Seth Munson, Ph.D.
Seth Munson is a plant and ecosystem ecologist with the Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. His research focuses on how dryland ecosystems respond to drought, wildfire, invasive species, and land-use to assist land management decision-making.
Much of Dr. Munson's research aims to understand the dynamics of dryland ecosystems at long temporal and broad spatial scales, and employs a multidisciplinary approach. His work seeks to improve the management of arid and semi-arid lands, including mitigating the impacts of disturbances and determining effective ecological restoration strategies to promote productive ecosystems.
Check the Science Tab Below for a List of Current Research Projects.
Research Interests: Plant Ecology, Ecosystem Ecology, Dryland Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Soil Erosion
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist, US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ
Adjunct Faculty, Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences, Flagstaff, AZ
Adjunct Faculty, Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ
Jan 2011 - Dec 2013: Research Ecologist (Mendenhall Fellow), US Geological Survey, Geology and Environmental Change Science Center, Denver, CO
Dec 2008 - Jan 2011: Ecologist, US Geological Survey, Canyonlands Research Station, Moab, Utah
May 2004 - Nov 2008; Research Assistant, Colorado State University, Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Fort Collins, CO
Sep 2002 – May 2004; Research Associate, University of New Mexico, Biology Department, Albuquerque, NM
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, May 2009
B.A. Biology, Earlham College, Richmond, IN, May 2001
Science and Products
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An integrative ecological drought framework to span plant stress to ecosystem transformation An integrative ecological drought framework to span plant stress to ecosystem transformation
Droughts have increased globally in the twenty-first century and are expected to become more extreme and widespread in the future. Assessments of how drought affects plants and ecosystems lack consistency in scope and methodology, confounding efforts to mechanistically interpret structural and functional impacts and predict future transformations under climate change. To promote...
Authors
Seth Munson, John Bradford, Kevin Hultine
Wildfire risk and hazardous fuel reduction treatments along the US-Mexico border: A review of the science (1985-2019) Wildfire risk and hazardous fuel reduction treatments along the US-Mexico border: A review of the science (1985-2019)
The ecosystems along the border between the United States and Mexico are at increasing risk to wildfire due to interactions among climate, land-use, and fuel loads. A wide range of fuel treatments have been implemented to mitigate wildfire and its threats to valued resources, yet we have little information about treatment effectiveness. To fill critical knowledge gaps, we reviewed...
Authors
Katherine Laushman, Seth Munson, Timothy Titus
Climate sensitivity to decadal land cover and land use change across the conterminous United States Climate sensitivity to decadal land cover and land use change across the conterminous United States
Transitions to terrestrial ecosystems attributable to land cover and land use change (LCLUC) and climate change can affect the climate at local to regional scales. However, conclusions from most previous studies do not provide information about local climate effects, and little research has directly quantified how LCLUC intensity within different ecoregions relates to climate variation...
Authors
George Xian, Thomas Loveland, Seth Munson, James Vogelmann, Xubin Zeng, Collin Homer
RestoreNet: An emerging restoration network reveals controls on seeding success across dryland ecosystems RestoreNet: An emerging restoration network reveals controls on seeding success across dryland ecosystems
Drylands are Earth's largest terrestrial biome and support one‐third of the global population. However, they are also highly vulnerable to land degradation. Despite widespread demand for dryland restoration and rehabilitation, little information is available to help land managers effectively re‐establish native perennial vegetation across drylands.RestoreNet is an emerging dryland...
Authors
Caroline Havrilla, Seth Munson, Molly McCormick, Katherine Laushman, Kathleen Balazs, Bradley Butterfield
Climate-induced abrupt shifts in structural states trigger delayed transitions in functional states Climate-induced abrupt shifts in structural states trigger delayed transitions in functional states
Theoretical models suggest that ecosystems can be found in one of several possible alternative stable states, and a shift in structural stable state (SSS) can trigger a change in functional stable state (FSS). But we still lack the empirical evidence to confirm these states and transitions, and to inform the rates of change. Here, a 30-yr dataset from long-term ungrazed and grazed...
