Timothy Assal, Ph.D. (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Inventory and Long-Term Monitoring
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s...
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Baseline Synthesis
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s...
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Effectiveness Monitoring
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s...
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s...
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) - Important Agricultural Lands Assessment Project (Datasets)
The data contained in this report was compiled, modified, and analyzed for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) Integrated Assessment (IA). These data represent an initial step towards spatially identifying lands that represent greater importance in the agricultural context and can be used by interested parties to conduct further geospatial analysis.
Monitoring long-term riparian vegetation trends to inform local habitat management in a mountainous environment
Riparian ecosystems provide critical habitat for many species, yet assessment of vegetation condition at local scales is difficult to measure when considering large areas over long time periods. We present a framework to map and monitor two deciduous cover types, upland and riparian, occupying a small fraction of an expansive, mountainous...
Assal, Timothy J.; Steen, Valerie A.; Caltrider, Todd; Cundy, Travis; Stewart, Cheyenne; Manning, Nicholas; Anderson, Patrick J. Distance effects of gas field infrastructure on pygmy rabbits in southwestern Wyoming
As domestic energy development activity continues in the western United States, wildlife conservation planning in affected regions is increasingly important. The geologic basins where oil and gas energy exploration is occurring are primarily sagebrush steppe rangelands. Sagebrush steppe habitats may support more than 20 vertebrate species of...
Germaine, Stephen S.; Assal, Timothy; Freeman, Aaron; Carter, Sarah K.
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2017 annual report
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was established in 2008 to address the scientific and conservation questions associated with land use changes because of energy development and other factors in southwest Wyoming. Over the past decade, partners from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State and Federal land management agencies,...
Zeigenfuss, Linda C.; Aikens, Ellen; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Anderson, Patrick J.; Assal, Timothy J.; Bowen, Zachary H.; Chalfoun, Anna D.; Chong, Geneva W.; Eddy-Miller, Cheryl A.; Germaine, Stephen S.; Graves, Tabitha; Homer, Collin G.; Huber, Christopher; Johnston, Aaron; Kauffman, Matthew J.; Manier, Daniel J.; McShane, Ryan R.; Miller, Kirk A.; Monroe, Adrian P.; Ortega, Anna; Walters, Annika W.; Wyckoff, Teal B. Burn severity controls on postfire Araucaria‐Nothofagus regeneration in the Andean Cordillera
AimThe aim of the study was to investigate postfire regeneration patterns of Araucaria‐Nothofagus forests on the west slope of the Andes; to evaluate the relationship between remotely sensed burn severity and forest mortality; and to assess controls of burn severity on forest response at local spatio‐temporal scales.LocationAraucanía...
Assal, Timothy J.; Gonzalez, Mauro E.; Sibold, Jason S.
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2016 annual report
This is the ninth annual report highlighting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science and decision-support activities conducted for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The activities address specific management needs identified by WLCI partner agencies. In fiscal year (FY) 2016, there were 26 active USGS WLCI science-based projects...
Bowen, Zachary H.; Aikens, Ellen; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Anderson, Patrick J.; Assal, Timothy J.; Chalfoun, Anna D.; Chong, Geneva W.; Eddy-Miller, Cheryl A.; Garman, Steven L.; Germaine, Stephen S.; Homer, Collin G.; Johnston, Aaron; Kauffman, Matthew J.; Manier, Daniel J.; Melcher, Cynthia P.; Miller, Kirk A.; Walters, Annika W.; Wheeler, Jerrod D.; Wieferich, Daniel J.; Wilson, Anna B.; Wyckoff, Teal B.; Zeigenfuss, Linda C.
Monitoring the southwestern Wyoming landscape—A foundation for management and science
Natural resource monitoring involves repeated collections of resource condition data and analyses to detect possible changes and identify underlying causes of changes. For natural resource agencies, monitoring provides the foundation for management and science. Specifically, analyses of monitoring data allow managers to better understand effects...
Manier, Daniel J.; Anderson, Patrick J.; Assal, Timothy J.; Chong, Geneva W.; Melcher, Cynthia P. Evidence of compounded disturbance effects on vegetation recovery following high-severity wildfire and spruce beetle outbreak
Spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) outbreaks are rapidly spreading throughout subalpine forests of the Rocky Mountains, raising concerns that altered fuel structures may increase the ecological severity of wildfires. Although many recent studies have found no conclusive link between beetle outbreaks and increased fire size or canopy mortality...
Carlson, Amanda R.; Sibold, Jason S.; Assal, Timothy J.; Negrón, José F. Patterns in Greater Sage-grouse population dynamics correspond with public grazing records at broad scales
Human land use, such as livestock grazing, can have profound yet varied effects on wildlife interacting within common ecosystems, yet our understanding of land-use effects is often generalized from short-term, local studies that may not correspond with trends at broader scales. Here we used public land records to characterize livestock grazing...
Monroe, Adrian P.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Assal, Timothy J.; Veblen, Kari E.; Pyke, David A.; Casazza, Michael L.
Estimated historical distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains
The purpose of this project was to map the estimated distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains prior to Euro-American settlement. The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA), under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, includes four...
Reese, Gordon C.; Manier, Daniel J.; Carr, Natasha B.; Callan, Ramana; Leinwand, Ian I.F.; Assal, Timothy J.; Burris, Lucy; Ignizio, Drew A. Drought resistance across California ecosystems: Evaluating changes in carbon dynamics using satellite imagery
Drought is a global issue that is exacerbated by climate change and increasing anthropogenic water demands. The recent occurrence of drought in California provides an important opportunity to examine drought response across ecosystem classes (forests, shrublands, grasslands, and wetlands), which is essential to understand how climate influences...
Malone, Sparkle; Tulbure, Mirela; Pérez-Luque, Antonio J.; Assal, Timothy J.; Bremer, Leah; Drucker, Debora; Hillis, Vicken; Varela, Sara; Goulden, Michael
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2015 annual report
This is the eighth annual report highlighting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science and decision-support activities conducted for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The activities address specific management needs identified by WLCI partner agencies. In 2015, USGS scientists continued 24 WLCI projects in 5 categories: (1)...
Bowen, Zachary H.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Anderson, Patrick J.; Assal, Timothy J.; Bartos, Timothy T.; Chalfoun, Anna D.; Chong, Geneva W.; Dematatis, Marie K.; Eddy-Miller, Cheryl A.; Garman, Steven L.; Germaine, Stephen S.; Homer, Collin G.; Kauffman, Matthew J.; Huber, Christopher C.; Manier, Daniel J.; Melcher, Cynthia P.; Miller, Kirk A.; Norkin, Tamar; Sanders, Lindsey E.; Walters, Annika W.; Wilson, Anna B.; Wyckoff, Teal B. Spatial and temporal trends of drought effects in a heterogeneous semi-arid forest ecosystem
Drought has long been recognized as a driving mechanism in the forests of western North America and drought-induced mortality has been documented across genera in recent years. Given the frequency of these events are expected to increase in the future, understanding patterns of mortality and plant response to severe drought is important to...
Assal, Timothy J.; Anderson, Patrick J.; Sibold, Jason