Field Guide for Estimating Desert Invasive Grass Fuel: Research Brief

Field Guide for Estimating Desert Invasive Grass Fuel: Research Brief

The objective of this study was to assess feasibility of developing regression equations using a fast, non-destructive measure (cover) to estimate aboveground biomass for red brome, a widespread non-native annual grass in the Mojave Desert.

View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

What Type-converts Chaparral to Grassland in SoCA? Research Brief

What Type-converts Chaparral to Grassland in SoCA? Research Brief

The authors show a direct connection between a diverse set of drivers and type-converted chaparral in Southern California. Example drivers include high frequency fire, land-use disturbance, moisture availability, and site flatness.

View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

High Elevation Extremes Limit Alien Plant Success: Research Brief

High Elevation Extremes Limit Alien Plant Success: Research Brief

Why aren’t globally successful, weedy plant species generally found at high altitudes? This study suggests that it’s due to extreme abiotic conditions in association with the alien species’ life history traits, not a lack of opportunity. 

View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Synthesizing Best-Management Practices for Desert Tortoise Habitats: Research Brief

Synthesizing Best-Management Practices for Desert Tortoise Habitats: Research Brief

In a collaborative project funded by the non-profit Desert Tortoise Council with Natural Resource Conservation LLC, the authors synthesized published literature and practitioner’s experiences to develop best-management practices for habitats of desert tortoises. 

View Research Brief >

Read More

Longer-term post fire vegetation dynamics and predicted invasive species habitat suitability: Presentation PDF

Presented at the Mojave Desert Fire Science and Management Workshop. Barstow, CA 2014.
This presentation explains the use and implication of utilizing modeling tools to predict invasive species distribution after a fire. 
View Presentation PDF >

Read More

Attempting Restoration on the Angeles National Forest: Presentation

Presentation from the June 2013 Chaparral Restoration Workshop in Arcadia, CA.

Follow the restoration process in this step-by-step, highly visual story from the Angeles National Forest. This post-fire restoration story discusses challenges including invasive species, environmental conditions, and more. 

Presenter: Katie VinZant, USFS Botanist.
View Presentation PDF >

Read More

Fire-Driven Alien Plant Invasion in a Fire-Prone Community: USGS Research Brief

This study showed that fire-adapted shrublands are vulnerable to changes in fire regime, leading to loss of native diversity and setting the community on a trajectory towards type conversion from a woody to an herbaceous system. 

View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Fire and Nonnative Invasive Plants: USGS Research Brief

Presented here is scientific information regarding wildland fire and nonnative invasive plant species, identifies the nonnative invasive species currently of greatest concern in major bioregions of the United States, and describes emerging fire-invasive issues in each bioregion and throughout the nation. 
View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Using Fire for Invasive Plant Control in Wildlands: USGS Research Brief

This brief summarizes the current state of knowledge on the use of fire as a tool to manage invasive plants in wildlands. The authors of two publications discuss risks and challenges of conducting prescribed burns, types of systems and circumstances in which burning may be effective for the management of invasive plants, complexities of fire and plant community interactions, impacts of prescribed burning on the broader plant community and the soil, and comprehensive monitoring plans.

View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Invasive Plants and Fire in the Deserts of North America: USGS Research Brief

In a recent publication by USGS scientists, Drs. Matthew L. Brooks and David A. Pyke discussed these interrelationships, and concluded that the management of fire and invasive plants must be closely integrated for each to be managed effectively.
View USGS Research Brief PDF >


View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fuel Modification Impacts on Nonnative Plant Invasion (overview): USGS Research Brief

In the April issue of Ecological Applications, USGS scientists Kyle Merriam (currently with the USFS) and Dr. Jon Keeley and USFS colleague Dr. Jan Beyers report that an unintended result of these fuel modification programs can be the introduction and spread of nonnative invasive plant species. 
View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fuel Age and Fire Spread in Chaparral Ecosystems: USGS Research Brief

In a paper published in Fire Management Today, USGS scientist Jon Keeley coauthors a paper with colleagues from the California Chaparral Institute that analyzes weather and fuel factors in a case study of a critical part of the 2003 Cedar Fire perimeter in San Diego County. 
View USGS Research Brief  PDF > 

Read More

Fire Management Impacts on Invasive Plants: USGS Research Brief

In the April issue of Conservation Biology, Keeley considers the impact of six fire management practices on alien invasions: fire suppression, forest fuel reduction, prescription burning in crown fire ecosystems, fuel breaks, targeting noxious aliens, and postfire rehabilitation. 
View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fire Management and Invasive Plants: A Handbook for Land Managers: USGS Research Brief

USGS research botanist Matt Brooks and National Wildlife Refuges invasive species coordinator Michael Lusk have compiled a handbook titled Fire Management and Invasive Plants, with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Refuge System, USGS and the Joint Fire Science Program.
View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More