown in monoculture at two densities and two...
Authors
Lesley A. Defalco, David R. Bryla, Vickie Smith-Longozo, Robert S. Nowak
Evaluating options for revegetation following a catastrophic fire in a pinyon-juniper community at Grand Canyon/Parashant National Monument, Arizona Evaluating options for revegetation following a catastrophic fire in a pinyon-juniper community at Grand Canyon/Parashant National Monument, Arizona
No abstract available at this time
Authors
S.J. Scoles, T. C. Esque, L.A. DeFalco, S.E. Eckert, D.F. Haines
Mortality of adult Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) due to small mammal herbivory at Joshua Tree National Park, California Mortality of adult Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) due to small mammal herbivory at Joshua Tree National Park, California
No abstract available at this time
Authors
T. C. Esque, D.F. Haines, L.A. DeFalco, J.E. Rodgers, K.A. Goodwin, S.J. Scoles