USDA
Dustbowl, Dallas SD, 1936Natural and anthropogenic disturbances play an important role in wildland ecosystem health and stability. Depending on their nature, scale, intensity and distribution, some disturbances threaten ecosystem function, whereas others are required to sustain ecosystem health. Research on disturbances such as fire, clearing, wildlife and livestock grazing, pest outbreaks, and urban sprawl has consequences for maintaining ecosystem function, invasive species spread, wildlife management and restoration. GSD scientists study the impact from these disturbances and develop approaches to mitigate the negative and foster the positive outcomes that disturbances provide to ecosystem health.
Projects
- Classical Biological Control of Dalmatian (Linaria dalmatica), Yellow (L. vulgaris) and Hybrid (L. dalmatica x L. vulgaris) Toadflax
- Does Drought Exacerbate Damage Caused by Bark-Beetle-Associated Fungi in Piñon-Juniper Woodland Ecosystems?
- Effects of Fuel Reductions in the Santa Fe River Watershed
- Effects of Fuel Reductions on Wildlife Populations and Vegetation in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico
- Effects of Wildfire on Wildlife Populations and Vegetation in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico
- Equipment and Strategies to Enhance the Post-wildfire Establishment and Persistence of Great Basin Native Plants
- Field Inventory to Determine Effects of Military Disturbance on Biodiversity at the Landscape Level at Grafenwöhr Training Area, Germany
- Great Basin Native Plant Selection and Increase Project
- Historical and Modern Fire Regimes of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau: Temporal and Spatial Drivers of Variation
- Invasive Plant Response to Disturbance on the Black Hills National Forest
- Long-term Effects of Season and Frequency of Fire in Shortgrass Steppe of the Southern Great Plains
- Management of Prairie Dog Colonies for Grassland Sustainability
- Mountain Big Sagebrush Post-Fire Recovery (Succession) in the Southern Half of its Distribution
- Salt-Desert Shrubland Stability as Affected by Livestock Grazing, Invasive Weeds and Climate Variability
- Shrub Encroachment, Wildland Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Sequestration in Three Southwestern Grassland Ecosystems