Donald A Falk
- Professor, Natural Resources
- Professor, Dendrochronology
- Professor, Global Change - GIDP
- Member of the Graduate Faculty
- (520) 626-7201
- Environment and Natural Res. 2, Rm. N224
- Tucson, AZ 85719
- dafalk@arizona.edu
Biography
Don Falk is Professor in the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment, with joint appointments in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and the Institute of the Environment. He holds degrees from Oberlin College, Tufts University, and the University of Arizona, where he received his PhD in 2004.
Don’s research focuses on fire history, fire ecology, and ecological restoration and resilience in a changing world. Falk has been a AAAS Fellow since 1991, and has received the Fulbright Short-Term Scholar award, the Ecological Society of America’s Deevey Award for outstanding graduate work in paleoecology, the William McGinnies Fellowship, Pinchot Institute Conservation Scholarship, and a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant. In 2008 he and collaborators (C. Miller, D. McKenzie, & A. Black) were chosen for “Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology” by the International Association for Landscape Ecology – US. In 2012 he was selected by his peers in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement, and in 2013 his course “Introduction to Wildland Fire” was chosen by the students of the School as Outstanding Course. In 2014-15 he was awarded the Udall Faculty Fellowship in Public Policy for studies in post-fire ecological resilience. In 2015 Don served as a University of Arizona Delegate to the Paris global climate summit.
Don Falk was co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Plant Conservation at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, now at San Diego Zoo Global. He served subsequently as the first Executive Director of the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER), of which he was a founding Board member.
Falk is the author of more than more than 140 publications and has co-edited five books, including Genetics and Conservation of Rare Plants (1991, Oxford University Press, with Kent Holsinger,), Restoring Diversity: Strategies for Reintroduction of Endangered Plants (1996, Island Press, with Connie Millar and Peggy Olwell), Foundations of Restoration Ecology (2006, Island Press, with Margaret Palmer and Joy Zedler; Second Edition 2016), and The Landscape Ecology of Fire (2011, Springer, with Don McKenzie and Carol Miller). He is a member of the Editorial Board for the SER-Island Press series, Science and Practice of Restoration Ecology, the Executive Board of the Southwest Fire Science Consortium, and is science lead for the FireScape initiative in the Arizona Sky Islands. He serves as Chair of the Global Change Ecology and Management degree option in the UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment and the University Minor in Climate Change and Society.
Degrees
- Ph.D. Ecology and evolutionary biology
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
- Scaling rules for fire regimes
- M.A. Environmental Policy
- Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
- Political economy of the environment
- B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies
- Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
Work Experience
- Research Associate (2004 - 2007)
- Society for Ecological Restoration (1993 - 2000)
- The Nature Conservancy of Arizona (1993 - 1994)
- Center for Plant Conservation (1984 - 1993)
- Cambridge Community Development Department (1980 - 1984)
Awards
- William McGinnies Scholar
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Fall 1999
- Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar
- Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation, Winter 1998
- Fulbright Short Term Scholars Award
- Australian Fulbright Foundation, Winter 1991
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Spring 1991
- Outstanding Faculty Member (Honorable Mention?
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Spring 2023
- Selected as Core Author, National guidance document on conservation of old-growth forests and incorporation of indigenous stewardship, in response to the Biden Administration’s Executive Order in April 2022
- US Forest Service, Spring 2023
- Outstanding Course (RNR 355, Introduction to Wildland Fire)
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Spring 2021
- Academic Leadership Institute 2019-2020
- University of Arizona, Fall 2020
- To Laura Marshall: Komarek Graduate Student Excellence Award
- Association for Fire Ecology, Fall 2020
- Outstanding Faculty Member
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Spring 2020
- Graduate Student Awards
- Spring 2018
- Graduate Student Awards: Research
- College of Science; Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research; School of Natural Resources and Environment; College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2016
- College of Science; Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research; School of Natural Resources and Environment; College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2015
- College of Science; School of Natural Resources and the Environment; International Conference on Dendrochronology, Spring 2014
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment; College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2013
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Fall 2012
- Association of Pacific Coast Geographers; University of Arizona, BioSphere 2, Fall 2010
- Udall Center Faculty Fellow
- Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Fall 2014
- Graduate Student Awards: Service
- College of Science, University of Arizona, Spring 2014
- Graduate Student Awards: Teaching
- College of Science, University of Arizona, Spring 2014
- College of Science, University of Arizona, Spring 2013
- Outstanding Course
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment (student selection), Fall 2013
- Who's Who in Local Communities: Honorable Mention
- News Digest International, Summer 2013 (Award Finalist)
- Graduate Student Award: Best student poster, Association for Fire Ecology at the Southwest Association for Fire Ecology
- Association for Fire Ecology, Southwest Conference, Spring 2012
- Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Spring 2012
- Graduate Student Award: Andrew Ellicott Douglass Memorial Scholarship
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Fall 2011
- Graduate Student Awards in Research
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research; School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Fall 2011
- Graduate Student Award: Memorial Scholarship
- Western Forest Insect Work Conference, Summer 2011
- Gradaute Student Award: Pat and Miriam Reid Scholarship
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Spring 2011
- Graduate Student Award: Outstanding Service Award
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, College of Science, Spring 2011
- Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology
- International Association for Landscape Ecology (US), Spring 2008
- Edward S. Deevey Award
- Ecological Society of America, Summer 2003
- Robert W. Hoshaw Scholar
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Fall 2001
Licensure & Certification
- Type II Wildland Firefighter, US Forest Service (2007)
Interests
Research
Fire ecology, fire history, simulation modeling, restoration ecology, resilience ecology, global change adaptation
Teaching
Fire ecology, restoration ecology, wildland fire science
Courses
2024-25 Courses
-
Independent Study
RNR 599 (Fall 2024)
2023-24 Courses
-
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2024) -
Internship
RNR 493 (Fall 2023) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 435 (Fall 2023) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 535 (Fall 2023) -
Special Topics in Science
HNRS 195I (Fall 2023)
2022-23 Courses
-
Restoration Ecology
RNR 435 (Fall 2022) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 535 (Fall 2022) -
Special Topics in Science
HNRS 195I (Fall 2022) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Fall 2022)
2021-22 Courses
-
Directed Research
ECOL 492 (Spring 2022) -
Independent Study
RNR 599 (Spring 2022) -
Intro To Wildland Fire
RNR 355 (Spring 2022) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2022) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 496E (Fall 2021) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 596E (Fall 2021) -
Special Topics in Science
HNRS 195I (Fall 2021) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Fall 2021)
2020-21 Courses
-
Internship
RNR 393 (Spring 2021) -
Intro To Wildland Fire
RNR 355 (Spring 2021) -
Independent Study
RNR 599 (Fall 2020) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 496E (Fall 2020) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 596E (Fall 2020) -
Special Topics in Science
HNRS 195I (Fall 2020)
2019-20 Courses
-
Intro To Wildland Fire
RNR 355 (Spring 2020) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 496E (Fall 2019) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 596E (Fall 2019)
2018-19 Courses
-
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Spring 2019) -
Intro To Wildland Fire
RNR 355 (Spring 2019) -
Practicum
RNR 694 (Spring 2019) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Fall 2018) -
Independent Study
RNR 499 (Fall 2018) -
Renewable Nat Resources
RNR 696A (Fall 2018) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 496E (Fall 2018) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 596E (Fall 2018)
2017-18 Courses
-
Dendroecology
GEOS 497K (Summer I 2018) -
Dendroecology
GEOS 597K (Summer I 2018) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Summer I 2018) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Spring 2018) -
Independent Study
RNR 599 (Spring 2018) -
Intro To Wildland Fire
RNR 355 (Spring 2018) -
Preceptorship
RNR 491 (Spring 2018) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2018) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Fall 2017) -
Independent Study
RNR 499 (Fall 2017) -
Internship
RNR 493 (Fall 2017) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 496E (Fall 2017) -
Restoration Ecology
RNR 596E (Fall 2017) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Fall 2017)
2016-17 Courses
-
Thesis
RNR 910 (Summer I 2017) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Spring 2017) -
Intro To Wildland Fire
RNR 355 (Spring 2017) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2017) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Winter 2016) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Fall 2016) -
Fire Ecology
RNR 438 (Fall 2016) -
Fire Ecology
RNR 538 (Fall 2016) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Fall 2016)
2015-16 Courses
-
Dendroecology
GEOS 497K (Summer I 2016) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Spring 2016) -
Independent Study
RNR 599 (Spring 2016) -
Intro To Wildland Fire
RNR 355 (Spring 2016) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2016)
Scholarly Contributions
Books
- Friggens, M., Loehman, R. A., Thode, A. E., Flatley, W., Evans, A., Bunn, W., Wilcox, C. D., Mueller, S., Yocom-Kent, L. L., & Falk, D. A. (2019). User guide to the FireCLIME Vulnerability Assessment (VA) tool: A rapid and flexible system for assessing ecosystem vulnerability to climate-fire interactions.. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-395.: Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 42 p..
- Webb, A. D., Falk, D. A., & Finch, D. M. (2019). Fire Ecology and Management in Lowland Riparian Ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-401. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 132 p.. doi:https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/59156
- Brewer, P. W., Brewer, P. W., Falk, D. A., Sutherland, E. K., Velasquez, M. E., Velasquez, M. E., & Sutherland, E. K. (2016). Fire History Analysis and Exploration System - FHAES v2.0.1. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.48446
- Palmer, M. A., Zedler, J., & Falk, D. A. (2016). Foundations of Restoration Ecology, 2d Edition. Island Press and Society for Ecological Restoration.More infoAs the practical application of ecological restoration continues to grow, there is an increasing need to connect restoration practice to areas of underlying ecological theory. Foundations of Restoration Ecology is an important milestone in the field, bringing together leading ecologists to bridge the gap between theory and practice by translating elements of ecological theory and current research themes into a scientific framework for the field of restoration ecology.Each chapter addresses a particular area of ecological theory, covering traditional levels of biological hierarchy (such as population genetics, demography, community ecology) as well as topics of central relevance to the challenges of restoration ecology (such as species interactions, fine-scale heterogeneity, successional trajectories, invasive species ecology, ecophysiology). Several chapters focus on research tools (research design, statistical analysis, modeling), or place restoration ecology research in a larger context (large-scale ecological phenomena, macroecology, climate change and paleoecology, evolutionary ecology).Foundations of Restoration Ecology is one of the leading books in the field and is used in classroom teaching around the US and abroad.
- Brewer, P. W., Brewer, P. W., Sutherland, E. K., Velasquez, M. E., Falk, D. A., Velasquez, M. E., & Sutherland, E. K. (2015). Fire History Analysis and Exploration System - FHAES v2.0.0. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.34142
- Friggens, M. M., Bagne, K. E., Finch, D. M., Falk, D. A., Triepke, J., & Lynch, A. M. (2013). Review and recommendations for climate change vulnerability assessment approaches with examples from the outhwest. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-309.. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.More infoAbstract: Climate change creates new challenges for resource managers and decision-makers with broad and often complex effects that make it difficult to accurately predict and design management actions to minimize undesirable impacts. We review pertinent information regarding methods and approaches used to conduct climate change vulnerability assessments to reveal assumptions and appropriate application of results. Secondly, we provide managers with an updated summary of knowledge regarding vulnerability of species and habitats to climate change in the American Southwest. Overall, vulnerability assessments provided valuable information on climate change effects and possible management actions but were far from a comprehensive picture for the future of the Southwest. Scales, targets, and assessment approaches varied widely and focused on only a subset of resources. We recommend land managers critically examine methods when using assessment results; select scale, methods, and targets carefully when planning new assessments; and communicate assessment needs to researchers of climate change response.
- Friggens, M., Bagne, K., Finch, D., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., & Triepke, J. (2013). Review and recommendations for climate change vulnerability assessment approaches with examples from the Southwest.. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-309: Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station..
- Mitchell, B., Walterman, M., Mellin, T., Wilcox, C., Lynch, A. M., Anhold, J. B., Falk, D. A., Koprowski, J. L., Koprowski, J. L., Laes, D., Evans, D., Evans, D., Fisk, H., & Anhold, J. B. (2012). Mapping vegetation structure in the Pinaleño Mountains using LiDAR – Phase 3: forest inventory modeling.. Mapping vegetation structure in the Pinaleño Mountains using LiDAR – Phase 3: forest inventory modeling. RSAC-10007-RPT1.. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.2914.3206More infoUnderstanding forest structure and how it is affected by management practices and natural events is a critical part of managing natural resources within the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona represent a Madrean sky island ecosystem and the last remaining habitat for the Mt. Graham red squirrel. This unique ecosystem is threatened by a general shift in species composition and forest structure as well as by high severity fires and insect infestations. Due to these factors, the Coronado National Forest has implemented a forest restoration effort using lidar (light detection and ranging) as a tool for identifying habitat and cataloging forest inventory variables at a landscape level. Forest inventory parameters were modeled by building regression models between forest inventory parameters measured on field plots and their associated lidar canopy metrics. Inventory parameters that could be successfully modeled with R2 values above 0.6 were calculated for the full extent of the lidar data. This created landscape GIS layers for inventory parameters such as biomass, basal area, Lorey's mean height, and timber volume. The resulting GIS inventory layers were qualitatively validated with local experts and conformed well to trends known to occur on the landscape. The layers are currently being used for additional analysis, project development, and monitoring.
- McKenzie, D., Miller, C., & Falk, D. A. (2011). The Landscape Ecology of Fire. Springer.More infoSynthesis volume of current research in landscape analysis of wildland fire.
- Falk, D. A., Palmer, M. A., & Zedler, J. B. (2006). Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Island Press, Washington, DC..
- Falk, D. A. (2004). Scaling rules for fire regimes. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology: The University of Arizona..
- Falk, D. A., Millar, C. I., & Olwell, M. (1996). Restoring Diversity: Strategies for Reintroduction of Endangered Plants. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Genetics and Conservation of Rare Plants. New York: Ocford University Press.
Chapters
- Schultz, E. L., Evans, M. E., Giebink, C. L., Black, B. A., Falk, D. A., Falk, D. A., Giebink, C. L., Black, B. A., Schultz, E. L., & Evans, M. E. (2021). Growth Rings across the Tree of Life: demographic insights from biogenic time series data.. In Demographic Methods Across the Tree of Life.. Oxford University Press.
- Schultz, E. L., Giebink, C. L., Falk, D. A., Black, B. A., & Evans, M. E. (2022). Growth Rings across the Tree of Life: demographic insights from biogenic time series data.. In Demographic Methods Across the Tree of Life.. Oxford University Press.
- Falk, D. A., & Millar, C. I. (2016). The Influence of Climate Variability and Change on the Science and Practice of Restoration Ecology. In Foundations of Restoration Ecology, Second Edition. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- Palmer, M., Zedler, J. B., & Falk, D. A. (2016). Ecological Theory and Restoration Ecology. In Foundations of Restoration Ecology, Second Edition. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- Richards, C., Falk, D. A., & Montalvo, A. (2016). Population and Ecological Genetics in Restoration Ecology. In Foundations of Restoration Ecology, Second Edition. Washington, DC: Island Press.
- Anhold, J., Mitchell, B., Wilcox, C., Mellin, T., Merrick, M., Lynch, A. M., Walterman, M., Falk, D. A., Koprowski, J. L., Laes, D., Evans, D., & Fisk, H. (2015). Using LiDAR to Evaluate Forest Landscape and Health Factors and Their Relationship to Habitat of the Endangered Mount Graham Red Squirrel on the Coronado National Forest, Pinaleño Mountains, Arizona. In KM Potter and B Conkling, Eds., Forest Health Monitoring: National Status, Trends, and Analysis 2014, Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-209(pp 133-142). Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station.
- Sheppard, B. S., Garfin, G. M., Falk, D. A., & Connor, C. O. (2015). Modeling Climate Change Impacts on Landscape Evolution, Fire, and Hydrology. In Report to the Department of Defense, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). Agu.
- Sutherland, E. K., Velasquez, M. E., Brewer, P. W., Brewer, P. W., Falk, D. A., Velasquez, M. E., & Sutherland, E. K. (2015). Fire History Analysis and Exploration System - FHAES v2.0.0-SNAPSHOT. In Fire History Analysis and Exploration System - FHAES. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.32983
- Malusa, J. R., Laing, L., Falk, D. A., & Gebow, B. (2013). Mapping Ecological Systems from the Ground Up in Southeastern Arizona.. In Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III.. RMRS P-67: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Fort Collins, CO.
- Maschinski, J., Falk, D. A., Possley, J., Roncal, J., Wendelberger, K. S., Wright, S. H., & Wright, S. A. (2012). Optimal Locations for Plant Reintroductions in a Changing World. In In J Maschinski and KE Haskins (Eds.), Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate. Island Press, Washington, DC. doi:10.5822/978-1-61091-183-2_7More infoOf all conservation strategies currently practiced throughout the world, reintroductions require the most sophisticated understanding of species biology and ecology (Falk et al. 1996). Whether augmenting existing populations, reintroducing within a species’ known range, or introducing to a location outside the known range, finding optimal sites for long-term survival, growth, reproduction, and establishment of new populations is often “not as self-evident as it might otherwise seem” (Fiedler and Laven 1996, p. 157). Identifying appropriate habitat is essential to establish sustainable populations in existing or new locations, and yet for many species of conservation concern habitat needs are unknown. This uncertainty takes on even more importance in the context of contemporary and projected near-term changes in landscape and regional climate (Giorgi and Francisco 2000; Millar et al. 2007).
- Maschinski, J., Falk, D., Wright, S., Possley, J., Roncal1, J., & Wendelberger, K. (2011). Optimal locations for plant reintroductions in a changing world. In Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate. Washington, DC: Island Press.More infoEditor/ publication info: In J. Maschinski and K. E. Haskins (Eds.); Island Press, Washington, DC
- McKenzie, D., Miller, C., & Falk, D. A. (2011). Synthesis: Landscape Ecology and Changing Fire Regimes. In The Landscape Ecology of Fire(pp 295-303). Ecological Studies Series No. 213: Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands.
- McKenzie, D., Miller, C., & Falk, D. a. (2011). Toward a theory of landscape fire. In The landscape ecology of fire(pp 3-26). Ecological Studies Series No. 213: Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands.More infoIn McKenzie, D., C. Miller, and D. A. Falk (Eds.); Ecological Studies Series, Springer-Verlag.
- Swetnam, T. L., Falk, D. A., Hessl, A., & Farris, C. A. (2011). Reconstructing spatial pattern in landscape scale historical fires and fire regimes. In The landscape ecology of fire(pp 165-192). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.More infoIn McKenzie, D., C. Miller, and D. A. Falk (Eds.). . Ecological Studies Series, Springer-Verlag.
- Falk, D. A., Palmer, M. A., & Zedler, J. B. (2006). Integrating restoration ecology and ecological theory: A synthesis. In Foundations of Restoration Ecology.(pp 341-346). Island Press, Washington, DC.
- Falk, D. A., Richards, C. M., Montalvo, A. M., & Knapp, E. E. (2006). Population and ecological genetics in restoration ecology. In Foundations of Restoration Ecology.(pp 14-41). Washington, DC: Island Press.
- Palmer, M. A., Falk, D. A., & Zedler, J. B. (2006). Ecological theory and restoration ecology. In Foundations of Restoration Ecology(pp 1-10). Washington, DC.: Island Press.
- Maunder, M., Havens, K., Guerrant, E. o., & Falk, D. A. (2004). Ex situ methods: A vital but underused set of conservation resources. In Ex situ plant conservation: Supporting species survival in the wild(pp 3-20). Washington, DC: Island Press.More infoMaunder, M., K. Havens, E. O. Guerrant, and DA Falk.
- Falk, D. A. (1995). Restoration priorities on the landscape scale. In The role of restoration in ecological management. Peterson, D. and C. Klimas (Eds.). Society for Ecological Restoration/Parks Canada.
- Falk, D. A. (1992). From Conservation Biology to Conservation Practice: Strategies for Protecting Plant Diversity. In Conservation Biology(pp 397-425). New York: Chapman & Hall.
- Bawa, K. S., Ashton, P. S., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Conservation of rare trees in tropical rain forests: a genetic perspective.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Brown, A. H., Brown, A. H., Briggs, J. D., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Sampling strategies for genetic variation in ex situ collections of endangered plants species. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Eberhart, S. A., Roos, E. E., Towill, L. E., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Strategies for long-term management of germplasm collections.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Falk, D. A. (1991). JOINING BIOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC-MODELS FOR CONSERVING PLANT GENETIC DIVERSITY. In GENETICS AND CONSERVATION OF RARE PLANTS(pp 209-223). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Joining biological and economic models for conserving plant genetic diversity.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Hamrick, J. L., Godt, M. J., Murawski, D. A., Loveless, M. D., Falk, D. A., Holsinger, K. E., & Godt, M. J. (1991). Correlations between species traits and allozyme diversity: implications for conservation biology.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Holsinger, K. E., Gottlieb, L. D., Gottlieb, L. D., & Falk, D. A. (1991). Conservation of rare and endangered plants: principles and prospects.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Huenneke, L. F., Huenneke, L. F., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Ecological implications of genetic variation in plant populations.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Karron, J. D., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Patterns of genetic variation and breeding systems in rare plant species.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Menges, E. S., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). The application of minimum viable population theory to plants.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Rieseberg, L. H., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Hybridization in rare plants: insights from case studies in Cercocarpus and Helianthus.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Schaal, B. A., Leverich, W. J., Rogstad, S. H., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). A comparison of methods for assessing genetic variation in plant conservation biology.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- Templeton, A. R., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Off-site breeding of animals and implications for plant conservation strategies.. In Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford University Press.
