Ellis Q Margolis, PhD
Ellis Margolis is a research ecologist with the Fort Collins Science Center, stationed at the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station. His research focuses on land use and drought effects on fire regimes and forests in the southwestern U.S.
Research Highlights
Research Highlights
- New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: Fire Research
- New Mexico Tree-Ring Science
- New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: Forest Ecosystem Research
- Synthesis of the new North American tree-ring fire-scar network
- Publication: The North American tree-ring fire-scar network
- Publication: Pre-fire assessment of post-fire debris-flow hazards in the Santa …
Learn more about the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station
Learn more about the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station
Ellis Margolis is a research ecologist at the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station, a Fort Collins Science Center facility in New Mexico. Ellis received a Ph.D. in Watershed Management from the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona, in Tucson, Arizona. Since joining the USGS in 2015, he has continued his research on the interactions between fire, forests, and drought, and specializes in dendrochronology (the study of tree ring dating). Presently, his research focuses on land use and drought effects on fire regimes and forests in the southwestern U.S. to guide fire regime and forest restoration for watershed management.
Professional Experience
2015 - present, Research Ecologist, USGS New Mexico Landscapes Field Station, Fort Collins Science Center, Santa Fe, NM
2009 - 2015, Research Associate, University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson, AZ
1999 - 2008, Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant, University of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson, AZ
1998 - 1999, Fire Technician, The Nature Conservancy National Fire Management and Research Program, Tall Timbers, FL
1997- 1998, Biologist, The Nature Conservancy Albany Pine Bush Preserve and Eastern NY Chapter, Albany, NY
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Watershed Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona - 2007
M.S. Watershed Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona - 2003
B.S. Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona - 1995
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Filter Total Items: 31
burnr: Fire history analysis and graphics in R
We developed a new software package, burnr, for fire history analysis and plotting in the Rstatistical programming environment. It was developed for tree-ring fire-scar analysis, but is broadly applicable to other event analyses (e.g., avalanches, frost rings, or culturally modified trees). Our new package can read, write, and manipulate standard tree-ring fire history FHX files, produce...
Authors
Steven B. Malevich, Christopher H. Guiterman, Ellis Margolis
Advancing dendrochronological studies of fire in the United States
Dendroecology is the science that dates tree rings to their exact calendar year of formation to study processes that influence forest ecology (e.g., Speer 2010, Amoroso et al., 2017). Reconstruction of past fire regimes is a core application of dendroecology, linking fire history to population dynamics and climate effects on tree growth and survivorship. Since the early 20th century when...
Authors
Grant L. Harley, Christopher H. Baisan, Peter M. Brown, Donald A. Falk, William T. Flatley, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Amy E. Hessl, Emily K. Heyerdahl, Margot Kaye, Charles W. Lafon, Ellis Margolis, R. Stockton Maxwell, Adam T. Naito, William J. Platt, Monica T. Rother, Thomas Saladyga, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Lauren A. Stachowiak, Michael C. Stambaugh, Elaine Kennedy Sutherland, Alan H. Taylor
Long-term persistence and fire resilience of oak shrubfields in dry conifer forests of northern New Mexico
Extensive high-severity fires are creating large shrubfields in many dry conifer forests of the interior western USA, raising concerns about forest-to-shrub conversion. This study evaluates the role of disturbance in shrubfield formation, maintenance and succession in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. We compared the environmental conditions of extant Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)...
Authors
Christopher H. Guiterman, Ellis Margolis, Craig Allen, Donald A. Falk, Thomas W. Swetnam
Drought, multi-seasonal climate, and wildfire in northern New Mexico
Wildfire is increasingly a concern in the USA, where 10 million acres burned in 2015. Climate is a primary driver of wildfire, and understanding fire-climate relationships is crucial for informing fire management and modeling the effects of climate change on fire. In the southwestern USA, fire-climate relationships have been informed by tree-ring data that extend centuries prior to the...
