Current Research

I am currently focused on improving our understanding of how forest and rangeland vegetation responds to wildfire; how trees killed by wildfire decay and contribute to wildlife habitat, coarse woody debris, and fuels; and how post-fire management treatments can best be used to reduce threats (e.g., post-fire flooding and erosion, future high severity wildfires) and promote long-term ecosystem recovery. I am also working to evaluate the effectiveness of common forest restoration treatments (e.g., mechanical thinning and prescribed fire) for increasing resilience to fire and climatic variability and promoting biodiversity in fire-prone forest and savanna ecosystems.

Research Interests

• Fire, forest, and restoration ecology
• Climate change
• Response to, and influence of, forest, savanna, and grassland ecosystems on the frequency and severity of natural fire regimes
• Response of forest ecosystems to severe fire events
• Forest management practices that manage potential fire behavior and ecosystem resilience
• Variability of forest structure, composition, and function across environmental gradients
• Influence of climatic variability on tree establishment and growth
• Response of tree growth to climate across species and environmental gradients
• Application of fire and forest ecology for restoring and maintaining ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity in fire-prone forests and savannas

Past Research

My past work has included studies of tree growth responses to climatic variability using tree-ring analysis, with a particular emphasis on understanding the dominant climate-related stressors that limit growth of subalpine conifers, and how those dominant stressors differ among species, among geographic regions, and across environmental gradients. I have also studied the long-term effects of different prescribed fire frequencies on overstory structure, understory plant communities, and nitrogen availability in oak savannas and woodlands in Minnesota.

Why This Research is Important

In North America and many other parts of the world, humans have modified natural fire regimes through land use changes, landscape modifications, and active fire suppression, leading to significant changes in the structure, composition, and functioning of fire-prone forest, savanna, and grassland ecosystems. These altered ecosystems are often unsustainable and are now experiencing uncharacteristically severe wildfires that not only produce threats to human health and property (e.g., direct wildfire effects, post-fire flooding and erosion, loss of ecosystem services), but may also produce dramatic and persistent changes in the ecosystems (e.g., conversion of forests to shrubland or grassland). Climate change may enhance these problems by promoting longer fire seasons and more extreme fire weather. Forest managers are increasingly focusing their efforts on forest restoration, seeking to increase forest resilience to disturbances and climate change, promote and maintain biodiversity, and improve the capacity of ecosystems to adapt to change. My work contributes to these efforts by providing basic scientific knowledge about how ecosystems function and respond to disturbances and by assessing the effectiveness and ecological impacts of some of the management treatments used to achieve management objectives.

Education

• University of Minnesota, Ph.D. Forestry (Forest Ecology) 1998
• University of Washington, M.S. Forestry (Forest Ecology) 1993
• Pacific Lutheran University, B.A. Mathematics and Computer Science 1983

Professional Experience

Professional Organizations

• Association of Fire Ecology, Member (2004 - Current)
• Tree-Ring Society, Member (2003 - Current)
• Ecological Society of America, Member (1996 - Current)
• Northwest Scientific Association, Member (2003 - 2008)
• Northwest Scientific Association, Board Member (2003 - 2006)

Featured Publications & Products

• Peterson, David W.; Dodson, Erich. 2016. Post-fire logging produces minimal persistent impacts on understory vegetation in northeastern Oregon, USA.
• Peterson, David W.; Dodson, Erich Kyle; Harrod, Richy J. 2015. Post-fire logging reduces surface woody fuels up to four decades following wildfire.
• Peterson, David W.; Kerns, Becky K.; Dodson, Erich Kyle. 2014. Climate change effects on vegetation in the Pacific Northwest: a review and synthesis of the scientific literature and simulation model projections.
• Frelich, Lee E.; Reich, Peter B.; Peterson, David W. 2015. Fire in upper Midwestern oak forest ecosystems: an oak forest restoration and management handbook.
• Lehmkuhl, John; Gaines, William; Peterson, David ; Bailey, John; Youngblood, Andrew, tech. eds. 2015. Silviculture and monitoring guidelines for integrating restoration of dry mixed-conifer forest and spotted owl habitat management in the eastern Cascade Range.
• Peterson, David W.; Dodson, Erich Kyle; Harrod, Richy J. 2009. Fertilization and seeding effects on vegetative cover after wildfire in north-central Washington state.