- FALK, D. A. (1990). A Restorative Strategy for Endangered Species.. In J. Berger (ed.), Environmental Restoration: Science of Strategies for Restoring the Earth(pp 328-334). University of California, Berkeley.: Island Press.
Journals/Publications
- Falk, D. A. (2023).
Mortality thresholds of juvenile trees to drought and heatwaves: implications for forest regeneration across a landscape gradient
. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. doi:10.3389/ffgc.2023.1198156 - Lalor, A. R., Law, D. J., Breshears, D. D., Falk, D. A., Field, J. P., Loehman, R. A., Triepke, F. J., & Barron-Gafford, G. A. (2023). Mortality Thresholds of Juvenile Trees to Drought and Heatwaves: Implications for Forest Regeneration across a Landscape Gradient. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 6, 1198156.
- MacDonald, G., Wall, T., Enquist, C. A., LeRoy, S. R., Bradford, J. B., Breshears, D. D., Brown, T., Cayan, D., Dong, C., Falk, D. A., & others, . (2023). Drivers of California’s changing wildfires: a state-of-the-knowledge synthesis. International journal of wildland fire, 32(7), 1039--1058.
- Taylor, E. J., Falk, D. A., & Towner, R. H. (2023). Traversing the Southern Canadian Rocky Mountains: A Least Cost Path Analysis. Human Ecology, 51(1), 119--135.
- Falk, D. A., Van Mantgem, P., Keeley, J. E., Gregg, R. M., Guiterman, C. H., Tepley, A. J., Young, D. J., & Marshall, L. A. (2022). Tamm Review: Mechanisms of Forest Resilience. Forest Ecology & Management, 515, 120129. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-022-00131-w
- Guiterman, C. H., Gregg, R. M., Marshall, L. A., Beckmann, J. J., Mantgem, P. J., Falk, D. A., Keeley, J. E., Caprio, A. C., Coop, J. D., Fornwalt, P. J., & others, . (2022). Vegetation type conversion in the US Southwest: frontline observations and management responses. Fire Ecology, 18(1), 1--16.
- Margolis, E. Q., Guiterman, C. H., Chavard`es, R. D., Coop, J. D., Copes-Gerbitz, K., Dawe, D. A., Falk, D. A., Johnston, J. D., Larson, E., Li, H., & others, . (2022). The North American tree-ring fire-scar network. Ecosphere, 13(7), e4159.
- Arizpe, A. H., Falk, D. A., Woodhouse, C. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2021). Widespread fire years in the US--Mexico Sky Islands are contingent on both winter and monsoon precipitation. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 29(12), 1072--1087.
- Chazdon, R. L., Falk, D. A., Banin, L. F., Wagner, M., J, W. S., Grabowski, R. C., & Suding, K. N. (2021). The intervention continuum in restoration ecology: rethinking the active--passive dichotomy. Restoration Ecology, e13535.
- Dewar, J. J., Falk, D. A., Swetnam, T., Baisan, C. H., Margolis, E., Allen, C. D., & Parmenter, R. R. (2021). Valleys of fire: Landscape reconstruction of historical fire regimes of forest-grassland ecotones and grasslands in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, USA.. Landscape Ecology, 36, 331–352. doi:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-020-01101-w
- Garfin, G. M., Jacobs, K. L., & Falk, D. A. (2021). Is the Pentagon ready for climate change?. Arizona Daily Star, Op-Ed.
- Hagmann, K., Hessburg, P., Pritchard, S., Povak, N., & Falk, D. A. (2020). Evidence for Widespread Changes in the Structure, Composition, and Fire Regimes of Western North American Forests. Ecological Applications.
- Hagmann, R. K., Hessburg, P. F., Prichard, S. J., Povak, N. A., Brown, P. M., Ful'e, P., Keane, R. E., Knapp, E. E., Lydersen, J. M., Metlen, K. L., & others, . (2021). Evidence for widespread changes in the structure, composition, and fire regimes of western North American forests. Ecological Applications, 31(8), e02431.
- Swetnam, T. L., Yool, S. R., Roy, S., & Falk, D. A. (2021). On the use of standardized multi-temporal indices for monitoring disturbance and ecosystem moisture stress across multiple earth observation systems in the google earth engine. Remote Sensing, 13(8), 1448.
- Coop, J. D., Parks, S. A., Stevens-Rumann, C. S., Crausbay, S. D., Higuera, P. E., Hurteau, M. D., Tepley, A., Whitman, E., Assal, T., Collins, B. M., & others, . (2020). Wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes. BioScience, 70(8), 659--673.
- Lepley, K., Touchan, R., Meko, D. M., & Falk, D. A. (2020). Reconstructing snowpack using Sierra Nevada conifer tree rings in the midst of changing climate.. The Holocene, 30(9), 1266-1278. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683620919972
- Lepley, K., Touchan, R., Meko, D., Shamir, E., Graham, R., & Falk, D. (2020). A multi-century Sierra Nevada snowpack reconstruction modeled using upper-elevation coniferous tree rings (California, USA). The Holocene, 30(9), 1266--1278.
- Marshall, L. A., & Falk, D. A. (2020). Demographic trends in community functional tolerance reflect tree responses to climate and altered fire regimes. Ecological Applications, e02197. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2197
- Marshall, L. A., & Falk, D. A. (2020). Demographic trends in community functional tolerance reflect tree responses to climate and altered fire regimes. Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America, 30(8), e02197.More infoForests of the western United States are undergoing substantial stress from fire exclusion and increasing effects of climate change, altering ecosystem functions and processes. Changes in broad-scale drivers of forest community composition become apparent in their effect on survivorship and regeneration, driving demographic shifts. Here we take a community functional approach to forest demography, by investigating mean drought or shade functional tolerance in community assemblages. We created the Community Mean Tolerance Index (CMTI), a response metric utilizing drought/shade tolerance trade-offs to identify communities undergoing demographic change from a functional trait perspective. We applied the CMTI to Forest Inventory and Analysis data to investigate demographic trends in drought and shade tolerance across the southern Rocky Mountains. To find the major drivers of change in community tolerance within and across forest types, we compared index trends to climate and fire-exclusion-driven disturbance, and identified areas where demographic change was most pronounced. We predicted that greater shifts in drought tolerance would occur at lower forest type ecotones where climate stress is limiting and that shifts in shade tolerance would correspond to excursions from the historic fire regime leading to greater changes in forest types adapted to frequent, low-intensity fire. The CMTI was applied spatially to identify sites likely to transition to oak shrubfield, where disturbance history combined with a species-driven demographic shift toward drought tolerance. Within forest types, lower elevations are trending toward increased drought tolerance, while higher elevations are trending toward increased shade tolerance. Across forest types, CMTI difference peaked in mid-elevation ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests, where fire exclusion and autecology drive demographic changes. Peak CMTI difference was associated with fire exclusion in forest types adapted to frequent fire. At higher elevations, site-level stand dynamics appear to be influencing demographic tolerance trends more than broad climate drivers. Through a community demographic approach to functional traits, the CMTI highlights areas and forest types where ecosystem function is in the process of changing, before persistent vegetation type change occurs. Applied to regional plot networks, the CMTI provides an early warning of shifts in community functional processes as climate change pressures continue.
- Newman, E. A., Wilber, M. Q., Kopper, K. E., Moritz, M. A., Falk, D. A., McKenzie, D., & Harte, J. (2020). Disturbance macroecology: a comparative study of community structure metrics in a high-severity disturbance regime. Ecosphere, 11(1), e03022.
- Newman, E., Wilber, M., Kopper, K., Moritz, M., Falk, D. A., McKenzie, D., & Harte, J. (2020). Disturbance macroecology: a comparative study of community structure metrics in a high severity disturbance regime.. EcoSphere, 11(1), e.03022. doi:https://10.1002/ecs2.3022
- O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., & Garfin, G. M. (2020). Projected climate-fire interactions drive forest to shrubland transition on an Arizona Sky Island.. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, Article 137. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00137
- Van, M., Falk, D. A., Williams, E. C., Das, A. J., & Stephenson, N. L. (2020). The influence of pre-fire growth patterns on post-fire tree mortality for common conifers in western US parks. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 29(6), 513--518.
- van Mantgem, P., Das, A., Falk, D. A., & Stephenson, N. (2020). Intermediate- and long-term growth predicts post-fire tree mortality for common conifers in western U.S. parks. International Journal of Wildland Fire.
- Falk, D. A., Watts, A. C., & Thode, A. E. (2019). Scaling Ecological Resilience. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 7.
- Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E., Baisan, C. H., Falk, D. A., Allen, C. D., & Swetnam, T. (2019). Spatio-temporal variability of human-fire interactions on the Navajo Nation.. EcoSphere, 10(11), e02932. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2932
- Heyerdahl, E. K., Loehman, R. A., & Falk, D. A. (2019). A multi-century history of fire regimes along a transect of mixed-conifer forests in central Oregon, USA. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH, 49(1), 76-86.
- Keeley, J. E., van Mantgem, P. J., & Falk, D. A. (2019). Fire, climate and changing forests. NATURE PLANTS, 5(8), 774-775.
- Marshall, L. A., Falk, D. A., & McDowell, N. G. (2019). NITROGEN CAN LIMIT OVERSTORY TREE GROWTH FOLLOWING EXTREME STAND DENSITY INCREASE IN A PONDEROSA PINE FOREST. TREE-RING RESEARCH, 75(1), 49-60.
- Marshall, L. A., Falk, D. A., & McDowell, N. G. (2019). Nitrogen rather than water limits overstory tree growth following extreme stand density increase in a ponderosa pine forest. Tree-Ring Research.More infoMarshall LA, DA Falk, and NG McDowell.
- Newman, E. A., Kennedy, M. C., Falk, D. A., & McKenzie, D. (2019). Scaling and Complexity in Landscape Ecology. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 7.
- Smith, M. N., Stark, S. C., Taylor, T. C., Ferreira, M. L., de Oliveira, E., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Chen, S., Woodcock, T., Dos Santos, D. B., Alves, L. F., Figueira, M., de Camargo, P. B., de Oliveira, R. C., Aragão, L. E., Falk, D. A., McMahon, S. M., Huxman, T. E., & Saleska, S. R. (2019). Seasonal and drought-related changes in leaf area profiles depend on height and light environment in an Amazon forest. The New phytologist, 222(3), 1284-1297.More infoSeasonal dynamics in the vertical distribution of leaf area index (LAI) may impact the seasonality of forest productivity in Amazonian forests. However, until recently, fine-scale observations critical to revealing ecological mechanisms underlying these changes have been lacking. To investigate fine-scale variation in leaf area with seasonality and drought we conducted monthly ground-based LiDAR surveys over 4 yr at an Amazon forest site. We analysed temporal changes in vertically structured LAI along axes of both canopy height and light environments. Upper canopy LAI increased during the dry season, whereas lower canopy LAI decreased. The low canopy decrease was driven by highly illuminated leaves of smaller trees in gaps. By contrast, understory LAI increased concurrently with the upper canopy. Hence, tree phenological strategies were stratified by height and light environments. Trends were amplified during a 2015-2016 severe El Niño drought. Leaf area low in the canopy exhibited behaviour consistent with water limitation. Leaf loss from short trees in high light during drought may be associated with strategies to tolerate limited access to deep soil water and stressful leaf environments. Vertically and environmentally structured phenological processes suggest a critical role of canopy structural heterogeneity in seasonal changes in Amazon ecosystem function.
- Smith, M. N., Stark, S. C., Taylor, T. C., Ferreira, M. L., de, O. E., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Chen, S., Woodcock, T., dos, S., Alves, L. F., Figueira, M., de, C., de, O., Aragao, L., Falk, D. A., McMahon, S. M., Huxman, T. E., & Saleska, S. R. (2019). Seasonal and drought-related changes in leaf area profiles depend on height and light environment in an Amazon forest. NEW PHYTOLOGIST, 222(3), 1284-1297.
- , ., & , . (2018).
Advancing Dendrochronological Studies of Fire in the United States
. Fire, 1, 11. doi:10.3390/fire1010011More infofirst_page settings Order Article Reprints Font Type: Arial Georgia Verdana Font Size: Aa Aa Aa Line Spacing: Column Width: Background: Open AccessPerspective Advancing Dendrochronological Studies of Fire in the United States by Grant L. Harley 1,*, Christopher H. Baisan 2, Peter M. Brown 3, Donald A. Falk 2,4, William T. Flatley 5, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer 6, Amy Hessl 7, Emily K. Heyerdahl 8, Margot W. Kaye 9, Charles W. Lafon 10, Ellis Q. Margolis 11, R. Stockton Maxwell 12, Adam T. Naito 4, William J. Platt 13, Monica T. Rother 14, Thomas Saladyga 15, Rosemary L. Sherriff 16, Lauren A. Stachowiak 17, Michael C. Stambaugh 18, Elaine Kennedy Sutherland 19 and Alan H. Taylor 20add Show full author list remove Hide full author list 1 Department of Geography, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA 2 Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA 3 Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA 4 School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA 5 Department of Geography, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72035, USA 6 Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916, USA 7 Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA 8 Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59808, USA 9 Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16803, USA 10 Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA 11 U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, New Mexico Landscapes Field Station, Santa Fe, NM 87508, USA 12 Department of Geospatial Science, Radford University, Radford, VA 24142, USA 13 Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA 14 Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, Tallahassee, FL 32312, USA 15 Department of Social Sciences, Concord University, Athens, WV 24712, USA 16 Department of Geography, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA 17 Department of Geography and Anthropology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004, USA 18 School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65201, USA 19 Rocky Mountain Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59801, USA 20 Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA add Show full affiliation list remove Hide full affiliation list * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Fire 2018, 1(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire1010011 Received: 28 February 2018 / Revised: 30 March 2018 / Accepted: 4 April 2018 / Published: 10 April 2018 Download Download PDF Download PDF with Cover Download XML Download Epub Browse Figure Versions Notes Dendroecology is the science that dates tree rings to their exact calendar year of formation to study processes that influence forest ecology (e.g., Speer 2010 [1], Amoroso et al., 2017 [2]). Reconstruction of past fire regimes is a core application of dendroecology, linking fire history to population dynamics and climate effects on tree growth and survivorship. Since the early 20th century when dendrochronologists recognized that tree rings retained fire scars (e.g., Figure 1), and hence a record of past fires, they have conducted studies worldwide to reconstruct [2] the historical range and variability of fire regimes (e.g., frequency, severity, seasonality, spatial extent), [3] the influence of fire regimes on forest structure and ecosystem dynamics, and [4] the top-down (e.g., climate) and bottom-up (e.g., fuels, topography) drivers of fire that operate at a range of temporal and spatial scales. As in other scientific fields, continued application of dendrochronological techniques to study fires has shaped new trajectories for the science. Here we highlight some important current directions in the United States (US) and call on our international colleagues to continue the conversation with perspectives from other countries. 1. Multiple Lines of Evidence: Stand Age Structure Paired with Fire HistoryFires can affect stand demography and, as a result, alter stand age structure. Other things being equal, low-severity fires tend to thin seedlings and smaller trees, so reproduction occurs episodically in spatial gaps and time periods favorable for recruitment. In contrast, high-severity fires (by definition) kill a high proportion of individuals of all size and age classes, resulting in spatially extensive age cohorts. Intensive and extensive analyses of age structure, both within fire scarred plots and in adjacent stands, continue to yield meaningful insights about the size and severity of past fires (e.g., Brown and Wu 2005 [5]; Heyerdahl et al., 2012, 2014 [6,7]; Lafon et al., 2017 [8]). Expanded age-structure sampling beyond fire-scar sites to intervening stands can enlarge the footprint of fire history information. With sufficient age structure and fire-scar data from multiple locations, geographic patterns of fire extent and severity can emerge (e.g., O’Connor et al., 2017 [9]). Further advances are needed that link fire histories to post-fire forest changes, particularly the vexing issue of the post-fire time period during which tree regeneration, recruitment, and survival occurs. Furthermore, these ecological processes are being altered by climate change and fire-vegetation feedbacks, requiring linking fire history with detailed contemporary post-fire ecology. Recent dendroecological advances into new regions, new communities, and new species (e.g., hardwoods) are documenting the impacts of fire regimes on long-term ecological dynamics that complement influences of soils, topography, or climate in a wide array of environments. 2. Fire Modeling Paired with Fire HistoryUnderstanding fire ecology over long time periods is required for managing future forests. Empirical studies and instrumental records are typically short in temporal extent, limiting their utility in forecasting future ecosystem dynamics. Simulation models (e.g., Loehman et al., 2017 [10]) can run for longer modeling periods, but these are typically calibrated against modern records which may not capture long-term variation in climate, recent land use, or some ecosystem processes (Keane et al., 2015 [11]). Tree-ring reconstructions of fire can be used to: calibrate simulation models and determine whether local fire and forest histories might be extrapolated to unsampled areas; assess how and where current fire regimes and forest conditions depart from historical ones; explore the interactions of ancient land management and fire regimes (Swetnam et al., 2016 [12]); and project future fire regimes and forest conditions under changing climate and land management. In addition, fire behavior models (e.g., Hollingsworth et al., 2012 [13]) are being used to help interpret the tree-ring record of past fire (e.g., Heyerdahl et al., 2014 [7]) as well as landscape patterns of fire spread and severity (Conver et al., 2018 [14]). 3. Fire History NetworksA robust network of site-specific fire history reconstructions exists for some parts of the world, but do these fine-scale studies capture variation at landscape or biome scales? New work is testing for effects of spatial scale using [2] spatially-explicit, processed-based models incorporating fire history, climate, and vegetation to model fire histories beyond sites with fire scars (e.g., Swetnam et al., 2016 [12]) and [3] systematic sampling across landscapes and regions (e.g., Heyerdahl et al., 2001 [15]; Farris et al., 2010, 2013 [16,17]; O’Connor et al., 2014 [18]). Such efforts could directly contribute to better understandings of the long-term climatic and human drivers of global change (e.g., Evans et al., 2017 [19]; Loehman et al., 2017 [10]).Reconstructing fire history from tree rings requires considerable efforts in the field and laboratory, but dendrochronologists recognized many decades ago that broad-scale questions can be addressed by combining publicly-archived data. For example, the International Multiproxy Paleofire Database (IMPD) was established in 2003 and includes 442 (as of 2018-03-30) tree-ring based fire histories across the US. In addition, the Fire and Climate Synthesis (FACS) project is the most complete data set of crossdated fire histories with over 1100 entries (https://www.frames.gov/catalog/24872). Although spatial gaps exist for the eastern US in both the IMPD and FACS, these networks have been critical for analyzing the broad response of fire to variations in climate and vegetation (e.g., Kitzberger et al., 2007 [20]; Swetnam et al., 2016 [12]). Continental and global networks of fire scars and other fire proxies (e.g., ring width or density) are being analyzed to reveal the influence of broad-scale climate patterns on historical fire across multiple spatial scales (Falk et al., 2007, 2011 [21,22]). Fire history analysis software packages like the Fire History Analysis and Exploration System (FHAES; http://www.fhaes.org) and burnr (R system) are freely available and facilitate large meta-analyses and the potential for new creative cross-disciplinary analyses (Brewer et al., 2016 [23]; Malevich et al., 2018 [24]). However, these networks inevitably contain spatial gaps. For example, fire-resistant or fire-rare ecosystems are poorly represented, as are private lands and ecosystems lacking arboreal plants. Spatial fire history networks can facilitate novel, cross-scale, multi-proxy analyses of past fire in areas where land use has destroyed evidence of past fires and in high fire-frequency ecosystems characterized by low-intensity fires. Fire histories have the ability to guide strategies to best adapt fire management protocols in populated, fire-prone landscapes. Hence, scientists should be increasing and improving outreach initiatives, especially to landowners, if we are to fill in spatial gaps within the fire history network. 