Authors
Ellis Margolis, Connie Woodhouse, Thomas W. Swetnam
Pruning high-value Douglas-fir can reduce dwarf mistletoe severity and increase longevity in central Oregon
Mid- to very large-sized Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzieseii var. menziesii) that were lightly- to moderately-infected by dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium douglasii) were analyzed over a 14-year period to evaluate whether mechanical pruning could eradicate mistletoe (or at least delay the onset of severe infection) without significantly affecting tree vitality and by inference, longevity...
Authors
Helen M Maffei, Gregory M Filip, Nancy E Gruelke, Brent W Oblinger, Ellis Margolis, Kristen L Chadwick
Historical dominance of low-severity fire in dry and wet mixed-conifer forest habitats of the endangered terrestrial Jemez Mountains salamander (Plethodon neomexicanus)
Anthropogenic alteration of ecosystem processes confounds forest management and conservation of rare, declining species. Restoration of forest structure and fire hazard reduction are central goals of forest management policy in the western United States, but restoration priorities and treatments have become increasingly contentious. Numerous studies have documented changes in fire...
Authors
Ellis Margolis, Steven B. Malevich
Unsupported inferences of high-severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: Response to Williams and Baker
Reconstructions of dry western US forests in the late 19th century in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon based on General Land Office records were used by Williams & Baker (2012; Global Ecology and Biogeography, 21, 1042–1052; hereafter W&B) to infer past fire regimes with substantial moderate and high-severity burning. The authors concluded that present-day large, high-severity fires are not...
Authors
Peter Z. Fulé, Thomas W. Swetnam, Peter M. Brown, Donald A. Falk, David L. Peterson, Craig Allen, Gregory H. Aplet, Mike A. Battaglia, Dati Binkley, Calvin A. Farris, Robert E. Keane, Ellis Margolis, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Carol Miller, Carolyn Hull Sieg, Carl N. Skinner, Scott L. Stephens, Alan H. Taylor
Non-USGS Publications**
Guiterman, C.H., Margolis, E.Q., Swetnam, T.W. 2015. Dendroecological methods for reconstructing high severity fire in pine-oak forests. Tree-Ring Research 71(2):67-77. http://doi.org/10.3959/1536-1098-71.2.67
Margolis, E.Q. and Farris, C.A. 2014. Post-fire quaking aspen regeneration in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA. Fire Ecology 10(3):14-26. http://doi.org/10.4996/fireecology.0703088
Margolis, E.Q. 2014. Fire exclusion linked to increased forest density in a piñon-juniper savanna landscape. International Journal of Wildland Fire 23:234-245. http://doi.org/10.1071/WF13053
Fule, P.Z., Swetnam, T.W., Brown, P.M., Falk, D.A., Peterson, D.L., Allen, C.D., Aplet, G.H., Battaglia, M.A., Binkley, D., Farris, C., Keane, R.E., Margolis, E.Q., Grissino-Mayer, H., Miller, C., Sieg, C.H., Skinner, C., Stephens, S.L., and Taylor, A. 2013. Unsupported inferences of high severity fire in historical western United States dry forests: Response to Williams and Baker. Global Ecology and Biogeography. http://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12136.
