Angela M. White

Davis, CA 95618
United States
My current research is focused on providing data and decision-making support to help manage our National Forests to meet multi-use objectives. I oversee several projects at various sites across the Sierra Nevada investigating the short and long-term impacts of different forest management practices on wildlife communities and populations. This includes analyzing data collected on habitat characteristics and wildlife using Before-After-Control-Impact studies, closed and open population models and trend analysis. Part of my research entails using applied quantitative research to build multi-species occupancy models to assist managers in understanding the impact of their management actions and the uncertainties in species' persistence in the face of climate change.
I also participate in several multi-disciplinary teams investigating the impact of forest management projects on ecosystem function in the Sierra Nevada. These groups include the Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project (SNAMP), a joint venture by the University of California, government agencies and the public and a multi-institutional project funded by the California Energy Commission investigating the sustainability of biomass fuel production. These teams include managers from state and federal agencies, soil scientists, hydrologists, fire ecologists, wildlife biologists and social scientists.
My professional career has included work nationally and internationally and I have had wide exposure to the challenges and complexities associated with the management of natural resources at the species, landscape and socio-political levels. I have worked within a wide range of biodiversity management themes including the management of populations of threatened and endangered species and habitats, and the restoration and maintenance of forested ecosystems. I have worked in biologically diverse, fragmented landscapes that require intensive management interventions necessary to maintain or improve the state of biodiversity.
As a result of past practices, many of the dry coniferous forests of the western United States contain dense, even-aged stands with uncharacteristically high levels of litter and downed woody debris. These changes to the forest have received considerable attention as they elevate concerns regarding the outcomes of wildland fires. However, attempts to reduce biomass through fuel reduction treatments (i.e. thinning of trees) are often opposed by public interest groups whose objectives include maintaining habitat for species of concern such as the spotted owl, the northern goshawk and the Pacific fisher. Whether protection of these upper-trophic level species confers adequate conservation of forest diversity is debated.
Biodiversity is integral to ecosystem functioning and the services that are essential for human well-being. Although the importance of biodiversity is recognized and mandated on federal lands, it remains one of the key challenges of land stewardship. My research focuses on the use of coarse-filter approaches to help understand the landscape-level impacts of different forest management practices on bird and small mammal communities. Currently forest management typically occurs at the stand-level where the movement of individuals of many bird and small mammal species are typically confined. This allows for stronger inferences regarding the impact of different treatments on species' occurrences, densities and viabilities. Birds and small mammals are an important component of ecosystem integrity as they perform a diverse array of ecosystem services including seed dispersal, control of invertebate pests, pollination and nutrient cycling, and are the primary prey for upper trophic level species of special status.
- University of Nevada, Reno, Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, 2008
- San Diego State University, M.S., Ecology, 2001
- University of California, San Diego, B.S., Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, 1997
- Culhane, Kathryn ; Sollmann, Rahel ; White, Angela M.; Tarbill, Gina L.; Cooper, Scott D.; Young, Hillary S.. 2022. Small mammal responses to fire severity mediated by vegetation characteristics and species traits
- Low, Kathryn E.; Collins, Brandon M.; Bernal, Alexis ; Sanders, John E.; Pastor, Dylan ; Manley, Patricia ; White, Angela M.; Stephens, Scott L.. 2021. Longer-term impacts of fuel reduction treatments on forest structure, fuels, and drought resistance in the Lake Tahoe Basin