Authors
Yanbin Hao, Wenjun Liu, Xingliang Xu, Seth Munson, Xiaoyong Cui, Xiaoming Kang, Nianpeng He, Yan Wang
Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects
Light-absorbing particles in atmospheric dust deposited on snow cover (dust-on-snow, DOS) diminish albedo and accelerate the timing and rate of snow melt. Identification of these particles and their effects are relevant to snow-radiation modeling and thus water-resource management. Laboratory-measured reflectance of DOS samples from the San Juan Mountains (USA) were compared with DOS...
Authors
Richard Reynolds, Harland Goldstein, Bruce Moskowitz, Raymond Kokaly, Seth Munson, Peat Solheid, George Breit, Corey Lawrence, Jeff Derry
The right trait in the right place at the right time: Matching traits to environment improves restoration outcomes The right trait in the right place at the right time: Matching traits to environment improves restoration outcomes
(Munson) The challenges of restoration in dryland ecosystems are growing due to a rise in anthropogenic disturbance and increasing aridity. Plant functional traits are often used to predict plant performance and can offer a window into the potential outcomes of restoration efforts across environmental gradients. We tracked 15 years of seeding outcomes across 150 sites on the Colorado...
Authors
Kathleen Balazs, Andrea Kramer, Seth Munson, Nora Talkington, Shannon Still, Bradley Butterfield
Supporting the development and use of native plant materials for restoration on the Colorado Plateau (Fiscal Year 19 Report) Supporting the development and use of native plant materials for restoration on the Colorado Plateau (Fiscal Year 19 Report)
A primary focus of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program (CPNPP) is to identify and develop appropriate native plant materials (NPMs) for current and future restoration projects. Multiple efforts have characterized the myriad challenges inherent in providing appropriate seed resources to enable effective, widespread restoration and have identified...
Authors
Robert Massatti, Daniel Winkler, Sasha C. Reed, Michael Duniway, Seth Munson, John B. Bradford
Ecological effects of establishing a 40-year oasis protection system in a Northwestern China Desert Ecological effects of establishing a 40-year oasis protection system in a Northwestern China Desert
Aims: Desertification around oasis areas is a serious problem in semi-arid and arid regions, which is expected to continue into the future due to a rapidly increasing human population. Oasis protection systems are created to reverse desertification by recovering degraded soil and vegetation properties and improving ecosystem services. Most research has focused on the short-term effects...
Authors
Guohua Wang, Seth Munson, Kailiang Yu, Ning Chen, Qianqian Gou
Gaps and hotspots in the state of knowledge of pinyon-juniper communities Gaps and hotspots in the state of knowledge of pinyon-juniper communities
Pinyon-juniper (PJ) plant communities cover a large area across North America and provide critical habitat for wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystem functions, and rich cultural resources. These communities occur across a variety of environmental gradients, disturbance regimes, structural conditions and species compositions, including three species of juniper and two species of pinyon. PJ...
Authors
Jessica Hartsell, Stella M. Copeland, Seth Munson, Bradley Butterfield, John B. Bradford
Assessing plant production responses to climate across water-limited regions using Google Earth Engine Assessing plant production responses to climate across water-limited regions using Google Earth Engine
(Munson) Climate variability and change acting at broad scales can lead to divergent changes in plant production at local scales. Quantifying how production responds to variation in climate at local scales is essential to understand underlying ecological processes and inform land management decision-making, but has historically been limited in spatiotemporal scale based on the use of...
Authors
Erin L. Bunting, Seth Munson, John B. Bradford
Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks
Exotic annual grasses are transforming native arid and semi-arid ecosystems globally by accelerating fire cycles that drive vegetation state changes. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), a particularly widespread and aggressive exotic annual grass, is a key management target in national parks of the western United States due to its impacts on wildfire and biodiversity loss. Cheatgrass is known...
Authors
Tara B.B. Bishop, Seth Munson, Richard Gill, Jayne Belnap, Samuel St. Clair, Steven Petersen
Non-USGS Publications**
Bontti, E.E., J.P. DeCant, S.M. Munson, M.A. Gathany, A. Przeszlowska, M.L. Haddix, S. Owens, I.C. Burke, W.J. Parton, and M.E. Harmon. 2009. Litter decomposition in grasslands of Central North America (US Great Plains). Global Change Biology 15: 1356–1363.
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2009. Plant population and community responses to removal of the dominant species in the shortgrass steppe. Journal of Vegetation Science 20: 224–232.