Margolis, E.Q. and Swetnam, T.W. 2013. Historical fire-climate relationships of upper elevation (>2700m) fire regimes in the southwestern United States. International Journal of Wildland Fire 22:588-598. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF12064
Margolis, E.Q., Huffman, D.W., and Iñiguez, J.M. 2013. Southwestern mixed-conifer forests: evaluating reference conditions to guide ecological restoration treatments. Ecological Restoration Institute Working Paper No. 28. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ. http://library.eri.nau.edu/gsdl/collect/erilibra/index/assoc/D2013020.dir/doc.pdf
Margolis, E.Q., Swetnam, T.W., and Allen, C.D. 2011. Historical stand-replacing fire in upper montane forests of the Madrean Sky Islands and Mogollon Plateau, southwestern USA. Fire Ecology 7(3):88-107. http://doi.org/10.4996/fireecology.0703088
Margolis, E.Q., Meko, D.M., and Touchan, R. 2011. A tree-ring reconstruction of streamflow in the Santa Fe River, New Mexico. Journal of Hydrology 397:118-127. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.11.042
Margolis, E.Q. and Balmat, J. 2009. Fire history and fire-climate relationships along a fire regime gradient in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed, New Mexico, USA. Forest Ecology & Management 258:2416-2430. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.08.019
Farris, C.A., E.Q. Margolis, and J.A. Kupfer. 2008. Spatial Characteristics of Fire Severity Patches in Relation to Fire Growth in a Rocky Mountain Subalpine Forest. In: Proceedings: Managing Fire and Fuels in the Remaining Wildlands and Open Spaces of the Southwestern United States. U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station PSW-GTR-189. http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr189/psw_gtr189_175-184_farris.pdf
Margolis, E.Q., Swetnam, T.W. and Allen C.D. 2007. A stand-replacing fire history in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37:2227-2241. http://doi.org/10.1139/X07-079
**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.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Filter Total Items: 31
burnr: Fire history analysis and graphics in R
We developed a new software package, burnr, for fire history analysis and plotting in the Rstatistical programming environment. It was developed for tree-ring fire-scar analysis, but is broadly applicable to other event analyses (e.g., avalanches, frost rings, or culturally modified trees). Our new package can read, write, and manipulate standard tree-ring fire history FHX files, produce...
Authors
Steven B. Malevich, Christopher H. Guiterman, Ellis Margolis
Advancing dendrochronological studies of fire in the United States
Dendroecology is the science that dates tree rings to their exact calendar year of formation to study processes that influence forest ecology (e.g., Speer 2010, Amoroso et al., 2017). Reconstruction of past fire regimes is a core application of dendroecology, linking fire history to population dynamics and climate effects on tree growth and survivorship. Since the early 20th century when...
Authors
Grant L. Harley, Christopher H. Baisan, Peter M. Brown, Donald A. Falk, William T. Flatley, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Amy E. Hessl, Emily K. Heyerdahl, Margot Kaye, Charles W. Lafon, Ellis Margolis, R. Stockton Maxwell, Adam T. Naito, William J. Platt, Monica T. Rother, Thomas Saladyga, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Lauren A. Stachowiak, Michael C. Stambaugh, Elaine Kennedy Sutherland, Alan H. Taylor
Long-term persistence and fire resilience of oak shrubfields in dry conifer forests of northern New Mexico
Extensive high-severity fires are creating large shrubfields in many dry conifer forests of the interior western USA, raising concerns about forest-to-shrub conversion. This study evaluates the role of disturbance in shrubfield formation, maintenance and succession in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. We compared the environmental conditions of extant Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)...
Authors
Christopher H. Guiterman, Ellis Margolis, Craig Allen, Donald A. Falk, Thomas W. Swetnam
Drought, multi-seasonal climate, and wildfire in northern New Mexico
Wildfire is increasingly a concern in the USA, where 10 million acres burned in 2015. Climate is a primary driver of wildfire, and understanding fire-climate relationships is crucial for informing fire management and modeling the effects of climate change on fire. In the southwestern USA, fire-climate relationships have been informed by tree-ring data that extend centuries prior to the...
Authors
Ellis Margolis, Connie Woodhouse, Thomas W. Swetnam
Pruning high-value Douglas-fir can reduce dwarf mistletoe severity and increase longevity in central Oregon
Mid- to very large-sized Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzieseii var. menziesii) that were lightly- to moderately-infected by dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium douglasii) were analyzed over a 14-year period to evaluate whether mechanical pruning could eradicate mistletoe (or at least delay the onset of severe infection) without significantly affecting tree vitality and by inference, longevity...
Authors
Helen M Maffei, Gregory M Filip, Nancy E Gruelke, Brent W Oblinger, Ellis Margolis, Kristen L Chadwick
Historical dominance of low-severity fire in dry and wet mixed-conifer forest habitats of the endangered terrestrial Jemez Mountains salamander (Plethodon neomexicanus)
Anthropogenic alteration of ecosystem processes confounds forest management and conservation of rare, declining species. Restoration of forest structure and fire hazard reduction are central goals of forest management policy in the western United States, but restoration priorities and treatments have become increasingly contentious. Numerous studies have documented changes in fire...
