Current Research

I am a Research Ecologist with the Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems program of the Rocky Mountain Research Station. My interests include understanding ecosystems under different drivers and integrating ecosystem changes with ecosystem and wildlife management at multiple scales across many extents. Current research involves historical ecosystems of open forests maintained by fire, tree biomass simulations under climate change, and juniper tree encroachment in grasslands and shrublands.

Research Interests

Analysis and management of disturbance effects including fire and fire exclusion, climate change, and land use on terrestrial ecosystems, natural resources, and wildlife at multiple scales, with particular focus on open oak and pine ecosystems. Oak and pine savannas and woodlands are part of a continuum between grasslands and closed forests. The unique bipartite characteristics of grasslands with a tree overstory are not recognized and therefore, undervalued for conservation and management.

Past Research

My past research ranges across many topics, including forests, wildlife, fire, and climate during postgraduate work at University of Missouri and graduate work at Mississippi State University.

Why This Research is Important

Open forests and grasslands have decreased by >98% in the eastern US, while in the Great Plains and western US, open forests and grasslands also have decreased. Birds, pollinators, plants, and other associated species have decreased with habitat loss and fragmentation at landscape scales, and degradation within remnants.

Education

• Mississippi State University, Ph.D. Forest Resources 2007
• Southern Illinois University, M.A. Biological Sciences 2003

Professional Experience

Featured Publications & Products

• Stambaugh, Michael C.; Varner, J. Morgan; Noss, Reed F.; Dey, Daniel C.; Christensen, Norman L.; Baldwin, Robert F.; Guyette, Richard P.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Harper, Craig A.; Lindblom, Sam G.; Waldrop, Thomas A. 2015. Clarifying the role of fire in the deciduous forests of eastern North America: reply to Matlack.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd; Kabrick, John M. 2014. Historical open forest ecosystems in the Missouri Ozarks: reconstruction and restoration targets.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Kabrick, John M.; He, Hong S. 2014. Densification and state transition across the Missouri Ozarks landscape.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Dey, Dan C.; He, Hong S. 2012. Regime shifts and weakened environmental gradients in open oak and pine ecosystems.

