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.
Enhanced precipitation promotes decomposition and soil C stabilization in semiarid ecosystems, but seasonal timing of wetting matters
Growth strategies and threshold responses to water deficit modulate effects of warming on tree seedlings from forest to alpine
Aerodynamic roughness length estimation with lidar and imaging spectroscopy in a shrub-dominated dryland
Declines in low-elevation subalpine tree populations outpace growth in high-elevation populations with warming
Climate drives adaptive genetic responses associated with survival in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
Effects of experimentally reduced snowpack and passive warming on montane meadow plant phenology and floral resources
Response of aboveground carbon balance to long-term, experimental enhancements in precipitation seasonality is contingent on plant community type in cold-desert rangelands
Warming and provenance limit tree recruitment across and beyond the elevation range of subalpine forest
Climate adaption and post-fire restoration of a foundational perennial in cold desert: Insights from intraspecific variation in response to weather
Online induction heating for determination of isotope composition of woody stem water with laser spectrometry: A methods assessment
Soil moisture and biogeochemical factors influence the distribution of annual Bromus species
Plant community resistance to invasion by Bromus species: The roles of community attributes, Bromus interactions with plant communities, and Bromus traits
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.
Enhanced precipitation promotes decomposition and soil C stabilization in semiarid ecosystems, but seasonal timing of wetting matters
Growth strategies and threshold responses to water deficit modulate effects of warming on tree seedlings from forest to alpine
Aerodynamic roughness length estimation with lidar and imaging spectroscopy in a shrub-dominated dryland
Declines in low-elevation subalpine tree populations outpace growth in high-elevation populations with warming
Climate drives adaptive genetic responses associated with survival in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
Effects of experimentally reduced snowpack and passive warming on montane meadow plant phenology and floral resources
Response of aboveground carbon balance to long-term, experimental enhancements in precipitation seasonality is contingent on plant community type in cold-desert rangelands
Warming and provenance limit tree recruitment across and beyond the elevation range of subalpine forest
Climate adaption and post-fire restoration of a foundational perennial in cold desert: Insights from intraspecific variation in response to weather
Online induction heating for determination of isotope composition of woody stem water with laser spectrometry: A methods assessment
Soil moisture and biogeochemical factors influence the distribution of annual Bromus species
Plant community resistance to invasion by Bromus species: The roles of community attributes, Bromus interactions with plant communities, and Bromus traits
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.