Authors
Ellis Margolis, Steven B. Malevich
Unsupported inferences of high-severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: Response to Williams and Baker
Reconstructions of dry western US forests in the late 19th century in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon based on General Land Office records were used by Williams & Baker (2012; Global Ecology and Biogeography, 21, 1042–1052; hereafter W&B) to infer past fire regimes with substantial moderate and high-severity burning. The authors concluded that present-day large, high-severity fires are not...
Authors
Peter Z. Fulé, Thomas W. Swetnam, Peter M. Brown, Donald A. Falk, David L. Peterson, Craig Allen, Gregory H. Aplet, Mike A. Battaglia, Dati Binkley, Calvin A. Farris, Robert E. Keane, Ellis Margolis, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Carol Miller, Carolyn Hull Sieg, Carl N. Skinner, Scott L. Stephens, Alan H. Taylor
Non-USGS Publications**
Guiterman, C.H., Margolis, E.Q., Swetnam, T.W. 2015. Dendroecological methods for reconstructing high severity fire in pine-oak forests. Tree-Ring Research 71(2):67-77. http://doi.org/10.3959/1536-1098-71.2.67
Margolis, E.Q. and Farris, C.A. 2014. Post-fire quaking aspen regeneration in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA. Fire Ecology 10(3):14-26. http://doi.org/10.4996/fireecology.0703088
Margolis, E.Q. 2014. Fire exclusion linked to increased forest density in a piñon-juniper savanna landscape. International Journal of Wildland Fire 23:234-245. http://doi.org/10.1071/WF13053
Fule, P.Z., Swetnam, T.W., Brown, P.M., Falk, D.A., Peterson, D.L., Allen, C.D., Aplet, G.H., Battaglia, M.A., Binkley, D., Farris, C., Keane, R.E., Margolis, E.Q., Grissino-Mayer, H., Miller, C., Sieg, C.H., Skinner, C., Stephens, S.L., and Taylor, A. 2013. Unsupported inferences of high severity fire in historical western United States dry forests: Response to Williams and Baker. Global Ecology and Biogeography. http://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12136.
Margolis, E.Q. and Swetnam, T.W. 2013. Historical fire-climate relationships of upper elevation (>2700m) fire regimes in the southwestern United States. International Journal of Wildland Fire 22:588-598. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF12064
Margolis, E.Q., Huffman, D.W., and Iñiguez, J.M. 2013. Southwestern mixed-conifer forests: evaluating reference conditions to guide ecological restoration treatments. Ecological Restoration Institute Working Paper No. 28. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ. http://library.eri.nau.edu/gsdl/collect/erilibra/index/assoc/D2013020.dir/doc.pdf
Margolis, E.Q., Swetnam, T.W., and Allen, C.D. 2011. Historical stand-replacing fire in upper montane forests of the Madrean Sky Islands and Mogollon Plateau, southwestern USA. Fire Ecology 7(3):88-107. http://doi.org/10.4996/fireecology.0703088
Margolis, E.Q., Meko, D.M., and Touchan, R. 2011. A tree-ring reconstruction of streamflow in the Santa Fe River, New Mexico. Journal of Hydrology 397:118-127. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.11.042
Margolis, E.Q. and Balmat, J. 2009. Fire history and fire-climate relationships along a fire regime gradient in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed, New Mexico, USA. Forest Ecology & Management 258:2416-2430. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.08.019
Farris, C.A., E.Q. Margolis, and J.A. Kupfer. 2008. Spatial Characteristics of Fire Severity Patches in Relation to Fire Growth in a Rocky Mountain Subalpine Forest. In: Proceedings: Managing Fire and Fuels in the Remaining Wildlands and Open Spaces of the Southwestern United States. U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station PSW-GTR-189. http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr189/psw_gtr189_175-184_farris.pdf
Margolis, E.Q., Swetnam, T.W. and Allen C.D. 2007. A stand-replacing fire history in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37:2227-2241. http://doi.org/10.1139/X07-079
**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.