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2012. Plant community recovery following restoration in semiarid grasslands. Restoration Ecology 20: 656–663.
Munson, S.M., W.K. Lauenroth, and I.C. Burke. 2012. Soil carbon and nitrogen recovery on semiarid Conservation Reserve Program lands. Journal of Arid Environments 79: 25–31
Munson, S.M. 2013. Plant responses, climate pivot points, and tradeoffs in water-limited ecosystems. Ecosphere 4: 109.
Li, J., G.S. Okin, J.E. Herrick, J. Belnap, S.M. Munson, and M.E. Miller. 2010. A simple method to estimate threshold friction velocity of wind erosion in the field. Geophysical Research Letters 37: L10402.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
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Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 119
An integrative ecological drought framework to span plant stress to ecosystem transformation An integrative ecological drought framework to span plant stress to ecosystem transformation
Droughts have increased globally in the twenty-first century and are expected to become more extreme and widespread in the future. Assessments of how drought affects plants and ecosystems lack consistency in scope and methodology, confounding efforts to mechanistically interpret structural and functional impacts and predict future transformations under climate change. To promote...
Authors
Seth Munson, John Bradford, Kevin Hultine
Wildfire risk and hazardous fuel reduction treatments along the US-Mexico border: A review of the science (1985-2019) Wildfire risk and hazardous fuel reduction treatments along the US-Mexico border: A review of the science (1985-2019)
The ecosystems along the border between the United States and Mexico are at increasing risk to wildfire due to interactions among climate, land-use, and fuel loads. A wide range of fuel treatments have been implemented to mitigate wildfire and its threats to valued resources, yet we have little information about treatment effectiveness. To fill critical knowledge gaps, we reviewed...
Authors
Katherine Laushman, Seth Munson, Timothy Titus
Climate sensitivity to decadal land cover and land use change across the conterminous United States Climate sensitivity to decadal land cover and land use change across the conterminous United States
Transitions to terrestrial ecosystems attributable to land cover and land use change (LCLUC) and climate change can affect the climate at local to regional scales. However, conclusions from most previous studies do not provide information about local climate effects, and little research has directly quantified how LCLUC intensity within different ecoregions relates to climate variation...
Authors
George Xian, Thomas Loveland, Seth Munson, James Vogelmann, Xubin Zeng, Collin Homer
RestoreNet: An emerging restoration network reveals controls on seeding success across dryland ecosystems RestoreNet: An emerging restoration network reveals controls on seeding success across dryland ecosystems
Drylands are Earth's largest terrestrial biome and support one‐third of the global population. However, they are also highly vulnerable to land degradation. Despite widespread demand for dryland restoration and rehabilitation, little information is available to help land managers effectively re‐establish native perennial vegetation across drylands.RestoreNet is an emerging dryland...
Authors
Caroline Havrilla, Seth Munson, Molly McCormick, Katherine Laushman, Kathleen Balazs, Bradley Butterfield
Climate-induced abrupt shifts in structural states trigger delayed transitions in functional states Climate-induced abrupt shifts in structural states trigger delayed transitions in functional states
Theoretical models suggest that ecosystems can be found in one of several possible alternative stable states, and a shift in structural stable state (SSS) can trigger a change in functional stable state (FSS). But we still lack the empirical evidence to confirm these states and transitions, and to inform the rates of change. Here, a 30-yr dataset from long-term ungrazed and grazed...
Authors
Yanbin Hao, Wenjun Liu, Xingliang Xu, Seth Munson, Xiaoyong Cui, Xiaoming Kang, Nianpeng He, Yan Wang
Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects
Light-absorbing particles in atmospheric dust deposited on snow cover (dust-on-snow, DOS) diminish albedo and accelerate the timing and rate of snow melt. Identification of these particles and their effects are relevant to snow-radiation modeling and thus water-resource management. Laboratory-measured reflectance of DOS samples from the San Juan Mountains (USA) were compared with DOS...
Authors
Richard Reynolds, Harland Goldstein, Bruce Moskowitz, Raymond Kokaly, Seth Munson, Peat Solheid, George Breit, Corey Lawrence, Jeff Derry
The right trait in the right place at the right time: Matching traits to environment improves restoration outcomes The right trait in the right place at the right time: Matching traits to environment improves restoration outcomes
(Munson) The challenges of restoration in dryland ecosystems are growing due to a rise in anthropogenic disturbance and increasing aridity. Plant functional traits are often used to predict plant performance and can offer a window into the potential outcomes of restoration efforts across environmental gradients. We tracked 15 years of seeding outcomes across 150 sites on the Colorado...