- Meyer, Marc D.; Long, Jonathan W.; Safford, Hugh D.; Sawyer, Sarah C.; North, Malcolm P.; White, Angela M.. 2021. Principles of postfire restoration
- Merriam, Kyle E.; Coppoletta, Michelle ; White, Angela M.; Collins, Brandon M.; Gross, Shana E.. 2021. Postfire restoration framework
- Estes, Becky L.; Gross, Shana E.; Molinari, Nicole A.; White, Angela M.; Conway, Scott ; Walsh, Dana ; Isbell, Clint ; Young, Dave. 2021. Data gathering and analysis
- Mirts, Haley ; McLaughlin, John ; Weller, Theodore ; White, Angela ; Young, Hillary ; Sollmann, Rahel. 2021. Bats in the megafire: assessing species’ site use in a postfire landscape in the Sierra Nevada
- Ray, Chris ; Cluck, Daniel R.; Wilkerson, Robert L.; Siegel, Rodney B.; White, Angela M.; Tarbill, Gina L.; Sawyer, Sarah C.; Howell, Christine A.. 2020. Chapter 9 - Woodboring beetle colonization of conifers killed by fire and bark beetles: implications for forest restoration and black-backed woodpecker conservation
- White, Angela M.; Long, Jonathan W.. 2019. Understanding ecological contexts for active reforestation following wildfires
- Ray, Chris ; Cluck, Daniel R.; Wilkerson, Robert L.; Siegel, Rodney B.; White, Angela M.; Tarbill, Gina L.; Sawyer, Sarah C.; Howell, Christine A.. 2019. Patterns of woodboring beetle activity following fires and bark beetle outbreaks in montane forests of California, USA
- White, Angela M.; Tarbill, Gina L.; Wilkerson, Robert L.; Siegel, Rodney B.. 2019. Few detections of Black-backed Woodpeckers (<em>Picoides arcticus</em>) in extreme wildfires in the Sierra Nevada
- Tarbill, Gina L.; White, Angela M.; Manley, Patricia N.. 2018. The persistence of Black-backed Woodpeckers following delayed salvage logging in the Sierra Nevada
- North, Malcolm P.; Kane, Jonathan T.; Kane, Van R.; Asner, Gregory P.; Berigan, William; Churchill, Derek J.; Conway, Scott; Gutiérrez, R.J.; Jeronimo, Sean; Keane, John; Koltunov, Alexander; Mark, Tina; Moskal, Monika; Munton, Thomas; Peery, Zachary; Ramirez, Carlos; Sollmann, Rahel; White, Angela; Whitmore, Sheila. 2017. Cover of tall trees best predicts California spotted owl habitat
- Shive, Kristen L.; Estes, Becky L.; White, Angela M.; Safford, Hugh D.; O'Hara, Kevin L.; Stephens, Scott L.. 2017. Rice straw mulch for post-fire erosion control: assessing non-target effects on vegetation communities
- Cameron, Elissa Z.; White, Angela M.; Gray, Meeghan E.. 2016. Solving the productivity and impact puzzle: Do men outperform women, or are metrics biased?
- White, Angela; Manley, Patricia; Tarbill, Gina; Richardson, T. W.; Russell, R. E.; Safford, H. D.; Dobrowski, S. Z.. 2016. Avian community responses to post-fire forest structure: implications for fire management in mixed conifer forests
- Sollmann, R.; White, Angela; Tarbill, Gina; Manley, Patricia; Knapp, Eric E.. 2016. Landscape heterogeneity compensates for fuel reduction treatment effects on Northern flying squirrel populations
- Stevens, Jens T.; Collins, Brandon M.; Long, Jonathan W.; North, Malcolm P.; Prichard, Susan J.; Tarnay, Leland W.; White, Angela M.. 2016. Evaluating potential trade-offs among fuel treatment strategies in mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada
- Frare, Christina F.; Matocq, Marjorie D.; Feldman, Chris R.; White, Angela M.; Manley, Patricia N.; Jermstad, Kathleen D.; Hekkala, Evon R.. 2016. Landscape disturbance and sporadic hybridization complicate field identification of chipmunks
- Kelt, Douglas A.; Sollmann, Rahel; White, Angela M.; Roberts, Susan L.; Van Vuren, Dirk H.. 2016. Diversity of small mammals in the Sierra Nevada: Filtering by natural selection or by anthropogenic activities?
- Tarbill, Gina L.; Manley, Patricia N.; White, Angela M.. 2015. Drill, baby, drill: the influence of woodpeckers on post-fire vertebrate communities through cavity excavation
- Sollmann, Rahel; White, Angela M.; Gardner, Beth; Manley, Patricia N.. 2015. Investigating the effects of forest structure on the small mammal community in frequent-fire coniferous forests using capture-recapture models for stratified populations
- Cameron, Elissa Z.; Edwards, Amy M.; White, Angela M.. 2014. Halt self-citation in impact measures
- White, Angela M.; Zipkin, Elise F.; Manley, Patricia N.; Schlesinger, Matthew D.. 2013. Conservation of avian diversity in the Sierra Nevada: Moving beyond a single-species management focus
- White, Angela M.; Zipkin, Elise F.; Manley, Patricia N.; Schlesinger, Matthew D.. 2013. Simulating avian species and foraging group responses to fuel reduction treatments in coniferous forests

Solving the Productivity and Impact Puzzle: Do Men Outperform Women? Or are Metrics Biased?
