Research Database
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Long-term tree population growth can predict woody encroachment patterns
Year: 2025
Recent increases in woody plant density in dryland ecosystems—or “woody encroachment”—around the world are often attributed to land-use changes such as increased livestock grazing and wildfire suppression or to global environmental trends (e.g., increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide). While such changes have undoubtedly impacted ecosystem structure and function, the evidence linking them to woody encroachment is mixed, and the underlying processes are not fully understood. To clarify the role of demographic processes in changing woody plant abundance, we conducted a meta-analysis of tree age…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Trailing edge contractions common in interior western US trees under varying disturbances
Year: 2025
As climate warms, trees are expected to track their ideal climate, referred to as ‘range shifts’; however, lags in tree range shifts are currently common. Disturbance events that kill trees may help catalyse tree migrations by removing biotic competition, but can also limit regeneration by eliminating seed sources, and it is unknown whether disturbance will facilitate or inhibit tree migrations in the face of climate change. Here we use national forest inventory data to show that seedlings of 15 dominant tree species in the interior western United States occupy historically cooler areas than…
Publication Type: Journal Article
The role of fuel treatments during incident management
Year: 2025
BackgroundForest fuel reduction treatments are intended to mitigate negative impacts from wildland fires, protect communities, and support firefighting. Understanding fuel treatment use is important for evaluating treatment effectiveness, which, in turn, can inform the strategic planning and design of treatments. A relatively understudied aspect of fuel treatments is how existing fuel treatments are incorporated into firefighting (i.e., incident management). In this paper, we explore how fuel treatments are used by firefighters and Incident Management Teams during fires …
fuels-reduction treatments, incident command system, firefighting, incident management teams, incident management teams
Publication Type: Journal Article