4. Deciphering Fire and Land-Use HistoriesDendrochronology can elucidate linkages between fire and land-use histories. This science contributes high-resolution chronologies of variables from all three major components of human-fire-climate systems across multiple spatial and temporal scales (e.g., Taylor et al., 2014 [25]). In the US, we tend to separate human influence (via fire) on landscapes into “pre-Euro-American settlement” and “settlement,” yet traditions and cultures blended and varied over hundreds of years (ca. 1500–1800) and across landscapes and regions. This span of time is well represented in the tree-ring record. Collaborations among anthropologists, archeologists, and human geographers to better understand interactions among fire, people, and past landscapes have been limited in most areas with fire history studies. Expansion of multi-disciplinary collaborations will lead to a more coherent picture of linkages between fire and land-use histories (e.g., Swetnam et al., 2016 [12]). 5. Fire Seasonality and Ecology of Scar FormationClimate-induced changes in fire seasonality are likely to have ecological consequences for forest flora and fauna. The intra-annual position of a fire scar within the annual growth ring contains information about the seasonal timing of past fires (Figure 1), but interpretation of this record is hampered by a lack of knowledge about the seasonal timing of tree-ring growth, viz. cambial phenology, and its drivers. Knowledge of climatic and synoptic weather conditions likely to result in fires can be obtained from intra-annual changes in seasonal climate that produce conditions favorable for fires (e.g., Platt et al., 2015 [26]). Such data can be related to seasonal timing of actual fires recorded in tree-rings (e.g., Rother et al., 2018 [27]). If such studies span long periods of time, human changes in fire-seasonality and effects on trees in natural ecosystems could be elucidated. Combining fire-scar records of seasonality with seasonally-resolved climate reconstructions (e.g., from latewood ring widths) is advancing our understanding of fire-climate relationships (e.g., Margolis et al., 2017 [28]). However, we do not completely understand how fire scars form, or exactly why some trees scar but not others, particularly in regions with a bimodal or year-round fire season. Climate change and local variation in microclimate, as for example along local moisture gradients, complicate our understanding of the timing and triggers of both cambial activity and fire-scar formation. 6. New Fire Proxies within Growth RingsExploring and developing new fire proxies within growth rings represent a frontier of dendrochronology. Exciting new advances in anatomical, chemical, and other properties of tree rings, along with phenological studies and experiments, are increasing our knowledge of long-term changes in fire seasonality and perhaps provide a more complete record of fire occurrence at landscape scales, because not all trees exposed to fire form scars (e.g., Arbellay et al., 2014a, 2014b [3,4]). Experimental and observational studies could be combined with fire behavior data to provide insights on scarring or wood anatomical response mechanisms (Smith et al., 2016 [29]). Chemical analysis via Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS) could provide new insights on whether certain elements act as fire tracers. Analyses of resin ducts are leading to new insights about the interaction of fire and insect outbreaks (Hood et al., 2015 [30]) and might help identify signatures of fire for trees without scars (e.g., Smith et al., 2016 [29]). Another promising frontier is identifying post-fire wood anatomical changes with scanning electron microscopy (e.g., Pearson et al., 2011 [31]). 7. ConclusionsTree-ring fire histories are powerful tools for understanding fire ecology. Future applications of these tools will deepen our knowledge of fire behavior and fire effects on vegetation across broad spatial and temporal scales. This knowledge is important for delving into past fire regimes, understanding current vegetation and fuel dynamics, and managing them to achieve desired outcomes in the future (e.g., Fulé 2008 [32]). As we continue to apply dendrochronology to study fire, we can also use these records to address compelling and broad-scale scientific questions related to the carbon cycle and global planetary change. Fire, humans, climate, and vegetation interact in various ways and we need to understand these interactions to develop skillful predictive models. Advancing the fields of fire ecology and science across the country and the globe will become more important as the continents continue to burn and human-induced climate change forces us to pay back the fire deficit. AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to Tom Swetnam for discussions and contributions that improved earlier versions of this manuscript, as well as two anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions that helped improve the paper. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Author ContributionsGLH, CHB, PMB, DAF, WTF, HDGM, AH, EKH, MWK, CWL, EQM, RSM, ATN, WJP, MTR, TS, RLS, LAS, MCS, EKS, and AHT contributed equally in writing this paper.Conflicts of InterestThe authors declare no conflict of interest.ReferencesSpeer, J.H. Fundamentals of Tree-Ring Research; University of Arizona Press: Tucson, AZ, USA, 2010. [Google Scholar]Amoroso, M.M.; Daniels, L.D.; Baker, P.J.; Camarero, J.J. (Eds.) Dendroecology: Tree-Ring Analyses Applied to Ecological Studies; Ecological Studies Analysis and Synthesis; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2017; Volume 231. [Google Scholar]Arbellay, E.; Stoffel, M.; Sutherland, E.K.; Smith, K.T.; Falk, D.A. Resin duct size and density as ecophysiological traits in fire scars of Pseudotsuga menziesii and Larix occidentalis. Ann. Bot. 2014, 114, 973–980. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Arbellay, E.; Stoffel, M.; Sutherland, E.K.; Smith, K.T.; Falk, D.A. Changes in tracheid and ray traits in fire scars of North American conifers and their ecophysiological implications. Ann. Bot. 2014, 114, 223–232. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Brown, P.M.; Wu, R. Climate and disturbance forcing of episodic tree recruitment in a southwestern ponderosa pine landscape. Ecology 2005, 86, 3030–3038. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Heyerdahl, E.K.; Lertzman, K.; Wong, C.M. Mixed-severity re regimes in dry forests of southern interior British Columbia, Canada. Can. J. For. Res. 2012, 42, 88–98. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Heyerdahl, E.K.; Loehman, R.A.; Falk, D.A. Lodgepole pine-dominated forest in central Oregon’s Pumice Plateau: Historical mixed-severity fires are resistant to future climate change. Can. J. For. Res. 2014, 44, 593–603. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Lafon, C.W.; Naito, A.T.; Grissino-Mayer, H.D.; Horn, S.P.; Waldrop, T.A. Fire History of the Appalachian Region: A Review and Synthesis; Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-219; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: Asheville, NC, USA, 2017; 97p.O’Connor, C.D.; Falk, D.A.; Lynch, A.M.; Swetnam, T.W.; Wilcox, C. Disturbance and productivity interactions mediate stability of forest composition and structure. Ecol. Appl. 2017, 27, 900–915. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Loehman, R.A.; Keane, R.E.; Holsinger, L.M.; Wu, Z. Interactions of landscape disturbances and climate change dictate ecological pattern and process: Spatial modeling of wildfire, insect, and disease dynamics under future climates. Landsc. Ecol. 2017, 32, 1447–1459. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Keane, R.E.; Smithwick, E.; McKenzie, D.; Miller, C.; Falk, D.A.; Kellogg, L.B. Representing Climate, Disturbance, and Vegetation Interactions in Landscape Simulation Models. Ecol. Model. 2015, 309–310, 33–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Swetnam, T.W.; Farella, J.; Roos, C.I.; Liebmann, M.J.; Falk, D.A.; Allen, C.D. Multiscale perspectives of fire, climate and humans in western North America and the Jemez Mountains, USA. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 2016, 371, 20150168. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Hollingsworth, L.T.; Kurth, L.L.; Parresol, B.R.; Ottmar, R.D.; Prichard, S.J. A comparison of geospatially modeled fire behavior and fire management utility of three data sources in the southeastern United States. For. Ecol. Manag. 2012, 273, 43–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Conver, J.L.; Falk, D.A.; Yool, S.R.; Parmenter, R.R. Stochastic fire modeling of a montane grassland and ponderosa pine fire regime in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, USA. Fire Ecol. 2018, 14, 17–31. [Google Scholar]Heyerdahl, E.K.; Brubaker, L.B.; Agee, J.K. Spatial controls of historical fire regimes: A multiscale example from the interior west, USA. Ecology 2001, 82, 660–678. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Farris, C.A.; Falk, D.A.; Baisan, C.H.; Yool, S.R.; Swetnam, T.W. Spatial and temporal corroboration of fire-scar based fire history reconstructions in a frequently burned ponderosa pine forest in southern Arizona. Ecol. Appl. 2010, 20, 1598–1614. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Farris, C.A.; Baisan, C.H.; Falk, D.A.; van Horne, M.L.; Fulé, P.Z.; Swetnam, T.W. A comparison of targeted and systematic fire-scar sampling for estimating historical fire frequency in south-western ponderosa pine forests. Int. J. Wildland Fire 2013, 22, 1021–1033. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]O’Connor, C.D.; Falk, D.A.; Lynch, A.M.; Swetnam, T.W. Fire severity, size, and climate associations diverge from historical precedent along an ecological gradient in the Pinaleño Mountains, Arizona, USA. For. Ecol. Manag. 2014, 329, 264–278. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Evans, M.E.K.; Falk, D.A.; Arizpe, A.; Swetnam, T.L.; Babst, F.; Holsinger, K.E. Fusing tree-ring and forest inventory data to infer influences on tree growth. Ecosphere 2017, e01889. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Kitzberger, T.; Brown, P.M.; Heyerdahl, E.K.; Swetnam, T.W.; Veblen, T.T. Contingent Pacific-Atlantic Ocean influence on multi-century wildfire synchrony over western North America. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007, 104, 543–548. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Falk, D.A.; Miller, C.; McKenzie, D.; Black, A.E. Cross-scale analysis of fire regimes. Ecosystems 2007, 10, 809–823. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Falk, D.A.; Heyerdahl, E.K.; Brown, P.M.; Farris, C.; Fulé, P.Z.; McKenzie, D.; Swetnam, T.W.; Taylor, A.H.; Van Horne, M.L. Multi-scale controls of historical forest-fire regimes: New insights from fire-scar networks. Front. Ecol. Environ. 2011, 9, 446–454. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Brewer, P.W.; Velásquez, M.E.; Sutherland, E.K.; Falk, D.A. Fire History Analysis and Exploration System (FHAES) Version 2.0.2; Computer Software; Fire Research and Management Exchange System (FRAMES), 2016. [CrossRef]Malevich, S.B.; Guiterman, C.H.; Margolis, E.Q. burnr: Fire history analysis and graphics in R. Dendrochronologia 2018, 49, 9–15. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Taylor, A.H.; Vandervlugt, A.M.; Maxwell, R.S.; Beaty, R.M.; Airey, C.; Skinner, C.N. Changes in forest structure, fuels and potential fire behaviour since 1873 in the Lake Tahoe Basin, USA. Appl. Veg. Sci. 2014, 17, 17–31. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Platt, W.J.; Orzell, S.L.; Smith, T.K.; Arbellay, E.; Falk, A.D.; Slocum, M.G. Macroanatomy and compartmentalization of recent fire weather strongly influences fire regimes in south Florida savanna-grassland landscapes. PLoS ONE 2015, 10, e0116952. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Rother, M.T.; Huffman, J.M.; Harley, G.L.; Platt, W.J.; Jones, N.; Robertson, K.M.; Orzell, S.L. Determining the seasonality of historical fires: Insights from pine savannas of the North American Coastal Plain. Fire Ecol. 2018, in press. [Google Scholar]Margolis, E.Q.; Woodhouse, C.A.; Swetnam, T.W. Drought, multi-seasonal climate, and wildfire in northern New Mexico. Clim. Chang. 2017, 142, 433–446. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Smith, K.T.; Arbellay, E.; Falk, D.A.; Sutherland, E.K. Macroanatomy and compartmentalization of recent fire scars in three North American conifers. Can. J. For. Res. 2016, 46, 535–542. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Hood, S.; Sala, A.; Heyerdahl, E.K.; Boutin, M. Low-severity fire increases tree defense against bark beetle attacks. Ecology 2015, 96, 1846–1855. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Pearson, C.L.; Dale, D.; Lombardo, K. An investigation of fire scars in Pseudotsuga macrocarpa by scanning X-Ray fluorescence microscopy. For. Ecol. Manag. 2011, 262, 1258–1264. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]Fulé, P.Z. Does it make sense to restore wildland fire in changing climate? Restor. Ecol. 2008, 16, 526–531. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] Figure 1. Demonstration image of a crossdated fire-scarred sample. Image is a Pseudotsuga menziesii [(Mirb.) Franco; Douglas-fir] cross section that was sampled for a fire history study in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho. This crossdated sample spans the period 1427–2001, and each fire scar and season is recorded (e.g., 1835 D, dormant). Sample collection and crossdating conducted by John Sloan and James P. Riser II. Figure 1. Demonstration image of a crossdated fire-scarred sample. Image is a Pseudotsuga menziesii [(Mirb.) Franco; Douglas-fir] cross section that was sampled for a fire history study in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho. This crossdated sample spans the period 1427–2001, and each fire scar and season is recorded (e.g., 1835 D, dormant). Sample collection and crossdating conducted by John Sloan and James P. Riser II. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Share and Cite MDPI and ACS Style Harley, G.L.; Baisan, C.H.; Brown, P.M.; Falk, D.A.; Flatley, W.T.; Grissino-Mayer, H.D.; Hessl, A.; Heyerdahl, E.K.; Kaye, M.W.; Lafon, C.W.; Margolis, E.Q.; Maxwell, R.S.; Naito, A.T.; Platt, W.J.; Rother, M.T.; Saladyga, T.; Sherriff, R.L.; Stachowiak, L.A.; Stambaugh, M.C.; Sutherland, E.K.; Taylor, A.H. Advancing Dendrochronological Studies of Fire in the United States. Fire 2018, 1, 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire1010011 AMA Style Harley GL, Baisan CH, Brown PM, Falk DA, Flatley WT, Grissino-Mayer HD, Hessl A, Heyerdahl EK, Kaye MW, Lafon CW, Margolis EQ, Maxwell RS, Naito AT, Platt WJ, Rother MT, Saladyga T, Sherriff RL, Stachowiak LA, Stambaugh MC, Sutherland EK, Taylor AH. Advancing Dendrochronological Studies of Fire in the United States. Fire. 2018; 1(1):11. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire1010011 Chicago/Turabian Style Harley, Grant L., Christopher H. Baisan, Peter M. Brown, Donald A. Falk, William T. Flatley, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Amy Hessl, Emily K. Heyerdahl, Margot W. Kaye, Charles W. Lafon, Ellis Q. Margolis, R. Stockton Maxwell, Adam T. Naito, William J. Platt, Monica T. Rother, Thomas Saladyga, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Lauren A. Stachowiak, Michael C. Stambaugh, Elaine Kennedy Sutherland, and Alan H. Taylor. 2018. "Advancing Dendrochronological Studies of Fire in the United States" Fire 1, no. 1: 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire1010011 Find Other Styles Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here. Article Metrics No No Article Access Statistics For more information on the journal statistics, click here. Multiple requests from the same IP address are counted as one view. - Conver, J. L., Falk, D. A., Yool, S. R., & Parmenter, R. R. (2018). MODELING FIRE PATHWAYS IN MONTANE GRASSLAND-FOREST ECOTONES. FIRE ECOLOGY, 14.
- Conver, J. L., Falk, D. A., Yool, S. R., & Parmenter, R. R. (2018). Modeling fire pathways in montane grassland-forest ecotones. Fire Ecology, 14(1), 17--32.
- Falk, D. A., & Cortés-Montaño, C. (2018). Climate change, forests, and fire in the southwestern US and northern Mexico. Sonorensis, 38(1), 16-20.
- Gann, G. D., McDonald, T., Aronson, J., Dixon, K. W., Walder, B., Hallett, J. G., Decleer, K., Falk, D. A., Gonzales, E. K., Murcia, C., & others, . (2018). The SER Standards: a globally relevant and inclusive tool for improving restoration practicea reply to Higgs et al.. Restoration Ecology, 26(3), 426--430.
- Gann, G. D., McDonald, T., Aronson, J., Dixon, K. W., Walder, B., Hallett, J. G., Decleer, K., Falk, D. A., Gonzales, E. K., Murcia, C., Nelson, C. R., & Unwin, A. J. (2018). The SER Standards: a globally relevant and inclusive tool for improving restoration practicea reply to Higgs et al.. RESTORATION ECOLOGY, 26(3), 426-430.
- Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E. Q., Allen, C. D., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2018). Long-Term Persistence and Fire Resilience of Oak Shrubfields in Dry Conifer Forests of Northern New Mexico. ECOSYSTEMS, 21(5), 943-959.
- Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E. Q., Allen, C. D., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2018). Long-term persistence and fire resilience of oak shrubfields in dry conifer forests of northern New Mexico. Ecosystems, 21(5), 943--959.
- Hanna, D. P., Falk, D. A., Swetnam, T. W., & Romme, W. (2018). Age-related climate sensitivity in Pinus Edulis at Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, USA. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, 52, 40-47.
- Hanna, D. P., Falk, D. A., Swetnam, T. W., & Romme, W. (2018). Age-related climate sensitivity in Pinus Edulis at Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, USA. Dendrochronologia, 52, 40--47.
- Harley, G. L., Baisan, C. H., Brown, P. M., Falk, D. A., Flatley, W. T., Grissino-Mayer, H. D., Hessl, A., Heyerdahl, E. K., Kaye, M. W., Lafon, C. W., & others, . (2018). Advancing dendrochronological studies of fire in the United States. Fire, 1(1), 11.
- Keane, R. E., Loehman, R. A., Holsinger, L. M., Falk, D. A., Higuera, P., Hood, S. M., & Hessburg, P. F. (2018). Use of landscape simulation modeling to quantify resilience for ecological applications. ECOSPHERE, 9(9).
- Keane, R. E., Loehman, R. A., Holsinger, L. M., Falk, D. A., Higuera, P., Hood, S. M., & Hessburg, P. F. (2018). Use of landscape simulation modeling to quantify resilience for ecological applications. Ecosphere, 9(9), e02414.
- Mantgem, P. J., Falk, D. A., Williams, E. C., Das, A. J., & Stephenson, N. L. (2018). Pre-fire drought and competition mediate post-fire conifer mortality in western US National Parks. Ecological applications, 28(7), 1730--1739.
- Newman, E. A., Wilber, M. Q., Kopper, K. E., Moritz, M. A., Falk, D. A., McKenzie, D., & Harte, J. (2018). Disturbance macroecology: integrating disturbance ecology and macroecology in different-age post-fire stands of a closed-cone pine forest as a case study. bioRxiv, 309419.
- van, M., Falk, D. A., Williams, E. C., Das, A. J., & Stephenson, N. L. (2018). Pre-fire drought and competition mediate post-fire conifer mortality in western US National Parks. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, 28(7), 1730-1739.
- Evans, M. E., Falk, D. A., Arizpe, A., Babst, F., & Holsinger, K. E. (2017). Fusing tree-ring and forest inventory data to infer influences on tree growth. EcoSphere.
- Evans, M., Falk, D. A., Arizpe, A., Swetnam, T. L., Babst, F., & Holsinger, K. E. (2017). Fusing tree-ring and forest inventory data to infer influences on tree growth. ECOSPHERE, 8(7).
- Falk, D. A. (2017). RESTORATION ECOLOGY, RESILIENCE, AND THE AXES OF CHANGE. ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN, 102(2), 201-216.
- Falk, D. A. (2017). Restoration ecology, resilience, and the axes of change. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 102, 201-216. doi:http://doi:10.3417/2017006
- Falk, D. A. (2021).
Garfin GM, DA Falk, CD O’Connor, K Jacobs, RD Sagarin, AC Haverland, A Haworth, A Baglee, J Weiss, JT Overpeck, and AA Zuñiga-Terán. Assessing Climate Change Risks: Lessons Learned from DoD Installations in the Southwest
. Climate Services, 22, 100230.More infoGarfin GM, DA Falk, CD O’Connor, K Jacobs, RD Sagarin, AC Haverland, A Haworth, A Baglee, J Weiss, JT Overpeck, and AA Zuñiga-Terán. - Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E. Q., Allen, C. D., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. (2017). Long-term persistence and frequent fire suggest future increased landscape dominance of shrubfields in northern New Mexico. Ecosystems, 1-17. doi:http://DOI:10.1007/s10021-017-0192-2More infoGuiterman CH, EQ Margolis, CD Allen, DA Falk, and TW Swetnam. Ecosystems. In review.
- Kent, L., Fule, P. Z., Brown, P. M., Cerano-Paredes, J., Cornejo-Oviedo, E., Cortes, M. C., Drury, S. A., Falk, D. A., Meunier, J., Poulos, H. M., Skinner, C. N., Stephens, S. L., & Evillanueva-Diaz, J. (2017). Climate drives fire synchrony but local factors control fire regime change in northern Mexico. ECOSPHERE, 8(3).
- Ketcham, S. L., Koprowski, J. L., & Falk, D. A. (2017). Differential Response of Native Arizona Gray Squirrels and Introduced Abert's Squirrels to a Mosaic of Burn Severities in the Santa Catalina Mountains. Mammal Study, 42, 247-258. doi:https://doi.org/10.3106/041.042.0407
- Ketcham, S. L., Koprowski, J. L., & Falk, D. A. (2017). Differential response of native Arizona gray squirrels and introduced Abert's squirrels to a mosaic of burn severities. MAMMAL STUDY, 42(4), 247-258.
- Kitzberger, T., Falk, D. A., Swetnam, T. W., & Westerling, L. (2017). Heterogeneous responses of wildfire annual area burned to climate change across western and boreal North America.. PLOS One, 12(12), e0188486. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188486
- Kitzberger, T., Falk, D. A., Westerling, A. L., & Swetnam, T. W. (2017). Direct and indirect climate controls predict heterogeneous early-mid 21st century wildfire burned area across western and boreal North America. PLOS ONE, 12(12).