Publications

• Vizcarra, Natasha ; Peterson, David W. 2018. Reburn in the rain shadow.
• Frelich, Lee E.; Reich, Peter B.; Peterson, David W. 2017. The changing role of fire in mediating the relationships among oaks, grasslands, mesic temperate forests, and boreal forests in the Lake States.
• Gaines, William L.; Peterson, David W.; Thomas, Cameron A.; Harrod, Richy J. 2012. Adaptations to climate change: Colville and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests.
• Carnwath, Gunnar C.; Peterson, David W.; Nelson, Cara R. 2012. Effect of crown class and habitat type on climate-growth relationships of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir.
• Dodson, Erich Kyle; Peterson, David W. 2010. Dry coniferous forest restoration and understory plant diversity: The importance of community heterogeneity and the scale of observation.
• Dodson, Erich Kyle; Peterson, David W.; Harrod, Richy J. 2010. Impacts of erosion control treatments on native vegetation recovery after severe wildfire in the Eastern Cascades, USA.
• Dodson, Erich Kyle; Peterson, David W. 2010. Mulching effects on vegetation recovery following high severity wildfire in north-central Washington State, USA.
• Harrod, Richy J.; Dodson, Erich Kyle; Povak, Nicholas A.; Peterson, David W. 2009. Pretreatment variation in overstory and understory vegetation Chapter 2.
• Dodson, Erich Kyle; Peterson, David W. 2009. Seeding and fertilization effects on plant cover and community recovery following wildfire in the Eastern Cascade Mountains, USA.
• Harrod, Richy J.; Peterson, David W.; Povak, Nicholas A.; Dodson, Erich Kyle. 2009. Thinning and prescribed fire effects on overstory tree and snag structure in dry coniferous forests of the interior Pacific Northwest.
• Peterson, David W.; Reich, Peter B. 2008. Fire frequency and tree canopy structure influence plant species diversity in a forest-grassland ecotone.
• Dodson, Erich Kyle; Peterson, David W.; Harrod, Richy J. 2008. Understory vegetation response to thinning and burning restoration treatments in dry conifer forests of the eastern Cascades, USA.
• Peterson, David W.; Dodson, Erich Kyle; Harrod, Richy J. 2007. Assessing the effectiveness of seeding and fertilization treatments for reducing erosion potential following severe wildfires.
• Harrod, Richy J.; Povak, Nicholas A.; Peterson, David W. 2007. Comparing the effectiveness of thinning and prescribed fire for modifying structure in dry coniferous forests.
• Peterson, David W.; Hessburg, Paul F.; Salter, Brion; James, Kevin M.; Dahlgreen, Matthew C.; Barnes, John A. 2007. Reintroducing fire in regenerated dry forests following stand-replacing wildfire..

Research Highlights

Highlight	Title	Year
PNW-2015-36	Postfire Logging Reduces Future Surface Woody Fuels in Dry Coniferous Forests Severe wildfires create pulses of dead trees that influence future fuel loads, fire behavior, and fire effects as they decay and deposit surface ...	2015
PNW-2013-016	Pros and Cons of Fuel Treatments Versus Periodic Wildfire Determined Hazardous fuel treatments in dry Western forests generally reduce carbon storage over time compared to periodic wildfires, but the treatments en ...	2013
PNW-2014-085	Understanding Vegetation Vulnerability to Climate Change This synthesis paper reviews potential climate change impacts on Pacific Northwest vegetation and provides a scientific basis for developing vul ...	2014