Plant-Soil-Environment Laboratory (FRESC)
We produce basic and applied science needed to manage landscapes in ways that make them resistant and resilient to stressors such as wildfire, exotic plant invasions, drought, and temperature extremes. These stressors impact ecosystem productivity and functioning and pose costly risks to human health and safety in the western United States. We team with other state and federal agencies to find efficient and effective ways of mitigating their impacts.
Our program integrates biophysical ecology, ecophysiology, ecohydrology, and biogeomorphology at scales ranging from plants to populations, communities, ecosystems and landscapes. Current projects evaluate emerging approaches for soil stabilization, control of exotic annual grasses, and restoration of desirable native perennials following wildfire in sagebrush steppe. Understanding plant adaptation to temperature and water limitation, and applying this knowledge to management practices such as post-fire restoration seeding or landscape vulnerability assessments, is a major focus.
Staff
Krystal Busby - Ecologist
Bill Davidson - Biologist
Scott Fordham - Biologist
Chad Kluender - Ecologist
Darius Liles - Biologist
Andrew Lague - Ecologist
Jake Price - Ecologist
Austin Davis - Biologist
Jayna Thompson - Biological Science Technician Plants
Chloe Watt - Biological Science Technician Field Assistant
Science Themes of the FRESC Plant-Soil-Environment Laboratory are highlighted below.
If you are unable to access or download a product, email fresc_outreach@usgs.gov a request, including the full citation, or call (541) 750-1030.
How do accuracy and model agreement vary with versioning, scale, and landscape heterogeneity for satellite-derived vegetation maps in sagebrush steppe?
Plant community context controls short- vs. medium-term effects of pre-emergent herbicides on target and non-target species after fire
Greater sage-grouse respond positively to intensive post-fire restoration treatments
Monitoring for adaptive management of burned sagebrush-steppe rangelands: addressing variability and uncertainty on the 2015 Soda Megafire
Patterns of post-fire invasion of semiarid shrub-steppe reveals a diversity of invasion niches within an exotic annual grass community
Are drought indices and climate data good indicators of ecologically relevant soil moisture dynamics in drylands?
Bayesian modeling can facilitate adaptive management in restoration
Intraspecific variation mediates density dependence in a genetically diverse plant species
Weather affects post‐fire recovery of sagebrush‐steppe communities and model transferability among sites
Post-fire management targeting invasive annual grasses may have inadvertently released the exotic perennial forb Chondrilla juncea and suppressed its biocontrol agent
A chemical and bio‐herbicide mixture increased exotic invaders, both targeted and non‐targeted, across a diversely invaded landscape after fire
Weather and distance to fire refugia limit landscape‐level occurrence of fungal disease in an exotic annual grass
If you are unable to access or download a product, email fresc_outreach@usgs.gov a request, including the full citation, or call (541) 750-1030.
The news stories below are short summaries of FIREss Team publications.
New Invasive Annual Grass Book Addresses Critical Questions for the Western U.S.
We produce basic and applied science needed to manage landscapes in ways that make them resistant and resilient to stressors such as wildfire, exotic plant invasions, drought, and temperature extremes. These stressors impact ecosystem productivity and functioning and pose costly risks to human health and safety in the western United States. We team with other state and federal agencies to find efficient and effective ways of mitigating their impacts.
Our program integrates biophysical ecology, ecophysiology, ecohydrology, and biogeomorphology at scales ranging from plants to populations, communities, ecosystems and landscapes. Current projects evaluate emerging approaches for soil stabilization, control of exotic annual grasses, and restoration of desirable native perennials following wildfire in sagebrush steppe. Understanding plant adaptation to temperature and water limitation, and applying this knowledge to management practices such as post-fire restoration seeding or landscape vulnerability assessments, is a major focus.
Staff
Krystal Busby - Ecologist
Bill Davidson - Biologist
Scott Fordham - Biologist
Chad Kluender - Ecologist
Darius Liles - Biologist
Andrew Lague - Ecologist
Jake Price - Ecologist
Austin Davis - Biologist
Jayna Thompson - Biological Science Technician Plants
Chloe Watt - Biological Science Technician Field Assistant
Science Themes of the FRESC Plant-Soil-Environment Laboratory are highlighted below.
If you are unable to access or download a product, email fresc_outreach@usgs.gov a request, including the full citation, or call (541) 750-1030.
How do accuracy and model agreement vary with versioning, scale, and landscape heterogeneity for satellite-derived vegetation maps in sagebrush steppe?
Plant community context controls short- vs. medium-term effects of pre-emergent herbicides on target and non-target species after fire
Greater sage-grouse respond positively to intensive post-fire restoration treatments
Monitoring for adaptive management of burned sagebrush-steppe rangelands: addressing variability and uncertainty on the 2015 Soda Megafire
Patterns of post-fire invasion of semiarid shrub-steppe reveals a diversity of invasion niches within an exotic annual grass community
Are drought indices and climate data good indicators of ecologically relevant soil moisture dynamics in drylands?
Bayesian modeling can facilitate adaptive management in restoration
Intraspecific variation mediates density dependence in a genetically diverse plant species
Weather affects post‐fire recovery of sagebrush‐steppe communities and model transferability among sites
Post-fire management targeting invasive annual grasses may have inadvertently released the exotic perennial forb Chondrilla juncea and suppressed its biocontrol agent
A chemical and bio‐herbicide mixture increased exotic invaders, both targeted and non‐targeted, across a diversely invaded landscape after fire
Weather and distance to fire refugia limit landscape‐level occurrence of fungal disease in an exotic annual grass
If you are unable to access or download a product, email fresc_outreach@usgs.gov a request, including the full citation, or call (541) 750-1030.
The news stories below are short summaries of FIREss Team publications.