- Kitzberger, T., Falk, D. A., Westerling, A. L., & Swetnam, T. W. (2017). Direct and indirect climate controls predict heterogeneous early-mid 21st century wildfire burned area across western and boreal North America. PloS one, 12(12), e0188486.More infoPredicting wildfire under future conditions is complicated by complex interrelated drivers operating across large spatial scales. Annual area burned (AAB) is a useful index of global wildfire activity. Current and antecedent seasonal climatic conditions, and the timing of snowpack melt, have been suggested as important drivers of AAB. As climate warms, seasonal climate and snowpack co-vary in intricate ways, influencing fire at continental and sub-continental scales. We used independent records of seasonal climate and snow cover duration (last date of permanent snowpack, LDPS) and cell-based Structural Equation Models (SEM) to separate direct (climatic) and indirect (snow cover) effects on relative changes in AAB under future climatic scenarios across western and boreal North America. To isolate seasonal climate variables with the greatest effect on AAB, we ran multiple regression models of log-transformed AAB on seasonal climate variables and LDPS. We used the results of multiple regressions to project future AAB using GCM ensemble climate variables and LDPS, and validated model predictions with recent AAB trends. Direct influences of spring and winter temperatures on AAB are larger and more widespread than the indirect effect mediated by changes in LDPS in most areas. Despite significant warming trends and reductions in snow cover duration, projected responses of AAB to early-mid 21st century are heterogeneous across the continent. Changes in AAB range from strongly increasing (one order of magnitude increases in AAB) to moderately decreasing (more than halving of baseline AAB). Annual wildfire area burned in coming decades is likely to be highly geographically heterogeneous, reflecting interacting regional and seasonal climate drivers of fire occurrence and spread.
- Minor, J. J., Falk, D. A., & Barron-Gafford, G. A. (2017). Fire severity and regeneration strategy influence shrub patch size and structure following disturbance. Forests, 8, 221-231. doi:http://doi:10.3390/f8070221
- Minor, J., Falk, D. A., & Barron-Gafford, G. A. (2017). Fire Severity and Regeneration Strategy Influence Shrub Patch Size and Structure Following Disturbance. FORESTS, 8(7).
- O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., & Wilcox, C. D. (2017). Disturbance and productivity interactions mediate stability of forest composition and structure. Ecological Applications, 27(3), 900-915. doi:http://doi:10.1002/eap.1492
- O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., Swetnam, T. W., & Wilcox, C. P. (2017). Disturbance and productivity interactions mediate stability of forest composition and structure. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, 27(3), 900-915.
- Yocom, L. L., Fulé, P. Z., Brown, P. M., Cerano, J., Cornejo-Oviedo, E., Cortés Montaño, C., Drury, S., Falk, D. A., Meunier, J., Poulos, H., Skinner, C., Stephens, S., & Villanueva-Díaz, J. (2017). Climate drives fire synchrony but local factors control fire regime change in northern Mexico. EcoSphere, 8(3), e01709. doi:http://doi:10.1002/ecs2.1709
- Falk, D. A. (2016). The resilience dilemma: Incorporating global change into ecosystem policy and management. Arizona Law Journal., 48(1), 145-156.
- Falk, D. A., Van Leeuwen, W. J., & McEwen, A. S. (2016). Low-cost high-resolution global pyrogenic thermal sensing: Critical information for biosphere-atmosphere interactions. Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space, National Academy of Science, ESAS 2017.
- Sidman, G., Guertin, D. P., Goodrich, D. C., Thoma, D., Falk, D., & Burns, I. S. (2016). A coupled modelling approach to assess the effect of fuel treatments on post-wildfire runoff and erosion. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE, 25(3), 351-362.
- Smith, K. T., Arbellay, E., Falk, D. A., & Sutherland, E. K. (2016). Macroanatomy and compartmentalization of recent fire scars in three North American conifers. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH, 46(4), 535-542.
- Smith, K. T., Arbellay, E., Falk, D. A., & Sutherland, E. K. (2016). Macroanatomy and compartmentalization of recent fire scars in three North American conifers. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 535-542. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0377
- Stevens, J. T., Safford, H. D., North, M. P., Brown, P. M., Dolanc, C. R., Dobrowski, S. Z., Falk, D. A., Farris, C. A., Franklin, J. F., Fried, J. S., Fulé, P. Z., Gray, A. N., Hagmann, R. K., Knapp, E. E., Miller, J. D., Smith, D. F., Swetnam, T. W., & Taylor, A. H. (2016). Average Stand Age From Forest Inventory Plots Does Not Describe Historical Fire Regimes in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed-Conifer Forests of Western North America. PLoS1, 11(5), e0147688. doi:http://doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147688
- Stevens, J. T., Safford, H. D., North, M. P., Fried, J. S., Gray, A. N., Brown, P. M., Dolanc, C. R., Dobrowski, S. Z., Falk, D. A., Farris, C. A., Franklin, J. F., Fule, P. Z., Hagmann, R. K., Knapp, E. E., Miller, J. D., Smith, D. F., Swetnam, T. W., & Taylor, A. H. (2016). Average Stand Age from Forest Inventory Plots Does Not Describe Historical Fire Regimes in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed-Conifer Forests of Western North America. PLOS ONE, 11(5).
- Swetnam, T. W., Farella, J., Roos, C. I., Liebmann, M. J., Falk, D. A., & Allen, C. D. (2016). Multi-scale Perspectives of Fire, Climate and Humans in Western North America and the Jemez Mountains, U.S.A.. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 371, 20150168. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0168
- Swetnam, T. W., Farella, J., Roos, C. I., Liebmann, M. J., Falk, D. A., & Allen, C. D. (2016). Multiscale perspectives of fire, climate and humans in western North America and the Jemez Mountains, USA. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 371(1696).
- Swetnam, T. W., Farella, J., Roos, C. I., Liebmann, M. J., Falk, D. A., & Allen, C. D. (2016). Multiscale perspectives of fire, climate and humans in western North America and the Jemez Mountains, USA. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 371(1696).More infoInterannual climate variations have been important drivers of wildfire occurrence in ponderosa pine forests across western North America for at least 400 years, but at finer scales of mountain ranges and landscapes human land uses sometimes over-rode climate influences. We reconstruct and analyse effects of high human population densities in forests of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico from ca 1300 CE to Present. Prior to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, human land uses reduced the occurrence of widespread fires while simultaneously adding more ignitions resulting in many small-extent fires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, wet/dry oscillations and their effects on fuels dynamics controlled widespread fire occurrence. In the late 19th century, intensive livestock grazing disrupted fuels continuity and fire spread and then active fire suppression maintained the absence of widespread surface fires during most of the 20th century. The abundance and continuity of fuels is the most important controlling variable in fire regimes of these semi-arid forests. Reduction of widespread fires owing to reduction of fuel continuity emerges as a hallmark of extensive human impacts on past forests and fire regimes.This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.
- Triepke, F. J., Muldavin, E. H., Wahlberg, M. M., Lowrey, T. K., Falk, D. A., Friggens, M. M., & Bagne, K. E. (2017). Assessing the Climate Change Vulnerability of Ecosystem Types of the Southwestern U.S.. University of New Mexico, Department of Biology. doi:http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/biol_etds/200/
- Burns, I. S., Falk, D. A., Thoma, D., Goodrich, D. C., Guertin, D. P., & Sidman, G. (2015). A coupled modeling approach to assess the impact of fuel treatments on post-wildfire runoff and erosion'. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25(3), 351-362.
- Guerrant Jr., E. O., Havens, K., Vitt, P., Fiedler, P. L., Falk, D. A., & Dixon, K. (2015). Population structure integral to seed collection guidelines: A response to Hoban and Schlarbaum (2014). BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, 184, 465-466.
- Guerrant, E. O., Havens, K., Fiedler, P. L., Vitt, P., & Falk, D. A. (2015). Population Structure Integral to Seed Collection Guidelines: A Response to Hoban and Schlarbaum (2014). Biological Conservation, 184, 465-466. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.02.020
- Guertin, D. P., Yool, S. R., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., & Swetnam, T. L. (2015). Discriminating disturbance from natural variation with LiDAR in semi-arid forests, Southwestern USA. Ecosphere, Spring 6 (6 Art. 97), 1-21. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00384.1
- Keane, R. E., McKenzie, D., Falk, D. A., Smithwick, E., Miller, C., & Kellogg, L. B. (2015). Representing climate, disturbance, and vegetation interactions in landscape models. ECOLOGICAL MODELLING, 309, 33-47.
- Keane, R. E., Smithwick, E., McKenzie, D., Miller, C., Falk, D. A., & Kellogg, L. B. (2015). Representing Climate, Disturbance, and Vegetation Interactions in Landscape Simulation Models.. Ecological Modeling, 309-310, 33-47. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.04.009
- O'Connor, C. D., Lynch, A. M., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2015). Post-fire forest dynamics and climate variability affect spatial and temporal properties of spruce beetle outbreaks on a Sky Island mountain range. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 336, 148-162.
- O'Connor, C. D., Lynch, A. M., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2015). Post-fire forest dynamics and climate variability affect spatial and temporal properties of spruce beetle outbreaks on a Sky Island mountain range.. Forest Ecology and Management, 336, 148-162. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.10.021
- Sidman, G., Guertin, D. P., Goodrich, D. C., Thoma, D., Falk, D. A., & Burns, I. S. (2014). A coupled modeling approach to assess the impact of fuel treatments on post-wildfire runoff and erosion'. International Journal of Wildland Fire. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF14058
- Sidman, G., Guertin, D. P., Goodrich, D. C., Thoma, D., Falk, D. A., & Burns, I. S. (2015). A coupled modeling approach to assess the impact of fuel treatments on post-wildfire runoff and erosion.. International Journal of Wildland Fire. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF14058
- Swetnam, T. L., & Falk, D. A. (2015). Carbon Cycling in Southwestern Forests: Reservoirs, Fluxes, and the Effects of Fire and Management. Ecological Restoration Institute and Southwest Fire Science Consortium, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ. ERI Working Paper, 1-15. doi:http://library.eri.nau.edu/gsdl/collect/erilibra/index/assoc/D2015025.dir/doc.pdf
- Swetnam, T. L., Lynch, A. M., Falk, D. A., Yool, S. R., & Guertin, D. P. (2015). Discriminating disturbance from natural variation with LiDAR in semi-arid forests, Southwestern USA. EcoSphere, 6(6 Art. 97), 1-21. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00384.1
- Swetnam, T. L., Swetnam, T. L., & Falk, D. A. (2015). Fact Sheet: Carbon Cycling in Southwestern Forests: Reservoirs, Fluxes, and the Effects of Fire and Management. Carbon Cycling in Southwestern Forests: Reservoirs, Fluxes, and the Effects of Fire and Management. ERI Working Paper No. 35..More infoForest death from extreme drought and wildfires are reducing regional carbon reservoirs and overall forest sequestration capacity. At the same time, land use practices and development have increased the vulnerabil- ity of some forests during extreme droughts. The intent of this fact sheet is to explain the basics of the car- bon cycle in southwestern forests. It also summarizes how carbon cycling patterns are most likely to change in the coming years to decades in the Southwest.
- Arbellay, E., Stoffel, M., Sutherland, E. K., Smith, K. T., & Falk, D. A. (2014). Changes in tracheid and ray traits in fire scars of North American conifers and their ecophysiological implications. ANNALS OF BOTANY, 114(2), 223-232. doi:http://doi:10.1093/aob/mcu112More infoBackground and Aims Fire scars have been widely used as proxies for the reconstruction of fire history; however, little is known about the impact of fire injury on wood anatomy. This study investigates changes in tracheid and ray traits in fire scars of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western larch (Larix occidentalis) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), and discusses their ecophysiological implications for tree recovery from fire.
- Arbellay, E., Stoffel, M., Sutherland, E. K., Smith, K. T., & Falk, D. A. (2014). Resin duct size and density as ecophysiological traits in fire scars of Pseudotsuga menziesii and Larix occidentalis. ANNALS OF BOTANY, 114(5), 973-980. doi:http://doi:10.1093/aob/mcu168More infoBackground and Aims Resin ducts (RDs) are features present in most conifer species as defence structures against pests and pathogens; however, little is known about RD expression in trees following fire injury. This study investigates changes in RD size and density in fire scars of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and western larch (Larix occidentalis) as a means to evaluate the ecophysiological significance of traumatic resinosis for tree defence and survival.
- Fule, P. Z., Swetnam, T. W., Brown, P. M., Falk, D. A., Peterson, D. L., Allen, C. D., Aplet, G. H., Battaglia, M. A., Binkley, D., Farris, C., Keane, R. E., Margolis, E. Q., Grissino-Mayer, H., Miller, C., Sieg, C. H., Skinner, C., Stephens, S. L., & Taylor, A. (2014). Unsupported inferences of high-severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: response to Williams and Baker. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, 23(7), 825-830.
- Heyerdahl, E. K., Loehman, R. A., & Falk, D. A. (2014). Lodgepole pine-dominated forest in central Oregon's Pumice Plateau: Historical mixed-severity fires are resistant to future climate change.. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 44, 593–603. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2013-0413
- Heyerdahl, E. K., Loehman, R. A., & Falk, D. A. (2014). Mixed-severity fire in lodgepole pine dominated forests: are historical regimes sustainable on Oregon's Pumice Plateau, USA?. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH, 44(6), 593-603.
- Higgs, E. H., Falk, D. A., Guerrini, A., Hall, M., Harris, J., Hobbs, R. J., Jackson, S. T., Rhemtulla, J. M., & Throop, W. (2014). The changing role of history in restoration ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 12(9), 499-506. doi:http://doi:10.1890/110267More infoIn the face of rapid environment and cultural change, orthodox concepts in restoration ecology such as historical fidelity are being challenged. Here we re-examine the diverse roles played by historical knowledge in restoration, and argue that these roles remain vitally important. As such, historical knowledge will be critical in shaping restoration ecology in the future. Perhaps the most crucial role in shifting from the present version of restoration ecology ("v1.0") to a newer formulation ("v2.0") is the value of historical knowledge in guiding scientific interpretation, recognizing key ecological legacies, and influencing the choices available to practitioners of ecosystem intervention under conditions of open-ended and rapid change.
- O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., & Swetnam, T. W. (2014). Fire severity, size, and climate associations diverge from historical precedent along an ecological gradient in the Pinaleno Mountains, Arizona, USA. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 329, 264-278. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.06.032More infoIn recent decades fire size and severity have been increasing in high elevation forests of the American Southwest. Ecological outcomes of these increases are difficult to gauge without an historical context for the role of fire in these systems prior to interruption by Euro-American land uses. Across the gradient of forest types in the Pinaleno Mountains, a Sky Island system in southeast Arizona that experienced two relatively large high-severity fires in the last two decades, we compared fire characteristics and climate associations before and after the onset of fire exclusion to determine the degree of similarity between past and recent fires. We use a gridded fire scar and demography sampling network to reconstruct spatially explicit estimates of fire extent and burn severity, as well as climate associations of fires from individual site to landscape scales from 1640 to 2008 C.E. We found that patterns of fire frequency, size, and severity were relatively stable for at least several centuries prior to 1880. A combination of livestock grazing and active fire suppression after circa 1880 led to (1) a significant reduction in fire spread but not fire ignition, (2) a conversion of more than 80% of the landscape from a frequent, low to mixed-severity fire regime to an infrequent mixed to high-severity fire regime, and (3) an increase in fuel continuity within a mid-elevation zone of dry mixed-conifer forest, resulting in increased opportunities for surface and crown fire spread into higher elevation mesic forests. The two most recent fires affecting mesic forests were associated with drought and temperature conditions that were not exceptional in the historical record but that resulted in a relative proportion of high burn severity up to four times that of previous large fires. The ecological effects of these recent fires appear to be more severe than any fire in the reconstructed period, casting uncertainty upon the recovery of historical species composition in high-severity burn patches. Significant changes to the spatial pattern, frequency, and climate associations of spreading fires after 1880 suggest that limits to fuel loading and fuel connectivity sustained by frequent fire have been removed. Coinciding factors of high fuel continuity and fuel loading, projected lengthening of the fire season, and increased variability in seasonal precipitation suggest that large high-severity fires, especially in mixed-conifer forests, will become the predominant fire type without aggressive actions to reduce fuel continuity and restore fire-resilient forest structure and species composition. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
- Swetnam, T. L., & Falk, D. A. (2014). Application of Metabolic Scaling Theory to reduce error in local maxima tree segmentation from aerial LiDAR. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 323, 158-167.
- Swetnam, T. L., & Falk, D. A. (2014). Application of Metabolic Scaling Theory to reduce error in local maxima tree segmentation from aerial LiDAR. Forest Ecology and Management, 323, 158–167. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.03.016More infoAbstract: Identifying individual trees across large forested landscapes is an important benefit of an aerial LiDAR collection. However, current approaches toward individual tree segmentation of aerial LiDAR data do not always reflect how the allometry of tree canopies change with height, age, or competition for limiting space and resources. We developed a variable-area local maxima (VLM) algorithm that incorporates predictions of the Metabolic Scaling Theory (MST) to reduce the frequency of commission error in a local maxima individual tree inventory derived from aerial LiDAR. By comparing the MST prediction to 663 species of North American champion-sized trees (which include the tallest and the largest trees on the planet), and 610 measured trees in semi-arid conifer forests in Arizona and New Mexico we show the MST canopy radius model rcan = βhα where β is the normalization constant, h is height, and α is a dynamic exponent predicted by MST to be α = 1, can be applied as a general model in many water-limited conifer forests. MST also informs the estimate of individual tree bole diameter dbole (which aerial LiDAR does not measure directly) based on two primary size measures easily obtained from the aerial LiDAR: height h and canopy diameter dcan . A two parameter model βh√ dcan is shown to better predict bole diameter (r 2 = 0.811, RMSE = 7.66 cm) than a single parameter model of either canopy diameter or height alone: β dcanα (r 2 = 0.51 RMSE = 12. 4 cm) or β hα (r 2 = 0.753, RMSE = 8.94 cm). By improving methods to identify individual trees and more accurately predict bole diameter, estimates of total forest stand density, structural diversity, above ground biomass and carbon over large landscapes will likewise be improved. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Swetnam, T. L., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., & Yool, S. R. (2014). Estimating individual tree mid- and understory rank-size distributions from airborne laser scanning in semi-arid forests. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 330, 271-282.
- Swetnam, T. L., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., & Yool, S. R. (2014). Estimating individual tree mid- and understory rank-size distributions from airborne laser scanning in semi-arid forests.. Forest Ecology and Management, 330, 271-282. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.07.011
- Swetnam, T. L., Yool, S. R., Lynch, A. M., Guertin, D. P., & Falk, D. A. (2014). Discriminating Natural Variation from Legacies of Disturbance in Semi-Arid Forests, Southwestern USA. EcoSphere, 6(6), 97+. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00384.1
- Yocom, L. L., Fule, P. Z., Falk, D. A., Garcia-Dominguez, C., Cornejo-Oviedo, E., Brown, P. M., Villanueva-Diaz, J., Cerano, J., & Montano, C. C. (2014). Fine-scale factors influence fire regimes in mixed-conifer forests on three high mountains in Mexico. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE, 23(7), 959-968.
- Yocom, L. L., Fulé, P. A., García-Domínguez, C., Falk, D. A., Cornejo-Oviedo, E., Brown, P. M., Villanueva-Díaz, J., Cerano, J., & Cortés Montaño, C. (2014). Fine-scale factors influence fire regimes in mixed-conifer forests on three high mountains in Mexico. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 23, 959–968. doi:http://doi.org/10.1071/WF13214
- Falk, D. A. (2013). Fire: Lessons of the Past. Sonorensis, 24-25.
- Farris, C. A., Baisan, C. H., Falk, D. A., Van Horne, M. L., Fulé, P. Z., & Swetnam, T. W. (2013). A comparison of targeted and systematic fire-scar sampling for estimating historical fire frequency in south-western ponderosa pine forests. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 22(8), 1021-1033. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF13026
- Farris, C. A., Baisan, C. H., Falk, D. A., Van, H., Fule, P. Z., & Swetnam, T. W. (2013). A comparison of targeted and systematic fire-scar sampling for estimating historical fire frequency in south-western ponderosa pine forests. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE, 22(8), 1021-1033.
- Fulé, P. Z., Swetnam, T. W., Brown, P. M., Falk, D. A., Peterson, D. L., Allen, C. D., Aplet, G. H., Battaglia, M. A., Binkley, D., Farris, C., Keane, R. E., Margolis, E. Q., Grissino-Mayer, H., Miller, C., Sieg, C. H., Skinner, C., Stephens, S. L., & Taylor, A. (2013). Unsupported inferences of high-severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: Response to Williams and Baker. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 23(7), 825-830. doi:http://doi:10.1111/geb.12136More infoAbstract: Reconstructions of dry western US forests in the late 19th century in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon based on General Land Office records were used by Williams & Baker (2012; Global Ecology and Biogeography, 21, 1042-1052; hereafter W&B) to infer past fire regimes with substantial moderate and high-severity burning. The authors concluded that present-day large, high-severity fires are not distinguishable from historical patterns. We present evidence of important errors in their study. First, the use of tree size distributions to reconstruct past fire severity and extent is not supported by empirical age-size relationships nor by studies that directly quantified disturbance history in these forests. Second, the fire severity classification of W&B is qualitatively different from most modern classification schemes, and is based on different types of data, leading to an inappropriate comparison. Third, we note that while W&B asserted 'surprising' heterogeneity in their reconstructions of stand density and species composition, their data are not substantially different from many previous studies which reached very different conclusions about subsequent forest and fire behaviour changes. Contrary to the conclusions of W&B, the preponderance of scientific evidence indicates that conservation of dry forest ecosystems in the western United States and their ecological, social and economic value is not consistent with a present-day disturbance regime of large, high-severity fires, especially under changing climate. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Cortés Montaño, C., Fulé, P. Z., Falk, D. A., Villanueva-Díaz, J., & Yocom, L. L. (2012). Linking old-growth forest composition and structure to fire history, climate and land-use in a mountain range of northwestern Mexico. EcoSphere, 3(11). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.07.011
- Fule, P. Z., Yocom, L. L., Cortes, M. C., Falk, D. A., Cerano, J., & Villanueva-Diaz, J. (2012). Testing a pyroclimatic hypothesis on the Mexico-United States border. ECOLOGY, 93(8), 1830-1840.
