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.
Can’t see the random forest for the decision trees: Selecting predictive models for restoration ecology
Appropriate sample sizes for monitoring burned pastures in sagebrush steppe: How many plots are enough, and can one size fit all?
Adapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands
Vegetative community response to landscape-scale post-fire herbicide (imazapic) application
Snowmelt timing regulates community composition, phenology, and physiological performance of alpine plants
Thresholds and hotspots for shrub restoration following a heterogeneous megafire
A conservation paradox in the Great Basin—Altering sagebrush landscapes with fuel breaks to reduce habitat loss from wildfire
Methodological considerations regarding online extraction of water from soils for stable isotope determination
Weather-centric rangeland revegetation planning
Spectrophotometry of Artemisia tridentata to quantitatively determine subspecies
Seed origin and warming constrain lodgepole pine recruitment, slowing the pace of population range shifts
A multi-species synthesis of physiological mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality
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.
Can’t see the random forest for the decision trees: Selecting predictive models for restoration ecology
Appropriate sample sizes for monitoring burned pastures in sagebrush steppe: How many plots are enough, and can one size fit all?
Adapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands
Vegetative community response to landscape-scale post-fire herbicide (imazapic) application
Snowmelt timing regulates community composition, phenology, and physiological performance of alpine plants
Thresholds and hotspots for shrub restoration following a heterogeneous megafire
A conservation paradox in the Great Basin—Altering sagebrush landscapes with fuel breaks to reduce habitat loss from wildfire
Methodological considerations regarding online extraction of water from soils for stable isotope determination
Weather-centric rangeland revegetation planning
Spectrophotometry of Artemisia tridentata to quantitatively determine subspecies
Seed origin and warming constrain lodgepole pine recruitment, slowing the pace of population range shifts
A multi-species synthesis of physiological mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality
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.