Sara Sciulla
Biography
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Desert community ecology
- Ecological monitoring
- Anthropogenic disturbance
- Evaluation of management
- Fire ecology
- Global climate change
- Invasive species ecology
- Plant ecology
- Species interactions
- Threatened and endangered species
EDUCATION
- B.S., Honors Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 1999
PROFESSIONAL AND HONORARY SOCIETIES
- Society for Ecological Restoration
- Ecological Society of America
- Nevada Native Plant Society
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Ecologist, USGS, Western Ecological Research Center, Las Vegas Field Station, NV, Apr 2004 - present
- Biologist, USGS, Western Ecological Research Center, Las Vegas Field Station, NV, Jun 2002 - Apr 2004
- Biological Science Technician, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, Mar 2001 - Jun 2002
- Biological Science Technician, BLM, St. George Field Station, UT, Jul - Aug 2000
- Ecological Research Intern, USGS, Western Ecological Research Center, St. George Field Station, UT, May - Oct 1999
- Field Assistant (Ornithology), Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL, May - Aug 1998
- Biology Department Field Assistant, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, IL, Aug 1994 - Jun 1995
Science and Products
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...
Drake, K. Kristina; Esque, Todd C.; Nussear, Kenneth E.; DeFalco, Lesley; Scoles, Sara; Modlin, Andrew T.; Medica, Philip A. 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-...
Scoles-Sciulla, Sara J.; Defalco, Lesley A.; Esque, Todd C. Desert wildfire and severe drought diminish survivorship of the long-lived Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia; Agavaceae)
Extreme climate events are transforming plant communities in the desert Southwest of the United States. Abundant precipitation in 1998 associated with El Ni??o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) stimulated exceptional alien annual plant production in the Mojave Desert that fueled wildfires in 1999. Exacerbated by protracted drought, 80% of the burned...
DeFalco, L.A.; Esque, T.C.; Scoles-Sciulla, S. J.; Rodgers, J. Effectiveness of post-fire seeding in desert tortoise Critical Habitat following the 2005 Southern Nevada Fire Complex
In June 2005, lightning strikes ignited multiple wildfires in southern Nevada. The Southern Nevada Fire Complex burned more than 32,000 acres of designated desert tortoise Critical Habitat and an additional 403,000 acres of Mojave Desert habitat characterized as potentially suitable for the tortoise. Mortalities of desert tortoises were observed...
DeFalco, Lesley; Drake, K. Kristina; Scoles-Sciulla, S. J.; Bauer, Kyla L. Seed reserves diluted during surface soil reclamation in eastern Mojave Desert
Surface soil reclamation is used to increase the re-establishment of native vegetation following disturbance through preservation and eventual replacement of the indigenous seed reserves. Employed widely in the mining industry, soil reclamation has had variable success in re-establishing native vegetation in arid and semi-arid regions. We tested...
Scoles-Sciulla, S. J.; DeFalco, L.A. 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
Scoles, S.J.; Esque, T.C.; DeFalco, L.A.; Eckert, S.E.; Haines, D.F. Mortality of adult Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) due to small mammal herbivory at Joshua Tree National Park, California
No abstract available at this time
Esque, T.C.; Haines, D.F.; DeFalco, L.A.; Rodgers, J.E.; Goodwin, K.A.; Scoles, S.J.
Perennial vegetation data from permanent plots on the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada
Perennial vegetation data from 68 permanent plots on the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, are given for the period of 1963 through 2002. Dr. Janice C. Beatley established the plots in 1962 and then remeasured them periodically from 1963 through 1975. We remeasured 67 of these plots between 2000 and 2003; the remaining plot was destroyed at...
Webb, Robert H.; Murov, Marilyn B.; Esque, Todd C.; Boyer, Diane E.; DeFalco, Lesley A.; Haines, Dustin F.; Oldershaw, Dominic; Scoles, Sara J.; Thomas, Kathryn A.; Blainey, Joan B.; Medica, Philip A.