- Fulé, P. Z., Yocom, L. L., Cortés Montaño, C., Falk, D. A., Cerano, J., & Villanueva-Díaz, J. (2012). Testing a pyroclimatic hypothesis on the Mexico-U.S. border. Ecology, 93(8), 1830-1840. doi:https://doi.org/10.1890/11-1991.1More infoThe "pyroclimatic hypothesis'' proposed by F. Biondi and colleagues provides a basis for testable expectations about climatic and other controls of fire regimes. This hypothesis asserts an a priori relationship between the occurrence of widespread fire and values of a relevant climatic index. Such a hypothesis provides the basis for predicting spatial and temporal patterns of fire occurrence based on climatic control. Forests near the Mexico-United States border offer a place to test the relative influence of climatic and other controls in mountain ranges that are ecologically similar and subject to broadly similar top-down climatic influence, but with differing cultural influences. We tested the pyroclimatic hypothesis by comparing fire history information from the Mesa de las Guacamayas, a mountain range in northwestern Chihuahua, with previously published fire data from the Chiricahua Mountains, in southeastern Arizona, approximately 150 km away. We developed a priori hypothetical models of fire occurrence and compared their performance to empirical climate-based models. Fires were frequent at all Mesa de las Guacamayas study sites through the mid-20th century and continued uninterrupted to the present at one site, in contrast to nearly complete fire exclusion after 1892 at sites in the Chiricahua Mountains. The empirical regression models explained a higher proportion of the variability in fire regime associated with climate than did the a priori models. Actual climate-fire relationships diverged in each country after 1892. The a priori models predicted continuing fires at the same rate per century as prior to 1892; fires did in fact continue in Mexico, albeit with some alteration of fire regimes, but ceased in the United States, most likely due to changes in land use. The cross-border comparison confirms that a frequent-fire regime could cease without a climatic cause, supporting previous arguments that bottom-up factors such as livestock grazing can rapidly and drastically alter surface fire regimes. Understanding the historical patterns of climate controls on fire could inform the use of historical data as ecological reference conditions and for future sustainability.
- Falk, D. A., Heyerdahl, E. K., Brown, P. M., Farris, C. A., McKenzie, D., Swetnam, T. W., Taylor, A. H., & Van Horne, M. L. (2011). Multiscale controls of historical fire regimes: New insights from fire-scar networks. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 9(8), 446-454.More infodoi:10.1890/100052
- Falk, D. A., Heyerdahl, E. K., Brown, P. M., Farris, C., Fule, P. Z., McKenzie, D., Swetnam, T. W., Taylor, A. H., & Van, H. (2011). Multi-scale controls of historical forest-fire regimes: new insights from fire-scar networks. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, 9(8), 446-454.
- OConnor, C., Swetnam, T., Garfin, G., & Falk, D. (2011). Human Pyrogeography. Geography Compass, 5(6), 329-350.
- Falk, D. A. (2010).
Bottom-up factors influential on fire regime in northeastern Mexico
. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. - Falk, D. A., Heyerdahl, E. K., Brown, P. M., Swetnam, T. W., Sutherland, E. K., Gedalof, Z., Yocom, L., & Brown, T. J. (2010). Fire and climate variation in western North America from fire scar networks.. Past Global Climates, 18(2), 70-72. doi:https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/all/36308More infoFalk, D. A., E. K. Heyerdahl, P. M. Brown, T. W. Swetnam, E. K. Sutherland, Z. Gedalof, L. Yocom, and T. J. Brown. 2010. Past Global Climates 18(2): 70-72.
- Farris, C. A., Baisan, C. H., Falk, D. A., Yool, S. R., & Swetnam, T. W. (2010). Spatial and temporal corroboration of a fire-scar-based fire history in a frequently burned ponderosa pine forest. Ecological Applications, 20(6), 1598-1614. doi:https://doi.org/10.1890/09-1535.1More infoFire scars are used widely to reconstruct historical fire regime parameters in forests around the world. Because fire scars provide incomplete records of past fire occurrence at discrete points in space, inferences must be made to reconstruct fire frequency and extent across landscapes using spatial networks of fire-scar samples. Assessing the relative accuracy of fire-scar fire history reconstructions has been hampered due to a lack of empirical comparisons with independent fire history data sources. We carried out such a comparison in a 2780-ha ponderosa pine forest on Mica Mountain in southern Arizona (USA) for the time period 1937-2000. Using documentary records of fire perimeter maps and ignition locations, we compared reconstructions of key spatial and temporal fire regime parameters developed from documentary fire maps and independently collected fire-scar data (n = 60 plots). We found that fire-scar data provided spatially representative and complete inventories of all major fire years (>100 ha) in the study area but failed to detect most small fires. There was a strong linear relationship between the percentage of samples recording fire scars in a given year (i.e., fire-scar synchrony) and total area burned for that year (y = 0.0003x+0.0087, r(2) = 0.96). There was also strong spatial coherence between cumulative fire frequency maps interpolated from fire-scar data and ground-mapped fire perimeters. Widely reported fire frequency summary statistics varied little between fire history data sets: fire-scar natural fire rotations (NFR) differed by = 25% of study area burned) were identical between data sets (25.5 yr); fire-scar MFIs for all fire years differed by 1.2 yr from documentary records. The known seasonal timing of past fires based on documentary records was furthermore reconstructed accurately by observing intra-annual ring position of fire scars and using knowledge of tree-ring growth phenology in the Southwest. Our results demonstrate clearly that representative landscape-scale fire histories can be reconstructed accurately from spatially distributed fire-scar samples.
- Lenart, M. T., Falk, D. A., Scatena, F. N., & Osterkamp, W. R. (2010). Estimating soil turnover rate from tree uprooting during hurricanes in Puerto Rico. Forest Ecology and Management, 259(6), 1076-1084. doi:http://doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.12.014More infoAbstract: Soil turnover by tree uprooting in primary and secondary forests on the island of Puerto Rico was measured in 42 study plots in the months immediately after the passage of a Category 3 hurricane. Trunk basal area explained 61% of the variability of mound volume and 53% of the variability of mound area. The proportion of uprooted trees, the number of uprooted trees, or the proportion of uprooted basal area explained 84-85% of the variation in hurricane-created mound area. These same variables explain 79-85% of the variation in mound volume. The study indicates that the soil turnover period from tree uprooting by Puerto Rican hurricanes is between 1600 and 4800 years. These rates are faster than soil turnover by landslides and background treefall in the same area and provide a useful age constraint on soil profile development and soil carbon sequestration in these dynamic landscapes. © 2009 Elsevier B.V.
- Yocom, L. L., Fule, P. Z., Brown, P. M., Cerano, J., Villanueva-Diaz, J., Falk, D. A., & Cornejo-Oviedo, E. (2010). El Nino-Southern Oscillation effect on a fire regime in northeastern Mexico has changed over time. ECOLOGY, 91(6), 1660-1671.
- Yocom, L. L., Fulé, P. Z., Brown, P. M., Cerano, J., Villanueva-Diaz, J., Falk, D. A., & Cornejo-Oviedo, E. (2010). El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect on a fire regime in northeastern Mexico has changed over time. Ecology, 91(6), 1660-1671. doi:https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0845.1More infoPMID: 20583708;Abstract: The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate-forcing mechanism that has been shown to affect precipitation and the occurrence of wildfires in many parts of the world. In the southern United States and northern Mexico, warm events (El Niño) are associated with moist winter conditions and fewer fires, while cool events (La Niña) tend to favor dry winters and more fires. We tested this relationship in a region of northeastern Mexico by characterizing the historical fire regime and climatic influences. Fire regimes were reconstructed from fire-scar samples collected from 100 trees in three high-elevation sites on Peña Nevada in southern Nuevo León. The sites were ∼25 ha each, and the site centers were ∼1 km apart. The earliest recorded fire occurred in 1521 and the time period we used for analysis was 1645-1929. The sites were characterized by frequent surface fires before the 1920s. In the three sites, mean fire intervals ranged from 8.6 to 9.6 years (all fires) and 11.9 to 18.6 years (fires that scarred ≥25% of recording trees). The per-tree mean fire return interval was 17 years, and all three sites burned in the same year seven times between 1774 and 1929. After 1929, fires were nearly eliminated in all sites, likely due to human causes. We found a temporal change in the association between ENSO events and fires; before the 1830s La Niña events were significantly associated with fire years, while after the 1830s this association was not significant. In 1998, when the most severe El Niño event of the past century occurred, the three sites experienced severe, stand-replacing fires that killed many trees that had survived multiple surface fires in the past. Prior to the 1830s, fires tended to occur during dry La Niña years, but since then both La Niña and El Niño have been associated with dry years in this region, especially during the last three decades. This result suggests that ENSO effects have changed over time in this location and that phases of ENSO are not consistent indicators of precipitation, fire occurrence, or fire behavior in this area of northeastern Mexico. © 2010 by the Ecological Society of America.
- Stevens, J., & Falk, D. A. (2009). Can Buffelgrass invasions be controlled in the American Southwest? Using invasion ecology theory to understand Buffelgrass success and develop comprehensive restoration and management. Ecological Restoration, 27(4), 417-427. doi:http://doi:10.3368/er.27.4.417More infoAbstract: Since being introduced for rangeland improvements in the early to mid-20th century, several non-native grass species have spread beyond their initial planting sites in the American Southwest. Many of these species, especially those that have infltrated desert ecosystems, can alter ?fre regimes, which in turn threatens native plant species. In Arizona desert ecosystems, buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) increases ?fre frequency and intensity, which may create a positive feedback loop, resulting in a shift from native ?fre-sensitive plant communities to non-native grasslands. Although control efforts are currently underway, a more comprehensive ecosystem approach will be required to treat buffelgrass invasions in southeastern Arizona's deserts. Here, we evaluate the species and environmental factors that may contribute to plant invasion success. We highlight empirical buffelgrass literature as it pertains to invasion, integrate basic invasion ecology theory and restoration ecology to examine potential practical approaches for controlling buffelgrass invasions in southeastern Arizona, and use this information to provide the basis for comprehensive restoration and management. We also briefy discuss public policy related to buffelgrass control in the southwestern United States.
- Falk, D. A., Miller, C., McKenzie, D., & Black, A. E. (2007). Cross-scale analysis of fire regimes. ECOSYSTEMS, 10(5), 809-823.
- Falk, D. A., Miller, C., McKenzie, D., & Black, A. E. (2007). Cross-scale analysis of fire regimes. Ecosystems, 10(5), 809-823. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-007-9070-7More infoAbstract: Cross-scale spatial and temporal perspectives are important for studying contagious landscape disturbances such as fire, which are controlled by myriad processes operating at different scales. We examine fire regimes in forests of western North America, focusing on how observed patterns of fire frequency change across spatial scales. To quantify changes in fire frequency across spatial scale, we derive the event-area (EA) relationship and the analogous interval-area (IA) relationship using historical and simulated data from low- and high-severity fire regimes. The EA and IA provide multi-scale descriptions of fire regimes, as opposed to standard metrics that may apply only at a single scale. Parameters and properties of scaling functions (intercept, slope, minimum value) are associated statistically with properties of the fire regime, such as mean fire-free intervals and fire size distributions, but are not direct mathematical transformations of them because they also reflect mechanistic drivers of fire that are non-stationary in time and space. Patterns in fire-scaling relations can be used to identify how controls on fire regimes change across spatial and temporal scales. Future research that considers fire as a cross-scale process will be directly applicable to landscape-scale fire management.
- Zedler, J. B., Falk, D. A., & Larkin, D. J. (2007). Upstart views of restoration icons.. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 88(1), 104-112.
- Falk, D. A. (2006). Process-centred restoration in a fire-adapted ponderosa pine forest. Journal for Nature Conservation, 14(3-4), 140-151.More infoAbstract: Accurate and ecologically meaningful characterisation of reference conditions is a fundamental premise of restoration ecology. Restoration practice and research commonly define reference conditions in terms of compositional and structural elements. We propose a "process-centred" framework that places central emphasis on ecological functions and ecosystem processes. A wide variety of processes is central to the functioning and dynamics of ecological systems, and can be placed at the foundation of restoration research and practice. A process-centred approach allows the definition of "reference dynamics", where spatial and temporal variability and underlying mechanisms of change are primary. We illustrate this approach using a 303-yr reconstruction of the natural surface fire regime to guide restoration of a Pinus ponderosa forest in the Jemez Mountains of southwestern North America. Fire occurrence varied over space and time during the period of record, with ecologically significant variation in fire intervals (yr fire-1) governed by process-structure interactions. We defined a variety of reference variables for reintroduction of fire as the keystone ecological process, along with related structural variation. A process-centered approach and the reference dynamics paradigm can replace a more static concept of reference conditions in defining restoration baselines and provide an improved standard of comparison for restoration ecology. © 2006 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
- Sisk, T. D., Savage, M., Falk, D. A., Allen, C. D., Muldavin, E., & McCarthy, P. (2005). A landscape perspective for forest restoration. Journal of Forestry, 103(6), 319-320.
- Maunder, M., Havens, K., Guerrant, E. O., & Falk, D. A. (2004). Ex situ methods: A vital but underused set of conservation resources: Supporting Species Survival in the Wild. Ex situ plant conservation: Supporting species survival in the wild.
- Allen, C. D., Savage, M., Falk, D. A., Suckling, K. F., Swetnam, T. W., Schulke, T., Stacey, P. B., Morgan, P., Hoffman, M., & Klingel, J. T. (2002). Ecological restoration of Southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystems: A broad perspective. Ecological Applications, 12(5), 1418-1433.More infoThe purpose of this paper is to promote a broad and flexible perspective on ecological restoration of Southwestern (U.S.) ponderosa pine forests. Ponderosa pine forests in the region have been radically altered by Euro-American land uses, including livestock grazing, fire suppression, and logging. Dense thickets of young trees now abound, old-growth and biodiversity have declined, and human and ecological communities are increasingly vulnerable to destructive crown fires. A consensus has emerged that it is urgent to restore more natural conditions to these forests. Efforts to restore Southwestern forests will require extensive projects employing varying combinations of young-tree thinning and reintroduction of low-intensity fires. Treatments must be flexible enough to recognize and accommodate: high levels of natural heterogeneity; dynamic ecosystems; wildlife and other biodiversity considerations; scientific uncertainty; and the challenges of on-the-ground implementation. Ecological restoration should reset ecosystem trends toward an envelope of "natural variability," including the reestablishment of natural processes. Reconstructed historic reference conditions are best used as general guides rather than rigid restoration prescriptions. In the long term, the best way to align forest conditions to track ongoing climate changes is to restore fire, which naturally correlates with current climate. Some stands need substantial structural manipulation (thinning) before fire can safely be reintroduced. In other areas, such as large wilderness and roadless areas, fire alone may suffice as the main tool of ecological restoration, recreating the natural interaction of structure and process. Impatience, overreaction to crown fire risks, extractive economics, or hubris could lead to widespread application of highly intrusive treatments that may further damage forest ecosystems. Investments in research and monitoring of restoration treatments are essential to refine restoration methods. We support the development and implementation of a diverse range of scientifically viable restoration approaches in these forests, suggest principles for ecologically sound restoration that immediately reduce crown fire risk and incrementally return natural variability and resilience to Southwestern forests, and present ecological perspectives on several forest restoration approaches.
- Falk, D. A., Swetnam, T. W., Suckling, K. F., Stacey, P. B., Schulke, T., Savage, M., Morgan, P., Klingel, J. T., Hoffman, M., Falk, D. A., & Allen, C. D. (2002). ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION OF SOUTHWESTERN PONDEROSA PINE ECOSYSTEMS: A BROAD PERSPECTIVE. Ecological Applications, 12(5), 1418-1433. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2002)012[1418:erospp]2.0.co;2More infoThe purpose of this paper is to promote a broad and flexible perspective on ecological restoration of Southwestern (U.S.) ponderosa pine forests. Ponderosa pine forests in the region have been radically altered by Euro-American land uses, including livestock grazing, fire suppression, and logging. Dense thickets of young trees now abound, old- growth and biodiversity have declined, and human and ecological communities are in- creasingly vulnerable to destructive crown fires. A consensus has emerged that it is urgent to restore more natural conditions to these forests. Efforts to restore Southwestern forests will require extensive projects employing varying combinations of young-tree thinning and reintroduction of low-intensity fires. Treatments must be flexible enough to recognize and accommodate: high levels of natural heterogeneity; dynamic ecosystems; wildlife and other biodiversity considerations; scientific uncertainty; and the challenges of on-the-ground im- plementation. Ecological restoration should reset ecosystem trends toward an envelope of ''natural variability,'' including the reestablishment of natural processes. Reconstructed historic reference conditions are best used as general guides rather than rigid restoration prescriptions. In the long term, the best way to align forest conditions to track ongoing climate changes is to restore fire, which naturally correlates with current climate. Some stands need substantial structural manipulation (thinning) before fire can safely be reintro- duced. In other areas, such as large wilderness and roadless areas, fire alone may suffice as the main tool of ecological restoration, recreating the natural interaction of structure and process. Impatience, overreaction to crown fire risks, extractive economics, or hubris could lead to widespread application of highly intrusive treatments that may further damage forest ecosystems. Investments in research and monitoring of restoration treatments are essential to refine restoration methods. We support the development and implementation of a diverse range of scientifically viable restoration approaches in these forests, suggest principles for ecologically sound restoration that immediately reduce crown fire risk and incrementally return natural variability and resilience to Southwestern forests, and present ecological perspectives on several forest restoration approaches.
- Falk, D. A., Knapp, E. E., & Guerrant, E. O. (2001). An introduction to restoration genetics. Society for Ecological Restoration, Science & Policy Paper.
- Thomas, S. C., Halpern, C. B., Falk, D. A., Liguori, D. A., & Austin, K. A. (1999). Plant diversity in managed forests: Understory responses to thinning and fertilization. Ecological Applications, 9(3), 864-879.More infoAbstract: Although most temperate forests are actively managed for timber production, few data exist regarding the long-term effects of forest management on understory plant communities. We investigated the responses of understory communities to a factorial combination of silvicultural-thinning and nutrient-addition treatments maintained for 12-16 yr in a set of 21-27 yr old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) plantations. The four thinning levels span those used operationally (final stem densities of 494-1680 trees/ha); the two fertilization levels included a control and N addition in the form of urea at ~60 kg N·ha-1·yr-1, about twice the dosage used operationally. Understory vegetation cover showed significant effects of thinning, with the highest thinning level resulting in the highest observed cover values. However, in some cases low levels of thinning resulted in a reduction in understory cover compared to unthinned controls. Understory vegetation declined dramatically in response to urea fertilization, with up to a 10-fold drop in herb-layer cover in unthinned stands. Species richness showed a simpler response to treatments, increasing in response to thinning, but decreasing in response to fertilization. Examination of species-area relationships indicated that effects of thinning and fertilization on species richness were similar across the range of spatial scales examined. Tree canopy cover, assessed by means of hemispherical photograph analysis, increased with fertilization, and estimated understory light levels decreased with fertilization, but neither showed a significant response to thinning at the time of measurement (12-16 yr after tree removal). Thus, treatment effects on understory cover and species richness were not a simple function of canopy cover or estimated light availability. Rather, there was a weak positive relationship between estimated understory light flux and vascular plant cover and diversity in nonfertilized plots, and no such relationship in fertilized plots. The lack of correspondence between treatment effects on canopy cover and understory vegetation may be due to time lags in understory response to changes in canopy cover or to treatment effects not mediated by light availability, such as physical disturbance during thinning operations and toxicity responses following application of urea fertilizer. Species-specific responses to treatments were in part predictable as a function of plant life-form and edaphic association: species affinity for high soil moisture was the best predictor of fertilization responses, while life-form was the best predictor of thinning responses, with ferns and graminoids showing the largest positive responses to thinning. The successional status and stature of understory plant species were not significantly related to treatment responses. In sum, our results indicate that silvicultural thinning and fertilization can have large effects on understory plant diversity and community composition. However, such effects were not a simple function of understory light levels, and conventional 'functional types' were of only limited value in predicting species-specific responses to silvicultural treatments.