Authors
Kathleen Balazs, Andrea Kramer, Seth Munson, Nora Talkington, Shannon Still, Bradley Butterfield
Supporting the development and use of native plant materials for restoration on the Colorado Plateau (Fiscal Year 19 Report) Supporting the development and use of native plant materials for restoration on the Colorado Plateau (Fiscal Year 19 Report)
A primary focus of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program (CPNPP) is to identify and develop appropriate native plant materials (NPMs) for current and future restoration projects. Multiple efforts have characterized the myriad challenges inherent in providing appropriate seed resources to enable effective, widespread restoration and have identified...
Authors
Robert Massatti, Daniel Winkler, Sasha C. Reed, Michael Duniway, Seth Munson, John B. Bradford
Ecological effects of establishing a 40-year oasis protection system in a Northwestern China Desert Ecological effects of establishing a 40-year oasis protection system in a Northwestern China Desert
Aims: Desertification around oasis areas is a serious problem in semi-arid and arid regions, which is expected to continue into the future due to a rapidly increasing human population. Oasis protection systems are created to reverse desertification by recovering degraded soil and vegetation properties and improving ecosystem services. Most research has focused on the short-term effects...
Authors
Guohua Wang, Seth Munson, Kailiang Yu, Ning Chen, Qianqian Gou
Gaps and hotspots in the state of knowledge of pinyon-juniper communities Gaps and hotspots in the state of knowledge of pinyon-juniper communities
Pinyon-juniper (PJ) plant communities cover a large area across North America and provide critical habitat for wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystem functions, and rich cultural resources. These communities occur across a variety of environmental gradients, disturbance regimes, structural conditions and species compositions, including three species of juniper and two species of pinyon. PJ...
Authors
Jessica Hartsell, Stella M. Copeland, Seth Munson, Bradley Butterfield, John B. Bradford
Assessing plant production responses to climate across water-limited regions using Google Earth Engine Assessing plant production responses to climate across water-limited regions using Google Earth Engine
(Munson) Climate variability and change acting at broad scales can lead to divergent changes in plant production at local scales. Quantifying how production responds to variation in climate at local scales is essential to understand underlying ecological processes and inform land management decision-making, but has historically been limited in spatiotemporal scale based on the use of...
Authors
Erin L. Bunting, Seth Munson, John B. Bradford
Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks
Exotic annual grasses are transforming native arid and semi-arid ecosystems globally by accelerating fire cycles that drive vegetation state changes. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), a particularly widespread and aggressive exotic annual grass, is a key management target in national parks of the western United States due to its impacts on wildfire and biodiversity loss. Cheatgrass is known...
Authors
Tara B.B. Bishop, Seth Munson, Richard Gill, Jayne Belnap, Samuel St. Clair, Steven Petersen
Non-USGS Publications**
Bontti, E.E., J.P. DeCant, S.M. Munson, M.A. Gathany, A. Przeszlowska, M.L. Haddix, S. Owens, I.C. Burke, W.J. Parton, and M.E. Harmon. 2009. Litter decomposition in grasslands of Central North America (US Great Plains). Global Change Biology 15: 1356–1363.
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2009. Plant population and community responses to removal of the dominant species in the shortgrass steppe. Journal of Vegetation Science 20: 224–232.
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2012. Plant community recovery following restoration in semiarid grasslands. Restoration Ecology 20: 656–663.
Munson, S.M., W.K. Lauenroth, and I.C. Burke. 2012. Soil carbon and nitrogen recovery on semiarid Conservation Reserve Program lands. Journal of Arid Environments 79: 25–31
Munson, S.M. 2013. Plant responses, climate pivot points, and tradeoffs in water-limited ecosystems. Ecosphere 4: 109.
Li, J., G.S. Okin, J.E. Herrick, J. Belnap, S.M. Munson, and M.E. Miller. 2010. A simple method to estimate threshold friction velocity of wind erosion in the field. Geophysical Research Letters 37: L10402.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Filter Total Items: 20