Publications

• Hanberry, Brice B. 2021. Addressing regional relationships between white-tailed deer densities and land classes.
• Gagnon, Paul R.; Battaglia, Loretta L.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Conner, William H.; King, Sammy L. 2021. Fire in floodplain forests of the Southeastern USA Chapter 6.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2021. Forest disturbance types and current analogs for historical disturbance-independent forests.
• Sturtevant, Brian R.; Hanberry, Brice B. 2021. Processes underlying restoration of temperate savanna and woodland ecosystems: Emerging themes and challenges.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2021. Timing of tree density increases, influence of climate change, and a land use index proxy for tree density increases in the United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2021. Transition from fire-dependent open forests: Alternative ecosystem states in the southeastern United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2021. Wind-bounded grasslands of North America.
• Reeves, Matthew C.; Hanberry, Brice ; Bruggink, Jeffrey L.; Krebs, Michael A.; Campbell, Steven B.; Baggett, L. Scott. 2020. A novel approach for estimating nonforest carbon stocks in support of forest plan revision.
• Reeves, Matthew C.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Wilmer, Hailey ; Kaplan, Nicole E.; Lauenroth, William K. 2020. An assessment of production trends on the Great Plains from 1984 to 2017.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2020. Baseline and novel ecosystems in Michigan, USA, with a quantitative and qualitative assessment.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Dumroese, R. Kasten. 2020. Biodiversity and representative species in dry pine forests Chapter 4.1.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2020. Classifying large wildfires in the United States by land cover.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2020. Compounded heat and fire risk for future U.S. populations.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Justice, Donald C.; Powell, David C. 2020. Discovering Douglas-fir woodlands in the historical forests of the Umatilla National Forest, eastern Oregon and Washington.
• Ott, Jacqueline P.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Khalil, Mona ; Paschke, Mark W.; van der Burg, Max Post; Prenni, Anthony J. 2020. Energy development in the Great Plains: Implications and mitigation opportunities.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Bragg, Don C.; Alexander, Heather D. 2020. Open forest ecosystems: An excluded state.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; DeBano, Sandra J.; Kaye, Thomas N.; Rowland, Mary M.; Hartway, Cynthia R.; Shorrock, Donna . 2020. Pollinators of the Great Plains: Disturbances, stressors, management, and research needs.
• Hanberry, Brice ; Hanberry, Phillip . 2020. Rapid digitization to reclaim thematic maps of white-tailed deer density from 1982 and 2003 in the conterminous US.
• Reeves, Matt C.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Burden, Iric . 2020. Rapidly quantifying drought impacts to aid reseeding strategies.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2020. Reclassifying the wildland-urban interface using fire occurrences for the United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Hanberry, Phillip . 2020. Regaining the history of deer populations and densities in the southeastern United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Abrams, Marc D.; Arthur, Mary A.; Varner, J. Morgan. 2020. Reviewing fire, climate, deer, and foundation species as drivers of historically open oak and pine forests and transition to closed forests.
• Bragg, Don C.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Hutchinson, Todd F.; Jack, Steven B.; Kabrick, John M. 2020. Silvicultural options for open forest management in eastern North America.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2019. Defining the historical northeastern forested boundary of the Great Plains Grasslands in the United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Abrams, Marc D. 2019. Does white-tailed deer density affect tree stocking in forests of the eastern United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Dey, Daniel C. 2019. Historical range of variability for restoration and management in Wisconsin.
• Finch, Deborah M.; Baldwin, Carolyn ; Brown, David P.; Driscoll, Katelyn P.; Fleishman, Erica ; Ford, Paulette L.; Hanberry, Brice ; Symstad, Amy J.; Van Pelt, Bill ; Zabel, Richard. 2019. Management opportunities and research priorities for Great Plains grasslands.
• Hanberry, Brice ; Reeves, Matt C.; Brischke, Andrew ; Hannemann, Mike ; Hudson, Tipton ; Mayberry, Richard ; Ojima, Dennis ; Prendeville, Holly R.; Rangwala, Imtiaz . 2019. Managing Effects of Drought in the Great Plains.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Thompson, Frank R. 2019. Open forest management for early successional birds.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2019. Recent shifts in shade tolerance and disturbance traits in forests of the eastern United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B. 2019. Trajectory from beech and oak forests to eastern broadleaf forests in Indiana, USA.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Fraser, Jacob S. 2019. Visualizing current and future climate boundaries of the conterminous United States: Implications for forests.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Bragg, Don C.; Hutchinson, Todd F. 2018. A reconceptualization of open oak and pine ecosystems of eastern North America using a forest structure spectrum.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Abrams, Marc D.; White, Joseph D. 2018. Is increased precipitation during the 20th century statistically or ecologically significant in the eastern US.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Brzuszek, Robert F.; Foster, H. Thomas, I.; Schauwecker, Timothy J. 2018. Recalling open old growth forests in the Southeastern Mixed Forest province of the United States.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Abrams, Marc D. 2018. Recognizing loss of open forest ecosystems by tree densification and land use intensification in the Midwestern USA.
• Thompson, Frank R.; Hanberry, Brice ; Shifley, Stephen R.; Davidson, Brian K. 2018. Restoration of pine-oak woodlands in Missouri: Using science to inform land management debates and decisions.
• Hanberry, Brice . 2018. Revisiting historical beech and oak forests in Indiana using a GIS method to recover information from bar charts.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Coursey, Keith; Kush, John S. 2018. Structure and composition of historical longleaf pine ccosystems in Mississippi, USA.
• Jin, Wenchi; He, Hong S.; Thompson, Frank R.; Wang, Wen J.; Fraser, Jacob S.; Shifley, Stephen R.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Dijak, William D. 2017. Future forest aboveground carbon dynamics in the central United States: the importance of forest demographic processes.
• Iverson, Louis R.; Thompson, Frank R.; Matthews, Stephen ; Peters, Matthew ; Prasad, Anantha ; Dijak, William D.; Fraser, Jacob ; Wang, Wen J.; Hanberry, Brice ; He, Hong ; Janowiak, Maria ; Butler, Patricia ; Brandt, Leslie ; Swanston, Christopher . 2017. Multi-model comparison on the effects of climate change on tree species in the eastern U.S.: results from an enhanced niche model and process-based ecosystem and landscape models.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Kabrick, John M.; Dunwiddie, Peter W.; Hartel, Tibor; Jain, Theresa B.; Knapp, Benjamin O. 2017. Restoration of temperate savannas and woodlands Chapter 11.
• Dijak, William D.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Fraser, Jacob S.; He, Hong S.; Wang, Wen J.; Thompson, Frank R. 2017. Revision and application of the LINKAGES model to simulate forest growth in central hardwood landscapes in response to climate change.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; He, Hong S.; Shifley, Stephen R. 2016. Loss of aboveground forest biomass and landscape biomass variability in Missouri, US.
• Wang, Wen J.; He, Hong S.; Thompson, Frank R.; Fraser, Jacob S.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Dijak, William D. 2015. Importance of succession, harvest, and climate change in determining future composition in US Central Hardwood Forests.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Noss, Reed F.; Safford, Hugh D.; Allison, Stuart K.; Dey, Daniel C. 2015. Restoration Is Preparation for the Future.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Kabrick, John M.; He, Hong S. 2014. Changing tree composition by life history strategy in a grassland-forest landscape.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Dey, Daniel C.; He, Hong S. 2014. The history of widespread decrease in oak dominance exemplified in a grassland--forest landscape.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Palik, Brian J.; He, Hong S. 2013. Winning and Losing Tree Species of Reassembly in Minnesota s Mixed and Broadleaf Forests.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Yang, Jian; Kabrick, John M.; He, Hong S. 2012. Adjusting forest density estimates for surveyor bias in historical tree surveys.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Palik, Brian J.; He, Hong S. 2012. Comparison of historical and current forest surveys for detection of homogenization and mesophication of Minnesota forests.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Kabrick, John M.; He, Hong S.; Palik, Brian J. 2012. Historical trajectories and restoration strategies for the Mississippi River alluvial valley.
• Hanberry, B.B.; He, H.S.; Dey, D.C. 2012. Sample sizes and model comparison metrics for species distribution models.
• Hanberry, Brice B.; Fraver, Shawn; He, Hong S.; Yang, Jian; Dey, Dan C.; Palik, Brian J. 2011. Spatial pattern corrections and sample sizes for forest density estimates of historical tree surveys.

Research Highlights

Highlight	Title	Year
RMRS-2020-49	Energy Development in the Great Plains U.S. coal, oil, natural gas, and wind energy are concentrated in the grassland states. As energy demand continues to increase, increasing press ...	2020
RMRS-2020-31	New Products Improve National Response to Drought on Rangelands The epic droughts of 2018 in the Southwestern U.S. devastated landscapes and economies alike. The Rangeland Production Monitoring Service was ...	2020
RMRS-2020-52	Plateaus Science Synthesis: A Scientific Foundation for Future Land Management Planning The Northeastern California plateaus bioregion science synthesis (Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-409) has a northeastern California focus on sagebrus ...	2020