- Thomas, S. C., Liguori, D. A., Halpern, C. B., Falk, D. A., & Austin, K. A. (1999). PLANT DIVERSITY IN MANAGED FORESTS: UNDERSTORY RESPONSES TO THINNING AND FERTILIZATION. Ecological Applications, 9(3), 864-879. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(1999)009[0864:pdimfu]2.0.co;2More info2 Environmental Forestry Research, Weyerhaeuser Company, Tacoma, Washington 98422 USA Abstract. Although most temperate forests are actively managed for timber production, few data exist regarding the long-term effects of forest management on understory plant communities. We investigated the responses of understory communities to a factorial com- bination of silvicultural-thinning and nutrient-addition treatments maintained for 12-16 yr in a set of 21-27 yr old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) plantations. The four thinning levels span those used operationally (final stem densities of 494-1680 trees/ha); the two fertilization levels included a control and N addition in the form of urea at ;60 kg N·ha 21 ·yr 21 , about twice the dosage used operationally. Understory vegetation cover showed significant effects of thinning, with the highest thinning level resulting in the highest observed cover values. However, in some cases low levels of thinning resulted in a reduction in understory cover compared to unthinned con- trols. Understory vegetation declined dramatically in response to urea fertilization, with up to a 10-fold drop in herb-layer cover in unthinned stands. Species richness showed a simpler response to treatments, increasing in response to thinning, but decreasing in response to fertilization. Examination of species-area relationships indicated that effects of thinning and fertilization on species richness were similar across the range of spatial scales examined. Tree canopy cover, assessed by means of hemispherical photograph analysis, increased with fertilization, and estimated understory light levels decreased with fertilization, but neither showed a significant response to thinning at the time of measurement (12-16 yr after tree removal). Thus, treatment effects on understory cover and species richness were not a simple function of canopy cover or estimated light availability. Rather, there was a weak positive relationship between estimated understory light flux and vascular plant cover and diversity in nonfertilized plots, and no such relationship in fertilized plots. The lack of correspondence between treatment effects on canopy cover and understory vegetation may be due to time lags in understory response to changes in canopy cover or to treatment effects not mediated by light availability, such as physical disturbance during thinning operations and toxicity responses following application of urea fertilizer. Species-specific responses to treatments were in part predictable as a function of plant life-form and edaphic association: species affinity for high soil moisture was the best predictor of fertilization responses, while life-form was the best predictor of thinning responses, with ferns and graminoids showing the largest positive responses to thinning. The successional status and stature of understory plant species were not significantly related to treatment responses. In sum, our results indicate that silvicultural thinning and fertilization can have large effects on understory plant diversity and community composition. However, such effects were not a simple function of understory light levels, and conventional ''functional types'' were of only limited value in predicting species-specific responses to silvicultural treatments.
- Allen, E. B., Covington, W. W., & Falk, D. A. (1997). Developing the conceptual basis for restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology, 5(4), 275-276.
- Olwell, M., Millar, C. I., Falk, D. A., & Dunn, C. P. (1997). Restoring diversity: strategies for reintroduction of endangered plants.. Ecology, 78(3), 961. doi:10.2307/2266076More infoThe reintroduction of rare and endangered species to their natural habitats is becoming an increasingly important tool in ecosystem management. This book seeks to unify concepts in the field of restoration, and fill significant technical and policy gaps.
- Falk, D. A., Covington, W. W., & Allen, E. B. (1996). Supporting Research in Restoration Biology: NSF Workshop Offers Recommendations. Ecological Restoration, 14(2), 148-150. doi:10.3368/er.14.2.148
- Maunder, M., Holsinger, K. E., & Falk, D. A. (1993). Genetics and Conservation of Rare Plants: A Review. Kew Bulletin, 48(2), 425. doi:10.2307/4117957
- Falk, D. A., & Olwell, M. (1992). SCIENTIFIC AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS IN RESTORATION AND REINTRODUCTION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES. Rhodora, 94(879), 287-315.
- Barrett, S. C., Barrett, S. C., Kohn, J. R., Kohn, J. R., Falk, D. A., & Holsinger, K. E. (1991). Genetic and evolutionary consequences of small population size in plants : implications for conservation. Genetics and conservation of rare plants.
- Falk, D. A. (1990). Conserving the native diversity of the U.S.. Conservation Digest, 2(5), 10.More infoConservation Digest 2(5): 10.
- Falk, D. A. (1990). Discovering the Future, Creating the Past: Some Reflections on Restoration. Restoration & Management Notes, 8(2), 71-72.
- Falk, D. A. (1990). Endangered forest resources in the U.S.: Integrated strategies for conservation of rare species and genetic diversity. Forest Ecology and Management, 35(1-2), 91-107.More infoAbstract: A substantial number of woody taxa are presently at risk of extinction, representing a potential loss of forest genetic resources as well as contributing to reduction of overall biological diversity. Endangered taxa are found in a large number of genera and families, including many of importance in forest industries, horticulture, and crop production. Many of these endangered taxa are endemic to a single state and face severe threats to their continued survival. Rare and endangered species of plants often represent special problems for conservation, reflecting characteristic differences from common plants in their biology, patterns of threat, and resources available for conservation. Moreover, rare plants are as a group poorly represented in the scientific literature, making formulation of biologically sound conservation strategies difficult. An emerging trend in biological-diversity programs is toward integrated conservation strategies, which are grounded on three precepts. First, conservation methods can be applied to different levels of biological hierarchy. Second, conservation strategies should be tailored to the particular threat faced by the subject concerned. And finally, available resources must be assessed and combined to provide the highest possible degree of protection. A mix of conservation actions should be designed and executed to fit the biology and threat of a given situation, in order to achieve the maximum protective value. Such integrated strategies are inherently multidisciplinary, and are best carried out by collaboration among several agencies. Integrated conservation strategies render obsolete the dichotomy between in-situ and ex-situ conservation, by joining them in a more powerful, unified approach.
- Falk, D. A. (1990). Integrated Strategies for Conserving Plant Genetic Diversity. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 77(1), 38-47.
- McMahan, L. R., & Falk, D. A. (1989). The Center for Plant Conservation: Collaborating with the National Plant Germplasm System to Save Seeds for the Future. Diversity, 5, 43.
- Falk, D. A., & Thibodeau, F. R. (1986). Saving the Rarest. Arnoldia, 46(3), 3-18.
- Thibodeau, F. R., & Falk, D. A. (1984). Saving the Pieces. Ecological Restoration, 2(2), 71-72. doi:10.3368/er.2.2.71
Proceedings Publications
- Sharma, A., Fisher, L. A., Falk, D. A., & Bogan, M. T. (2019). A framework for exploring aquatic and riparian connectivity: Case study of the Chiricahua leopard frog in the Cienega Creek basin. In Natural Areas Association.
- Falk, D. A. (2013, May). Are Madrean ecosystems approaching tipping points? Anticipating interactions of landscape disturbance and climate change.. In In Gottfried GJ, Ffolliott PF, Gebow BS, Eskew LG, and Collins LC: Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III., RMRS P-67.
- Gebow, B., Laing, L., Falk, D. A., & Malusa, J. R. (2012, May). Mapping Ecological Systems in Southeastern Arizona. In Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III, USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013, 1-7.More infoBeginning in 2007 in and around the Huachuca Mountains, the Coronado National Forestand other partners have been mapping ecosystems at multiple scales. The approach has focused onidentifying land type associations (LTA), which represent the sum of bedrock and superficial geology,topography, elevation, potential and existing vegetation, soil properties, and local climatic variables.This mapping effort has been extended into the FireScape program, in which multiple partners utilizeecological land type mapping as a framework for fire planning across the Sky Island bioregion. Landtype association maps for the Catalina-Rincon mountains (available at www.azfirescape.org) areused for managing ecological units (e.g., mixed conifer on granitic soils) typically no smaller than athousand acres, and often much larger. Land type associations compliment raster-based sources ofinformation such as LANDFIRE. Not surprisingly, the success of the project depends on an accuratedepiction of vegetative and physical setting reality, not just interpretations of remote imagery. LTAsprovide an intuitive and informative
- Gebow, B., Stetson, C. H., Falk, D. A., & Dolan, C. (2013, May). FireScape: A Program for Whole-Mountain Fire Management in the Sky Island Region. In In Gottfried GJ, Ffolliott PF, Gebow BS, Eskew LG, and Collins LC: Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III., RMRS P-67.
- Gebow, B., Stetson, C., Falk, D. A., & Dolan, C. (2013, May). FireScape: A Program for Whole-Mountain Fire Management in the Sky Island Region.. In In Gottfried GJ, Ffolliott PF, Gebow BS, Eskew LG, and Collins LC, Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III., RMRS P-67.
- Malusa, J., Laing, L., Falk, D. A., & Gebow, B. (2013, May). Mapping Ecological Systems from the Ground Up in Southeastern Arizona.. In In Gottfried GJ, Ffolliott PF, Gebow BS, Eskew LG, and Collins LC: Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III., RMRS P-67.
- Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2003, Spring). Scaling rules and probability models for surface fire regimes in ponderosa pine forests. In FIRE, FUEL TREATMENTS, AND ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION: CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS, General Technical Report RMRS-P-29, 301-317.More infoStatistical descriptors of the fire regime in ponderosa pine forests of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, are spatially scale-dependent. Thus, quantification of fire regimes must be undertaken in a spatially explicit framework. We apply a variety of analytical tests adapted from species-area relationships to demonstrate an analytical framework for understanding scaling of disturbance regimes. A new spatio-temporal scaling index, the slope of the event-area function, can provide a useful measure of the synchrony of events within watersheds (where fire spread regulates the distribution of events) as well as among mountain ranges. We propose two alternative mathematical models of fire interval distributions based on inherent properties of the fire record and the ecology of frequent-fire disturbance regimes; a discrete probability model, and a probabilistic application of the lognormal distribution. Because they involve distribution of energy and matter, these spatial and temporal scaling rules indicate more general disturbance event-area relationships that can facilitate the analysis of disturbance regimes in a broader ecological framework.
- FALK, D. A. (1990, Fall). THE THEORY OF INTEGRATED CONSERVATION STRATEGIES FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY. In ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT : RARE SPECIES AND SIGNIFICANT HABITS, State University Press of New York. New York State Museum Bulletin No. 471., 5-10.
Presentations
- Barra, C., Rasmussen, C., Mcguire, L. A., Youberg, A., Falk, D. A., Beers, R., & Fule, M. (2023, October). Wildfire effects on soil physical, chemical and hydraulic properties in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona, USA. Geological Society of America. Pittsburgh, PA.
- Falk, D. A. (2023, November). From restoration to resilience: Translating ecology into land management policy for a changing world. ES 482 / 582: Advanced Environmental Topics in Ecological Restoration, Dr Nancy Shackleford, InstructorUniversity of Victoria, British Columbia.
- Falk, D. A. (2023, November). The resilience dilemma: Translating the ecology of resilience into land management policy for a changing world. Environmental Seminar SeriesUniversity of Arizona, College of Law.
- Falk, D. A. (2023, October). Managing for resilience. Watershed, Air, Climate Change, and Ecology WorkshopUS Forest Service, Region 3.
- Falk, D. A., Long, J. W., Hankins, D., Quinn-Davidson, L., & Pérez-Salicrup, D. (2023, December). The paradox of old-growth conservation in fire-adapted forests of Southwestern North America. 9th International Fire Congress. Monterrey, CA: Association for Fire Ecology.
- Falk, D. A., Portier, J. J., Guiterman, C., Lonergan, M., & Margolis, E. Q. (2023, December). How do fire intervals scale with area? Observations and implications for fire ecology. 9th International Fire Congress. Monterrey, CA: Association for Fire Ecology.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, May). Panelist: Fire is a fundamental global Earth system process. International Arid Lands Consortium Global Virtual ConferenceInternational Arid Lands Consortium (IALC).
- Falk, D. A. (2022, April).
Global trends in ecological resilience
. Global Prosperity in the Face of Climate Change: In Pursuit of a Sustainable Future. Webinar. Online webinar: organized by Bridging Biodiversity and Conservation Science (https://bbcs.arizona.edu/). - Falk, D. A. (2022, December).
How can we restore ecosystems in a changing world?
. Departmental Seminar, ” Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie-Mellon University. Pittsburgh, PA (online): Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie-Mellon University. - Falk, D. A. (2022, December).
Keynote: What does it mean to restore ecosystems in a changing world?
. Society for Ecological Restoration, Southwest Chapter. Annual Meeting. Online: Society for Ecological Restoration, Southwest Chapter. - Falk, D. A. (2022, March). Climate change and Southwestern forests.. Climate Adaptation Workshop, Coronado National Forest.. Tucson, AZ: Coronado National Forest.
- Falk, D. A. (2022, May).
Understanding ecological resilience: What can we see (and not see) with remote sensing?” Wildfire Symposium, Earth Dynamics Observatory, College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona. May.
. Wildfire Symposium, Earth Dynamics Observatory, College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona. University of Arizona: Earth Dynamics Observatory, College of Optical Science. - Falk, D. A., & Arizpe, A. H. (2022, May).
The monsoon fire regime: Why wildfire in the Sky Islands is contingent on both winter and monsoon precipitation.
. Technical seminar. Online: Pima County Local Drought Impact Group. - Falk, D. A., & Fule, M. (2022, December).
Ecology of post-fire ecosystems sets the stage for hydrology.
. Workshop, US Army, Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC). University of Arizona: University of Arizona and US Army, Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC). - Falk, D. A., Fule, M., Lalor, A., Lee, K., & von Haupt, L. S. (2022, November). Patterns and Mechanisms of Climate and Fire Resilience in Sky Island Forests. Research Insights in Semiarid Ecosystems (RISE) Symposium, University of Arizona (https://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/ ). November.. Research Insights in Semiarid Ecosystems (RISE) Symposium, University of Arizona (https://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/ ). University of Arizona.
- Falk, D. A., Williams, E. C., & van Mantgem, P. J. (2021, January). Fighting Drought With Fire.. Research Series, New Mexico Statewide Forest and Watershed Health Coordinating GroupNew Mexico Statewide Forest and Watershed Health Coordinating Group.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, December). A new Fire Exposure and Recovery Index captures the effects of multiple reburns over space and time.. 9th International Fire Ecology and Management CongressAssociation for Fire Ecology.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, December). Co-production in forest adaptation to wildfire and climate change. Working group on co-production in land management and natural resourcesNational Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Environmental Change and Society..
- Falk, D. A. (2021, December). Falk DA. 2021. “Mechanisms of forest resilience.. Association for Fire Ecology, 9th International Fire Ecology and Management CongressAssociation for Fire Ecology.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, January). The future of the Santa Catalinas after the Bighorn Fire: Restoration, resilience, and change.. Institute for Learning in RetirementInstitute for Learning in Retirement.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, June). "Fire and the Future". Panelist for section on forest resilience: webinar on the 2020 Bighorn Fire, 410 attendeesDesert Laboratory, Arizona Public Media, and Arizona Institutes for Resilience.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, November). Forest ecology and resilience: (how) will our forests recover?. Natural Resource Users Law and Policy Center Advisory BoardNatural Resource Users Law and Policy Center Advisory Board.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, October). Analytical foundations of ecological resilience.. Departmental SeminarUniversity of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment.
- Falk, D. A. (2021, September). Forest Ecology & Wildfire in our Era of Climate Change. Monthly Meeting, Citizens Climate LobbyCitizens Climate Lobby.
- Falk, D. A., & Malusa, J. R. (2021, October). Introduction to “Repeat photography and post-fire ecosystem change in southeastern Arizona.”. Webinar for the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and Forest GuildSouthwest Fire Science Consortium and Forest Guild.
- Falk, D. A., & Mcguire, L. A. (2021, May). The future of the Santa Catalinas after the Bighorn Fire: Restoration, resilience, and change. Sustainable TucsonSustainable Tucson.
- Falk, D. A., Fule, E., & Malusa, J. R. (2021, September). Post-fire ecohydrology in the Santa Catalina Mountains.. Monthly Meeting of the Pima County Regional Flood Control DistrictPima County Regional Flood Control District.
- Field, J. P., Breshears, D. D., Falk, D. A., Holsinger, L., Lalor, A. R., Law, D. J., Loehman, R. A., & Triepke, F. J. (2021, September). Resilience in action: Guiding management responses to ecological transitions from disturbance and tree mortality.. Symposium on Resilience Research for Global Development ChallengesUniversity of Arizona, Arizona Institutes for Resilience.
- Falk, D. A. (2020, August). Featured speaker, "Fire on the Mountain". Three-part series on the 2020 Bighorn Fire, Santa Catalina Mountains. Online webinar (>1000 participants): UA Desert Laboratory and Arizona Institutes for Resilience.
- Falk, D. A. (2020, February). Can forests survive the Anthropocene? (and can we help?). Environmental Breakfast Club. UA School of Law.
- Falk, D. A. (2020, January). Can forests survive the Anthropocene (and can science help save them?). UA Science Cafe. Tucson, AZ: UA College of Science.
- Falk, D. A. (2020, October). Fire effects from major wildfires. Watershed Forum: The aftermath of the Bighorn Fire. Watershed Forum: The aftermath of the Bighorn Fire: Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative.
- Taylor, E. J., & Falk, D. A. (2020, April). Cascading Effects of Mountain Topography on Forests via Human Fire Use in the Canadian Southern Rocky Mountains. Session: Dendrochronology IV: Changing Western Landscapes. American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: American Association of Geographers (AAG).
- Falk, D. A. (2019, April). Restoring adaptive capacity for an unknown future. Symposium on Fire-Driven Forest Conversion, International Association for Landscape Ecology. Fort Collins, CO: International Association for Landscape Ecology.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, December). Mechanisms of Forest Resilience. College Seminar, Institute for the Study of the Tibetan Plateau, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Beijing, People's Republic of China: Institute for the Study of the Tibetan Plateau, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PRC.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, December). Resilient forests for the 21st century. College Seminar, Forestry College of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PRC. Beijing, People's Republic of China: Forestry College of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian, PRC.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, December). Resilient forests for the 21st century. National Fire Workshop. National Forests and Grasslands Administration, People's Republic of China. Beijing, People's Republic of China: National Forests and Grasslands Administration, People's Republic of China.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, February). (How) can we map ecological restoration onto a rapidly changing world?. Society for Ecological Restoration national webinar. On-line webinar: Society for Ecological Restoration.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, January). Fire and forests in a changing world. Harvard Club of TucsonHarvard Club of Tucson.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, January). Restoring ecosystems in the climate change era. University of Arizona Science Café. Tucson Botanical Gardens: University of Arizona College of Science.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, March). Plenary: Fire, climate change, and adapting restoration ecology to a changing world. Society for Ecological Restoration-High Altitude Revegetation Committee. Fort Collins, CO: Society for Ecological Restoration-High Altitude Revegetation Committee.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, November). Scaling ecological resilience. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, November). Shifting reference conditions in 21st century landscapes: Resilience and restoration in a changing world.. Society for American Foresters, Southern Arizona Chapter. Tucson, AZ: Society for American Foresters.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, October). Translational forest ecology. Panel discussion on translational ecology. University of Arizona: Environmental Science Program.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, September). Resilience ecology is restoration for a changing world. Presented at the workshop, Restoration science relevant for action, The Royal Society. Chicheley, UK: The Royal Society of the United Kingdom.
- Falk, D. A. (2019, September). Restoring adaptive capacity for an unknown future. USGS Climate Adaptation Science Center, National Principal Investigators Meeting. Tucson, AZ: USGS Climate Adaptation Science Center.
- Farris, C. A., Margolis, E., Baisan, C. H., Guiterman, C. H., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. (2019, November). Modern area burned in a historical perspective in two Southwest wilderness areas.. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Friggens, M. M., Thode, A. E., & Falk, D. A. (2019, November). The FireCLIME VA: applying a rapid and flexible system for assessing ecosystem vulnerability to climate−fire interactions to national forests.. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. (2019, November). A synthesis of historical fire regimes in the southwestern United States.. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Lynch, A. M., O'Connor, C. D., Wilcox, C. D., & Falk, D. A. (2019, November). Spruce−fir recruitment and growth following high-severity fires and insect outbreaks in southern Arizona. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Marshall, L. A., & Falk, D. A. (2019, November). Shifts in recruitment in forests with changing disturbance regimes and climate reveal trends in community functional tolerance. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Williams, E. C., Falk, D. A., van Mantgem, P. J., & Das, A. J. (2019, November). Post-fire resistance to increasing vapor pressure deficits in Western montane conifers. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Yocom-Kent, L. L., Falk, D. A., & Thode, A. E. (2019, November). Drivers of fire and vegetation in the southwestern United States.. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- van Mantgem, P. J., Falk, D. A., Williams, E. C., & Das, A. (2019, November). Spruce−fir recruitment and growth followingDoes prescribed fire promote resistance to extended drought in low-elevation forests of the Sierra Nevada, California? high-severity fires and insect outbreaks in southern Arizona. Assocation for Fire Ecology, Eighth International Fire Congress. Tucson, AZ: Assocation for Fire Ecology.
- Falk, D. A. (2018, April). “Discovering the future, creating the past: legal and scientific dynamics of restoring ecosystems.”. Environmental Law Society. University of Arizona Rogers School of Law: Environmental Law Society.
- Falk, D. A. (2018, April). “Disturbance, resilience, and (maybe) evolution.”. SNRE Departmental Seminar. Environment and Natural Resources Building 2: School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Arizona.
- Falk, D. A. (2018, February). "Restoring and sustaining forests in an era of big fires and climate change.". Members' Meeting. Tucson, AZ: Arizona Native Plant Society.
- Falk, D. A. (2018, February). "Wildfire, climate and ecosystems in a changing world.” Two lectures for public course on climate change and ecological effects.. Two lectures for public course on climate change and ecological effects.. Miami and Payson, AZ: Arizona Cooperative Extension, Gila County (C Jones, Extension Agent).
- Falk, D. A. (2018, March). “Climate change, wildland fire, and ecosystem disturbance.”. Ecodrought: Surviving Peak Drought and Warming workshop. University of Arizona: National Science Foundation and Institute of the Environment.
- Falk, D. A. (2018, March). “Ecosystem resilience to changing fire regimes.”. Colloquium on Wildland Fire. Institute of the Environment: Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) and Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SWCSC).
- Falk, D. A. (2018, May). “Forests and Fire in a Time of Change.”. CALS Spring Staff Luncheon. University of Arizona: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
- Falk, D. A. (2018, November). Translational Ecology panel. Translational Ecology panel workshop. University of Arizona: Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions (CCASS).
- Falk, D. A. (2018, September). Invited Plenary Talk: “Climate, disturbance, resilience, evolution, restoration: Three principles for restoring the future of life on Earth.”. Biennial conference, Society for Ecological Restoration Europe. Reykjavik, Iceland: Society for Ecological Restoration Europe.
- Marshall, L. A., & Falk, D. A. (2018, August). “Modeled climate-growth relations and changing tree species distribution in mixed conifer forest across a biophysical gradient.”. Ecological Society of America, Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA: Ecological Society of America.
- McKenzie, D., Newman, E. A., Kennedy, M. C., Miller, C., & Falk, D. A. (2018, April). “What are the hard problems for landscape-model projections in a warming climate?”. US International Association for Landscape Ecology Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL: US International Association for Landscape Ecology.
- Smith, M., Stark, S., Taylor, T. C., Ferreira, M. L., de Oliveira, E., Falk, D. A., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Saleska, S. R., & et al., . (2018, October). “Multiple years of monthly ground-based profiling lidar data in the Amazon reveal seasonal and drought related changes in leaf area with surprising dependencies on height and light environment.”. ForestSAT 2018 remote sensing conference. Washington, DC: ForestSAT.
- Falk, D. A. (2017, April). Wildfires past, present, and future. US Congress, Science Briefing on Wildfire. Department of State, Washington, DC: National Centers for Atmospheric Research / University Centers for Atmospheric Research (NCAR/UCAR).
- Falk, D. A. (2017, December). How do we map restoration ecology onto a rapidly changing world?. Society for Ecological Restoration, Southwest Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, NM: Society for Ecological Restoration.
- Falk, D. A. (2017, Fall). From restoration to resilience ecology. Arizona Senior Academy Seminar Series.. Tucson, AZ: Arizona Senior Academy.
- Falk, D. A. (2017, June). Stressors generated by drought (fire, insects, and disease). Workshop: Adapting to Drought in the Southwestern Region. US Forest Service, Region 3 and National Office of Sustainability and Climate Change.. Albuquerque, NM: US Forest Service, Region 3 and National Office of Sustainability and Climate Change..
- Falk, D. A. (2017, March). Ecological links between drought and disturbance. USGS Climate Science Center working group on ecological drought. University of Arizona: USGS Climate Science Center.
- Falk, D. A. (2017, November). What do we know about ecological resilience (and how do we know it?)?. Seminar Series, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona.
- Falk, D. A., & van Mantgem, P. (2017, February). Impacts of disturbance and ecological interactions on climate response. USGS SW Climate Science Center Review Panel. University of Arizona: USGS Climate Science Center.
- Garfin, G. M., Falk, D. A., & Gornish, E. (2017, October). Wildfire and restoration policy for Arizona. Arizona Senate Briefing. Arizona State Capitol, Phoenix, AZ: Arizona State Legislature.
- Gornish, E., Falk, D. A., & Garfin, G. M. (2017, October). Vegetation management after fire in Arizona. Arizona State Legislative Offices.
- Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E. Q., Woodhouse, C. A., Williams, A. P., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2017, November). Variability in tree-growth response to climate across dry conifer forests of the Navajo Nation. Society of American Foresters Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, NM: Society of American Foresters.
- Arizpe, A., Falk, D. A., Swetnam, T., & Woodhouse, C. A. (2016, November). Widespread Fire Years in Conifer Forests are Contingent on Both Winter and Monsoon Precipitation in the US-Mexico Sky Islands. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- Evans, M. E., Falk, D. A., Arizpe, A., Swetnam, T. L., Babst, F., & Holsinger, K. E. (2016, March). Combining tree-ring and forest inventory data to infer climatic niche: a hierarchical Bayesian approach. In Symposium: “Tree rings and dynamic vegetation models.”. Third American Dendrochronology Conference (AmeriDendro 2016). Mendoza, Argentina: Tree Ring Society.
- Evans, M. E., Falk, D. A., Arizpe, A., Swetnam, T. L., Babst, F., & Holsinger, K. E. (2016, October). Forecasting future tree growth from tree-ring data, and combining tree-ring and forest inventory data. Climate Ecology & Tree Growth Workshop. Petersham, Massachusetts: Harvard Forest, Harvard University.
- Falk, D. A. (2016, April). Disturbance, post-fire ecological resilience, and tipping points. Southwest Regional Fire and Fuels Workshop. Phoeniz, AZ: US Forest Service, Region III.
- Falk, D. A. (2016, November). Properties of fire regimes and fire history analysis. AFE Southwest Conference, Fire History Workshop. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- Falk, D. A. (2016, November). The ecology of forest resilience. Tree-Ring Day. University of Arizona, Tucson: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.
- Falk, D. A. (2016, October). Keynote Presentation: From restoration to resilience ecology. 63rd Annual Fall Symposium. St Louis, MO: Missouri Botanical Garden.
- Falk, D. A. (2016, October). Plenary Presentation: Resilience ecology, the dilemma of change, and the importance of experiments, modeling, and monitoring. NAA Annual Meeting: Reconciling Restoration with Environmental Change. Davis, CA: Natural Areas Association.
- Falk, D. A., Bigio, E. R., Swetnam, T., Hall, G., Sutherland, E. K., Kitzberger, T., Brown, P. M., & Velasquez, E. (2016, March). Historical pyrogeography of western North America 1600-1900 CE.. Third American Dendrochronology Conference (AmeriDendro 2016). Mendoza, Argentina: Tree Ring Society.
- Falk, D. A., Mckenzie, D., Swetnam, T. L., & Loveless, E. (2016, April). Ecosystems as energy fields. IALE Annual Meeting. Asheville, NC: International Association for Landscape Ecology.
- Falk, D. A., Mckenzie, D., Swetnam, T. L., & Loveless, E. (2016, November). Ecosystems as energy fields. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E. Q., Allen, C. D., Falk, D. A., & Swetnam, T. W. (2016, November). Persistence and fire regimes of oak shrubfields suggest increasing dominance with climate change. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).More infoChristopher Guiterman:
- Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E. Q., Baisan, C. H., Falk, D. A., Towner, R. D., & Swetnam, T. W. (2016, November). Navajo settlement, pastoralism, and the interruption of frequent fires in northeastern Arizona. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).More infoChristopher Guiterman:
- Kitzberger, T., Falk, D. A., Westerling, L., Swetnam, T. W., Bigio, E., & Hall, M. H. (2016, January). Historical pyrogeography of western North America, 1600-1900 AD. International AmeriDendro, Mendoza, Argentina.
- Lynch, A. M., O'Connor, C. D., Wilcox, C. P., & Falk, D. A. (2016, September). Disturbance regime changes during the period of fire exclusion in high-elevation forests of the Pinaleño Mountains, Arizona: Characterization and management implications. School of Forestry, Departmental Seminar. Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University.
- Maghran, L. A., Falk, D. A., Malusa, J. R., & Archer, S. R. (2016, November). Resilience and recovery from two large fires in the Santa Catalina Mountains. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- Minor, J. J., & Falk, D. A. (2016, November). Ecological trajectories following multiple mixed-severity fire events in pine-oak and mixed conifer forest types in a Sky Island mountain range. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., Garfin, G. M., Sheppard, B. S., & Treanor, F. (2016, March). Engagement through partnership: Connecting climate change adaptation to base management priorities. Multi-Project workshop, US Department of Defense, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP),. Tucson, AZ: Institute of the Environment and Center for Climate Adaptation and Solutions (CCASS), University of Arizona..
- Sutherland, E. K., Wright, D. K., Arbellay, E., Stoffel, M., Falk, D. A., & Smith, K. T. (2016, March). Comparison of fire-caused injuries in three North American conifers: how and why they vary.. Third American Dendrochronology Conference (AmeriDendro 2016). Mendoza, Argentina: Tree Ring Society.
- Thode, A. E., Falk, D. A., Loehman, R. A., Friggens, M., & Evans, A. (2016, November). Landscape Impacts of Fire and Climate Change in the Southwest: A Science-Management Partnership. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- Webb, A., Falk, D. A., & Fisher, L. A. (2016, November). Fire in Lowland Riparian Ecosystems of Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojave Desert Ecoregions: A Literature Review and Information Gap Analysis. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- Williams, E. C., Falk, D. A., & van Mantgem, P. J. (2016, November). Prescribed fire can increase multi-species, regional-scale resilience to increasing climatic water deficit. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- van Mantgem, P. J., & Falk, D. A. (2016, April). Fighting drought with fire: Can forest management increase resistance to drought? Adapting to a hotter, drier future. Webinar for the California LCCC. Webinar: California Landscape Conservation Cooperative.
- van Mantgem, P. J., Falk, D. A., Williams, E. C., Das, A. J., & Stephenson, N. L. (2016, November). Does prescribed fire promote forest resistance to drought?. AFE Southwest Conference. Tucson, AZ: Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).
- Falk, D. A. (2015, April). Panel moderator, “Evaluating long-term ecological consequences and management actions.”. Co-organizer, “Planning for the Next Big One: Managing the Postfire Environment in a Time of Change". Santa Fe, NM: The Nature Conservancy Burned Area Learning Network, and Southwest Fire Science Consortium.
- Falk, D. A. (2015, April). “Megafires, climate change and the future of Southwestern forests.”. Briefing and alumni event. Phoenix, AZ: Arizona Republic and the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
- Falk, D. A. (2015, January). From restoration to resilience ecology: Can (and should) we make this shift?. University of Arizona Herbarium Seminars. University of Arizona Herbarium: University of Arizona Herbarium.
- Falk, D. A. (2015, July). From restoration to resilience ecology: Rapid ecosystem shifts are triggered by interactions of landscape disturbance and climate change. International Association for Landscape Ecology, Annual Meeting. Portland, OR: International Association for Landscape Ecology.
- Falk, D. A. (2015, May). FireScape: Managing for forest resilience in the Sky Islands. Continuing Legal Education: Wildfire seminar. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University Law School.More infoFalk DA. FireScape and the future of Arizona’s forests. Arizona Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Phoenix. Invited. 7-8 May.
- Falk, D. A. (2015, October). From restoration to resilience ecology: Will interactions of landscape disturbance and climate change trigger rapid ecosystem shifts (And what can we do about it?)?. Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau and the Southwest. Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University.
- Falk, D. A. (2016, November). Why is resilience ecology a social science?. TED Talk: climate adaptation. University of Arizona, Tucson: Institute of the Environment and Center for Climate Adaptation and Solutions (CCASS).
- Falk, D. A., & Minor, J. A. (2015, April). Fire effects and ecological trajectories following multiple mixed-severity fire events in an Arizona Sky Island. AAG Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL: Association of American Geographers.
- Lynch, A. M., O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., & Wilcox, C. (2015, April). Abies concolor invasion in the Pinaleño Mountains. Seminar Series, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. University of Arizona: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.
- van Mantgem, P., & Falk, D. A. (2015, October). Workshop: Fighting drought with fire: Can forest management increase resistance to drought? Identifying information gaps for adapting to a hotter, drier future.. Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau and the Southwest. Flagstaff, AZ: USGS/Northern Arizona University.
- Arbellay, E., Stoffel, M., Sutherland, E. K., Smith, K. T., & Falk, D. A. (2014, January). Fire scarring affects wood formation in North American conifers: anatomical evidence from tracheids, rays and resin ducts.. Dendro 2014: 9th International Conference on Dendrochronology. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: International Tree-Ring Society.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, December). From restoration to resilience ecology: Can (and should) we make this shift?. Udall Center Fellow Seminar. Tucson, AZ: Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, February). Fire and Climate in Arizona’s Forests: Past, Present, and Future. White Mountains Land TrustWhite Mountains Land Trust.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, February). Keynote: A resilience ecology framework for southwestern forests: Ecosystem shifts, landscape disturbance and climate change. Fostering Resilience in Southwest Ecosystems: A Problem-Solving Workshop. Tucson, AZ: Southwest Fire Science Consortium.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, January). Desde la restauración a la resiliencia ecológica. Taller Perspectivas actuales de resiliencia en el contexto de la restauración ecológica y la adaptación al cambio climático. Valdivia, Chile: Center for Climate and Resilience Research, Universidad Austral de Chile.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, January). FireScape Science: Developing the basis for forest restoration in the Sky Islands. Briefing for US Forest Service, Regional Forester. Coronado National Forest.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, January). Forests, fire, and climate change: What are the prospects for resilient ecosystems in northern New Mexico. New Mexico PBS Science Café. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico PBS.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, January). Monument Canyon Research Natural Area. Briefing for Santa Fe National Forest Supervisor's Office, Rocky Mountain Research Station, and USFS Regional Office. Albuquerque, NM.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, May). Applying resilience ecology to fire and landscape management: Ecosystem shifts, landscape disturbance and climate change. WebinarSouthwest Fire Science Consortium.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, May). Beyond conservation: The arc bends toward resilience ecology. International Symposium: From the Freezer to the Landscape, Leading Plant Conservation into the Future. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Minneapolis, MN: Center for Plant Conservation.
- Falk, D. A. (2014, October). Arizona Forests: Past, Present, Future.. AG 100 Council Meeting. Phoenix, AZ: College of Agritulature and Life Sciences, University of Arizona..
- Heyerdahl, E. K., Loehman, R. A., & Falk, D. A. (2014, April). Mixed-severity fire in lodgepole-dominated forests: A unique fire regime on Oregon’s Pumice Plateau.. Fire Ecology and Management in Forested Systems, Central Oregon Fire Science Symposium. Central Oregon Community College, Bend, OR: Central Oregon Fire Science Symposium and Oregon Prescribed Fire Council.
- Burns, I. S., Sidman, G., Guertin, D. P., Sheppard, B. S., Goodrich, D., Falk, D. A., Thoma, D., Canfield, E., Korgaonkar, Y., Clifford, T. J., & Kepner, W. (2013, August). The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA) 3.0: Applications for Fire Management and Rapid Post-fire Watershed Assessment.. Chapman Conference Synthesizing Empirical Results to Improve Predictions of Post-wildfire Runoff and Erosion Response.. Estes Park, CO: American Geophysical Union (AGU).
- Falk, D. A. (2013, December). From restoration to resilience ecology: Rapid ecosystem shifts, landscape disturbance and climate change. American Geophysical Union (AGU), Fall Meeting. Moscone Conference Center, San Francisco, CA: American Geophysical Union (AGU).
- Falk, D. A. (2013, February). Fire Regimes of the West: Past, Present, and Future. Departmental Seminar, School of Natural Resources and the Environment. University of Arizona.
- Falk, D. A. (2013, February). Keynote: Forests and Fire Regimes of the Southwest: Past, Present, and Future. Annual Meeting, SW Society of American Foresters. Willcox, AZ: SW Society of American Foresters.
- Falk, D. A. (2013, May). Plenary Presentation: Post-fire ecosystem resilience in a changing world. Sky Islands Annual Meeting. Tucson, AZ: Sky Islands Alliance.
- Falk, D. A. (2013, November). Scenario Planning for Arizona Forests: Past, Present, and Future. Arizona Climate Scenario Workshop. Show Low, AZ: School of Natural Resources and the Environment, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona.
- Falk, D. A. (2013, October). Arizona's Forests: Past, Present, and Future. Congressional Briefing, Arizona Delegation. UA Health Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Center, Phoenix: University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
- Falk, D. A., & González, M. (2013, November). Dance of the Continents: Fire and Climate in North and South America. Living With Nature, Tucson Audubon Society. Pima Community College: Tucson Audubon Society.
- Falk, D. A., O'Connor, C. D., Lynch, A. M., & Swetnam, T. W. (2013, May). Spatial and temporal interactions between Spruce beetle outbreaks, fire, and climate in a remnant isolated spruce-fir forest. AmeriDendro: Second American Dendrochronology Conference. Tucson: Tree-Ring Society.
- Falk, D. A., Swetnam, T. W., Bigio, E., Hall, M. A., Velasquez, E., Kitzberger, T., Brown, P. M., & Sutherland, E. K. (2013, May). A new North American fire scar network for reconstructing historical pyrogeography. AmeriDendro: Second American Dendrochronology Conference. Tucson, AZ: Tree-Ring Society.
- Lynch, A. M., O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., Wilcox, C. P., & Swetnam, T. W. (2013, February). 1660 to 2010: Origin and nature of the Pinaleno high elevation forests.. Regional Meeting, Southwest Society of American Foresters,. Willcox, AZ: Southwest Society of American Foresters.
- Lynch, A. M., O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., Wilcox, C. P., & Swetnam, T. W. (2013, June). Unstable times: fire, insect, climate, and human interactions in Arizona's Sky Island forests.. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Leadership Team. Flagstaff, AZ: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
- Margolis, E. Q., & Falk, D. A. (2013, November). Variability in fire regimes among forest types in northern New Mexico. Fire and Forests in northern New Mexico: A Community Workshop. Santa Fe Community College, NM: Southwest Fire Science Consortium.
- Margolis, E. Q., & Falk, D. A. (2013, November). Variability in fire regimes among forest types in northern New Mexico. Fire, forests, and climate change in northern New Mexico: A public workshop. Santa Fe Community College: The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico, and Southwest Fire Science Consortium.
- Marshall, L. A., Falk, D. A., & Margolis, E. Q. (2013, May). A spatial analysis of fire history across adjacent watersheds. AmeriDendro: Second American Dendrochronology Conference. Tucson: Tree-Ring Society.
- Sagarin, R. D., Falk, D. A., Garfin, G. M., Weiss, J., McNeil, S., Haworth, A., Khosa, R., & Overpeck, J. (2013, May). Climate Change Impacts to Department of Defense Installations. Briefing for Naval Base Coronado. Naval Base Coronado, Coronado, CA: Department of Defense.
- Sidman, G., Guertin, D. P., Goodrich, D., Falk, D. A., Thoma, D., Burns, S., & Korgaonkar, Y. (2013, March). Modeling Approach to Gauge the Effect of Fuel Treatments on Post-fire Hydrological Response.. George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites,. Denver, CO: George Wright Society.
- Sutherland, E. K., Falk, D. A., Brown, P. M., & Velasquez, E. (2013, May). FHAES: The Fire History Analysis and Exploration System. AmeriDendro: Second American Dendrochronology Conference. Tucson, AZ: Tree-Ring Society.
- Sutherland, E. K., Farella, J., Wright, D. K., Hyp, I., Falk, D. A., Arbellay, E., & Stoffel, M. (2013, May). External charring and fire scarring in three western conifers. AmeriDendro: Second American Dendrochronology Conference. Tucson: Tree-Ring Society.
- , . C., , P., Yocom, L., Villanueva-Diaz, J., & Falk, D. (2012, February). Thick-billed parrot (Rynchopsitta pachyryncha: Psittacidae) habitat in northwestern Mexico is associated with fire regimes in old growth forests. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- , P., Yocom, L., , . C., Falk, D., Cerano, J., & , J. (2012, February). Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Conver, J., Falk, D., Yool, S., & Parmenter, R. (2012, February). Stochastic modeling of fire regimes in montane grasslands and forest ecotones of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, USA. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Dewar, J., Falk, D., Allen, C., Parmenter, R., & Swetnam, T. (2012, February). Multi-scale analysis of fire regimes in montane grassland-forest ecotones of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, USA. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Dewar, J., Falk, D., Parmenter, R., Allen, C., & Swetnam, T. (2012, December). Multi-scale analysis of fire regimes in montane grassland-forests of the Valles Caldera, New Mexico, USA. Association for Fire Ecology. Portland, OR.
- Falk, D. (2012, April). Are Madrean ecosystems approaching tipping points? Interactions of landscape disturbance and climate change. Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago Conference. Tucson, AZ.
- Falk, D. (2012, April). Panelist and Respondent, Healthy Headwaters Workshop. Panelist and Respondent, Healthy Headwaters Workshop. Phoenix, AZ.More infoCarpe Diem West
- Falk, D. (2012, April). Resilience and Restoration in a Changing World: The Dilemma of Restoration Ecology. School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, AZ.
- Falk, D. (2012, December). How do rapid ecosystem shifts triggered by interactions of severe landscape disturbance and climate change our thinking about ecological restoration?. Association for Fire Ecology. Portland, OR.
- Falk, D. (2012, December). Recovery and Resilience in Southwestern Ecosystems. Arizona Senior Academy.
- Falk, D. (2012, February). Similarity analysis in fire history. Workshop in Fire History. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Falk, D. (2012, January). Fire, ecosystems, and resilience in a changing world. Society for Range Management (AZ). Tucson, AZ.
- Falk, D. (2012, March). Resilience and Restoration in a Changing World: The Dilemma of Restoration Ecology. SNRE/OALS, Israeli delegation visit.
- Falk, D. (2012, May). From restoration to resilience ecology: New models for a changing world. International Conference on Climate Adaptation. Tucson, AZ.
- Falk, D. (2012, May). How Can Paleoenvironmental Data Inform Adaptation?. International Conference on Climate Adaptation. Tucson, AZ.
- Falk, D. (2012, October). Fire, Recovery and Resilience in Southwestern Ecosystems. Research Insights in Semiarid Ecosystems(RISE).
- Falk, D. (2012, October). From restoration to resilience ecology: New models for a changing world. College of Science, Oberlin College.
- Falk, D. (2012, October). From restoration to resilience ecology: New models for a changing world. EcoSummit Conference. Columbus, OH.
- Falk, D. A. (2012, December). FireScape: Landscape Management in a Changing World. Sabino Canyon Visitors' Center, Coronado National Forest: Deputy Secretary of the Interior; Regional Forester; Coronado National Forest Leadership Team.
- Falk, D. A. (2012, December). Long-term studies and restoration at Monument Canyon Research Natural Area. Desired Future Condition Field TourUS Forest Service, Southwest Region.
- Falk, D., & Betancourt, J. (2012, April). Monitoring Resilience and Restoration in a Changing World. National Forest Health Monitoring Workshop. Tucson, AZ.
- Falk, D., Heyerdahl, E., & Loehman, R. (2012, December). Understanding climate drivers of past regional-fire years across scales in central Oregon. Association for Fire Ecology. Portland, OR.
- Falk, D., Loehman, R., Overpeck, J., Thode, A., & Swetnam, T. (2012, August). Rapid ecosystem shifts are triggered by interactions of severe landscape disturbance and climate change in the southwestern US. 97th Annual Meeting, Ecological Society of America. Portland, OR.
- Falk, D., Swetnam, T., Bigio, E., Hall, M., Kitzberger, T., Brown, P., & Sutherland, E. (2012, February). Reconstructing the historical pyrogeography of western North America, 1600-1900 AD. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Falk, D., Swetnam, T., Kitzberger, T., Sutherland, E., Brown, P., Bigio, E., & Hall, M. (2012, December). A new North American fire scar network for reconstructing historical pyrogeography, 1600 to 1900 A.D. Association for Fire Ecology. Portland, OR.
- Gebow, B., & Falk, D. (2012, February). Landscape fire science and management in a changing world. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Kitzberger, T., Falk, D., Westerling, A., & Swetnam, T. (2012, February). Climate and snowpack interactions regulate annual area burned across western North America. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Malusa, J., Laing, J., Falk, D., & Gebow, B. (2012, April). Mapping Ecological Systems from the Ground Up in Southeastern Arizona. Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago Conference. Tucson, AZ.
- O'Connor, C., Lynch, A., & Falk, D. (2012, December). Alternate realities: forest and fire dynamics in a 20th century with and without fire suppression. Association for Fire Ecology. Portland, OR.
- O'Connor, C., Lynch, A., & Falk, D. (2012, December). Association for Fire Ecology. Portland, OR.
- O, C. C., Falk, D., Lynch, A., & Swetnam, T. (2012, April). University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Lecture Series.
- O, C. C., Lynch, A., Falk, D., & Swetnam, T. (2012, March). Memorial Scholarship Award Presentation, Western Forest Insect Work Conference 63rd Meeting. Penticton, BC.
- O, C. C., Lynch, A., Wilcox, C., & Falk, D. (2012, February). Fire, climate, and human influences of forest dynamics along an elevational gradient. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- O, C. D., Falk, D., Lynch, A., Swetnam, T., & Wilcox, C. (2012, May). Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago Conference. Tucson, AZ.
- Towne, G., Yool, S., & Falk, D. (2012, February). Using remote sensing to model fuel moisture stress for Sky Island forests. Association for Fire Ecology. Santa Fe.
- Dewar, J., Falk, D., Allen, C., Parmenter, R., Baisan, ., & Swetnam, T. (2011, April). Fire History of Montane Grasslands and Ecotones of the Valles Caldera, New Mexico, USA. Annual Meeting, International Association of Landscape Ecology. Portland, OR.
- Falk, D. (2011, January). Resilience ecology: New models for landscape restoration in a changing world. Southwest Climate Change Adaptation Workshop. Abuquiu, NM: US Forest Service.
- Falk, D. (2011, November). Ecosystem disturbance, resilience, and restoration. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ.
- Falk, D. (2011, October). Ecosystems at tipping points: lessons and opportunities in the 2011 fire season. Critical Zone Observatory.
- Falk, D. A. (2011, December). BioBlitz. BioBlitzSaguaro National Park and National Geographic Society.
- Falk, D. A. (2011, December). Climate change and ecological resilience. Adapting to a Changing Climate: A Workshop for Land and Resource ManagerSky Islands Alliance.
- Falk, D. A. (2011, December). FireScape: Landscape Ecosystem Management in the Sky Islands. Coronado National Forest, Tucson, AZ: Chief, US Forest Service and Region 3 Leadership.
- Falk, D. A. (2011, December). Lessons of the 2011 Fire Season. Chiricahua Heritage Days. Rodeo, NM/Portal, AZ: Wildlands Network.
- Falk, D. A., & Fisher, L. (2011, December). Landscape Fire Management Statewide Partnership Meeting, SNRE. Landscape Fire Management Statewide Partnership Meeting, SNRE.
- Falk, D., & Gebow, B. (2011, September). The landscape ecology of fire in the Sky Islands. SNRE Large Landscape Conservation Seminar.
- Falk, D., Sutherland, E., Velasquez, E., & Kitzberger, T. (2011, April). Multiscale Analysis of Synchrony in Dendrochronology. Annual Meeting, Association of American Geographers. Seattle, WA.
- Marshall, L., Falk, D., & McDowell, N. (2011, April). Ecophysiological response of ponderosa pine to changes in fire regime and stand density. Annual Meeting, International Association of Landscape Ecology. Portland, OR.
- O'Connor, C. D., Lynch, A., Falk, D., & Wilcox, C. (2011, April). Fire and tree demography in a Sky Island mountain range.. Annual Meeting, Association of American Geographers. Seattle, WA.
- O, C. C., Falk, D., Lynch, A., Swetnam, T., Loehman, R., & Wilcox, C. (2011). Disturbance interactions on an Arizona Sky Island. University of Arizona Institute for the Environment Grad Blitz.
Poster Presentations
- Lee, K., Van Leeuwen, W. J., Gillan, J. K., & Falk, D. A. (2023, December). Unraveling the Determinants of Burn Severity: Predictive Regression Analysis of the Bighorn Fire in Santa Catalina, Arizona. American Geophysical Union (AGU). San Francisco, CA: AGU.
- Taylor, E. J., & Falk, D. A. (2019, April). How Mountain Topography Shaped Forests by Influencing Human Fire Use. Session: “People and Wildfire.” American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: American Association of Geographers (AAG).
- Heyerdahl, E. K., Littell, J. S., Pederson, G. T., Falk, D. A., & Loehman, R. A. (2016, Fall). Assessing climate and fine fuel drivers of historical (1670-1900) regional fire years in central and eastern Oregon. 2016 Mountain Climate Conference. Leavenworth, WA: CIRMOUNT.More infoDry mixed-conifer forests are widespread in interior western North America, but their historical fire regimes are poorly understood. Mixed-severity fire regimes are particularly difficult to reconstruct as this requires high-resolution combinations of both fire scars (representing the low-severity component) and cohort recruitment dates (which may the legacy of high-severity fire or favorable climate periods). Moreover, past studies have applied inconsistent criteria to infer post-fire cohorts. We reconstructed a multicentury history of spatial complexity in forest fire regimes (frequency, severity, and extent) of dry mixed-conifer forests in central Oregon. We sampled four 30-plot grids over 3,222 ha, one in the eastern Cascade Range and three in the Ochoco Mountains. All four sites are currently dominated by grand fir, Douglas-fir, and ponderosa pine with varying, but minor, amounts of western larch, incense cedar, or western juniper. We sampled 4,065 trees to determine recruitment dates and/or the dates of surface fires, and used these to reconstruct historical fire regimes at all four sites. To reconstruct the mixed-severity regime we calculated a severity index which combines both low- and high-severity data. Forest vegetation at all four sites consisted of fine-grained species mosaics, and fire regimes were remarkably [FF2] [FF2]similar at all four site, indicating that the mixed-severity regime was widespread and robust to minor variations in forest composition. These regimes were dominated by frequent and often extensive surface fires, but included occasional patches of severe fire. Although forest types varied within sites, historical fire regimes did not vary substantially among these types. Sensitivity analysis of the rule set used to distinguish cohorts inferred to follow high severity fire from gap-phase forest recruitment is essential in order to make assumptions about post-fire recovery explicit.Keywords: cohort recruitment, dendrochronology, Douglas-fir, fire history, fire regime, fire scars, fire severity, grand fir, ponderosa pine, sensitivity analysis, severe fire, surface fire, white fir
- O'Neil, L., Williams, E. C., & Falk, D. A. (2016, Spring). The response of tree growth to mixed severity prescribed fires in Bryce Canyon National Park. Southern Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (SARSEF). Tucson: SARSEF.More infoStudent poster for senior honors project, Tucson Magnet High School (M. Wilch, Instructor).
- Sheppard, B. S., O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., & Garfin, G. M. (2016, December). Modeling Climate Change Impacts on Landscape Evolution, Fire, and Hydrology (AGU Abstract #67659). American Geophysical Union, Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA: American Geophysical Union.
- Swetnam, T., Lynch, A., Falk, D. A., Yool, S. R., & Guertin, D. P. (2014, Fall). Discriminating Natural Variation from Legacies of Disturbance in Semi-Arid Forests, Southwestern USA. AGU Fall Meeting. San Francisco: AGU.
- Arizpe, A., & Falk, D. A. (2013, May). Fire History in Madrean Sky Islands. AmeriDendro: Second American Dendrochronology Conference. Tucson: Tree-Ring Society.
- Lynch, A. M., O'Connor, C. D., Swetnam, T. W., & Falk, D. A. (2013, March). Using dendrochronology to characterize forest insect outbreak regimes.. Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building Dedication and Public Open House. University of Arizona: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.More infoPoster presentation and laboratory presentations at the Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building Dedication and Public Open House, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, to approx. 1200 visitors.
- Conver, J. L., Falk, D. A., Parmenter, R., & Yool, S. R. (2011, April). Stochastic Fire Modeling of a Montane Grassland and Ponderosa Pine Fire Regime in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, USA.. Annual Meeting, Association of American Geographers. Seattle, WA: Association of American Geographers.
- Dewar, J. J., Falk, D. A., Allen, C. D., Parmenter, R., Swetnam, T. W., & Baisan, C. H. (2011, April). Fire History of Montane Grasslands and Ecotones of the Valles Caldera, New Mexico, USA.. Annual Meeting, Association of American Geographers,. Seattle, WA: Association of American Geographers.
- Marshall, L. A., Falk, D. A., & McDowell, N. (2011, April). Ecophysiological response of ponderosa pine to changes in fire regime and stand density.. Annual Meeting, Association of American Geographers. Seattle, WA: Association of American Geographers.
Reviews
- Falk, D. A. (2023. Reviews for multiple journals in 2023, including EcoSphere, Restoration Ecology, Atmospheres, and a book proposal for Springer.
- Falk, D. A. (2022. Stephen Pyne announces the Pyrocene: Review of To the Last Smoke, University of Arizona Press, 2020. (pp 153-154).
- van Mantgem, E., van Mantgem, P. J., Falk, D. A., & Keeley, J. E. (2020. Linking diverse terminology to vegetation type-conversion, a complex emergent property: Research Synthesis for Resource Managers.
- Falk, D. A. (2016. Review of Fire on Earth: An Introduction. AC Scott, DMJS Bowman, WJ Bond, SJ Pyne, and ME Alexander, Wiley Blackwell, 2014(pp 91: 76-77). Oxford, UK.
Case Studies
- Fule, M., Falk, D. A., & Elliot, M. (2023. Actionable Science: Measuring the effects of fire severity on forest resilience in the Santa Catalina Mountains(p. 4).
- Swetnam, T. L., & Falk, D. A. (2015. Fact Sheet: Carbon Cycling in Southwestern Forests: Reservoirs, Fluxes, and the Effects of Fire and Management(pp 1-2).
Others
- Garfin, G. M., Haverland, A. C., Falk, D. A., Jacobs, K. L., Weiss, J. L., Overpeck, J., O'Connor, C., Haworth, A., & Baglee, A. (2017, August). ERDP Project RC2232 User Guide. April 2017. Best Practices for Assessing Climate Related Risk and Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons Learned from DoD Installations in the Southwestern United States.. Strategic Environment and Research Development Program, SERDP.More infoThis user guide summarizes findings from SERDP project RC-2232: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation on Southwestern DoD Facilities and is offered as a collection of resources that DoD managers can use to plan and implement ongoing adaptation activities. Our research focused on assessment of climate related risk and the need for iterative climate change adaptation strategies that are aligned with DoD facilities management. Our overall guidance for climate decision-making is consistent with our original hypothesis—that best practices require direct engagement of installation personnel with researchers to identify current climate-related issues of concern, and connect them through cause-and-effect impact chains to amplified or attenuated future climate-related risks. We have identified an array of promising approaches for incorporating climate time-scale thinking and climate change considerations into DoD operational practices and provide an overview of techniques used to assess risk, a series of best practices, and a compilation of resources to support DoD climate-sensitive decision-making in this guidance document.
- Garfin, G. M., Falk, D. A., Jacobs, K. L., Weiss, J. L., Haverland, A. C., Baglee, A., Christopher, O., Brian, S., & Forrest, T. (2016, June). Selection of Climate Data, Global Climate Models, and Climate Projections. Prepared by the SERDP Project RC-2232 Team for the Strategic Environment Research and Development Program (SERDP).More infoThis paper, requested by Dr. John Hall, describes the choice of climate data, climate models, and vegetation, fire and hydrology process models used in SERDP Project RC-2232. The data and models were used (a) to inform the project team’s initial assessments of climate variability and change affecting the region, (b) to communicate historic and projected climate changes to personnel at installations in the southwestern United States, during climate adaptation planning workshops, and (c) as the basis for climate impact modeling studies focused on addressing specific concerns identified during the workshops. Data sources were selected, based on the following criteria: (a) authoritativeness, (b) ease of access, (c) fit with impact applications. Global climate models (GCMs) were selected on the basis of fidelity to the statistical characteristics of historical climatology, (b) availability and accessibility of climate projection data.
- co-authors, 1., Woodhouse, C. A., Trouet, V. M., Falk, D. A., Breshears, D. D., Evans, M. E., Wall, T., & MacDonald, G. (2021, October). A Consensus Report on Causes of California’s Changing Wildfires by Scientists of the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. Southwest Climate Adaptation Center (SWCASC).
- Falk, D. A., Guiterman, C. H., van Mantgem, P. J., Keeley, J. E., Keeley, J. E., van Mantgem, P. J., Guiterman, C. H., & Falk, D. A. (2020, March-December). Workshops organized: Observations and mechanisms of vegetation type conversion. USGS SW Climate Adaptation Science Center (https://www.usgs.gov/centers/climate-adaptation-science-centers/science/understanding-fire-caused-vegetation-type?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects). https://www.swfireconsortium.org/2020/08/17/vegetation-type-conversion-in-the-southwest-a-workshop-summary/
- Gregg, R. M., Guiterman, C. H., Marshall, L. A., & Falk, D. A. (2020, July). Vegetation type conversion in the Southwest: A workshop summary.. Southwest Fire Science Consortium, Flagstaff, AZ.. https://www.swfireconsortium.org/2020/08/17/vegetation-type-conversion-in-the-southwest-a-workshop-summary/
- Falk, D. A. (2019, December). Publication metrics.More infoPublication metrics (Google Scholar)2020 Citations 8.525 h-index 38 i10 index 832019 Citations 7,793 h-index 37 i10 index 72
- Garfin, G. M., Haverland, A. C., Falk, D. A., Jacobs, K. L., Weiss, J. L., Overpeck, J., O'Connor, C., Haworth, A., & Baglee, A. (2017, August). SERDP Project RC2232 User Guide. April 2017. Best Practices for Assessing Climate Related Risk and Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons Learned from DoD Installations in the Southwestern United States.. Strategic Environment and Research Development Program, SERDP.More infoThis user guide summarizes findings from SERDP project RC-2232: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation on Southwestern DoD Facilities and is offered as a collection of resources that DoD managers can use to plan and implement ongoing adaptation activities. Our research focused on assessment of climate related risk and the need for iterative climate change adaptation strategies that are aligned with DoD facilities management. Our overall guidance for climate decision-making is consistent with our original hypothesis—that best practices require direct engagement of installation personnel with researchers to identify current climate-related issues of concern, and connect them through cause-and-effect impact chains to amplified or attenuated future climate-related risks. We have identified an array of promising approaches for incorporating climate time-scale thinking and climate change considerations into DoD operational practices and provide an overview of techniques used to assess risk, a series of best practices, and a compilation of resources to support DoD climate-sensitive decision-making in this guidance document.
- Garfin, G. M., Falk, D. A., Jacobs, K., Haverland, A., Weiss, J. L., & O'Connor, C. D. (2017, Spring). Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation on Southwestern DoD Facilities. Final Report of Project RC-2232 to the US Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). US Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP).
- Garfin, G. M., Falk, D. A., Jacobs, K. L., Haverland, A. C., & Christopher, O. (2016, June). Response to 2016 In-Progress Review: Connecting Short-and-Long-Term Decisions for Climate and Fire Impacts. SERDP Project RC-2232 for the Strategic Environment Research and Development Program (SERDP).More infoThis white paper addresses the aforementioned requests, by explaining the methodologies used by the RC-2232 team, and by giving examples from our interactions with Department of Defense installations in the southwestern United States. From the team’s perspective, the issues raised in points (a) and (b), above, are related. Consequently, there is some redundancy in our responses. Also, for further details about the science and interactions described in our case studies, we have attached three reports related to our work on connecting near-term and long-term management decisions, through research on climate-fire connections related to the installations (O’Connor et al. 2015; 2016a; 2016b).
- Bradley, A., & Falk, D. A. (2013, November). Lead facilitator and moderator. Living with fire in northern New Mexico: Fire, forests, and communities. http://swfireconsortium.org/living-fire-northern-new-mexico-fire-forests-communities/
- O'Connor, C. D., Falk, D. A., Lynch, A. M., Wilcox, C. P., Swetnam, T. W., & Swetnam, T. L. (2013, Summer). Technical Report: Growth and Demography of Pinaleño High Elevation Forests. RJVA 07-JV-11221615317. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Ft. Collins, CO..
- Sheppard, P. R., & Falk, D. A. (2013, May). Conference Field Trip: The Santa Catalina ecological gradient. AmeriDendro: Second American Dendrochronology Conference.
- Mitchell, B., Walterman, M., Mellin, T., Wilcox, C. P., Lynch, A. M., Anhold, J., Falk, D. A., Koprowski, J., Laes, D., Evans, D., & Fisk, H. (2013, Summer). Technical Report:Mapping vegetation structure in the Pinaleño Mountains using LiDAR – Phase 3: forest inventory modeling. RSAC-10007-RPT1. 17 pp.. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Remote Sensing Applications Center. Salt Lake City, UT..
- Falk, D. A. (2011, April). Bridging restoration into the thinking of adaptation to climate change. Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE), Island Press. www.cakex.org/virtual-library/Don-Falk-InterviewMore infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2011, August). Burns, Re-burns, and Ecological Trajectories. CLIMAS/IE Press Briefing.More infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2011, December). Arizona Illustrated and Arizona Public Radio. KUAT, KUAZ. http://playpbs.azpm.org/video/2002459488More infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2011, February). Megafires May Change the Southwest Forever. Wired Magazine. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/06/megafire-ecology/More infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2011, June). How Fire Could Change the Face of the West. WIRED Magazine. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/western-fire-transformationMore infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2011, March). Lessons of the 2011 Fire Season. 2011 CLIMAS/IE Press Briefing.More infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2011, May). 2011 Interview with Zohra Yaqub. University of Arizona School of Journalism.More infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2011, September). Lessons Learned from the 2011 Fire Season. Arizona Weekly, KUAT.More infoExact Date: 12/31/2011
- Falk, D. A. (2010, Fall). MATRIX, SEA, JOIN.
- Falk, D. A., Cox, C., McKinnon, T., Rosenberg, E., Siderits, K., & Swetnam, T. W. (2010, Fall). Fire on the Landscape: Planning for Communities, Fire, and Forest Health. Technical Report of the Arizona Forest Health Advisory Council, Office of the Governor.
- Laes, D., Mellin, T., Wilcox, C. P., Anhold, J., Maus, P., Falk, D. A., Koprowski, J., Drake, S., Dale, S., Fisk, H., Joria, P., Lynch, A. M., & Alanen, M. (2009, Summer). Technical Report: Mapping vegetation structure in the Pinaleño Mountains using LiDAR. RSAC-0118-RPT1. 84 pp.. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Remote Sensing Applications Center. Salt Lake City, UT..