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Matt C. Reeves

Matt C. Reeves
Research Ecologist
Rocky Mountain Research Station
Human Dimensions
800 East Beckwith Avenue
Missoula, MT 59801-5801
United States
Phone
406-546-5875
Email
Current Research

I am a Research Ecologist with the Human Dimensions Program at Rocky Mountain Research Station. I specialize in use of remote sensing and GIS to facilitate evaluation of contemporary issues facing US rangelands. I am keenly interested in facilitating management and administration of our Nations’ rangelands and am pursuing numerous efforts to partner with the National Forest System to improve the quality and usefulness of Forest Plan Revisions. An example of spatially explicit information describing rangeland trends can be found at: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2017-0004. My research portfolio spans 4 themes:

  • Climate Change
  • Decision Support Tools
  • Inventory and Monitoring
  • Threat Assessment

    • I am the Forest Service liaison to the Northern Plains Regional Climate Hub, and I serve on the Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (http://sustainablerangelands.org/) while being a member of the Resources Planning Act (RPA) scientist cadre.

    Reeves, Matthew C.; Krebs, Michael; Leinwand, Ian; Theobald, David M.; Mitchell, John E. 2018. Rangelands on the Edge: Quantifying the modification, fragmentation, and future residential development of U.S. rangelands. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-382. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 31 p.

    Reeves, Matt C.; Manning, Mary E.; DiBenedetto, Jeff P.; Palmquist, Kyle A.; Lauenroth, William K.; Bradford, John B.; Schlaepfer, Daniel R. 2018. Effects of climate change on rangeland vegetation in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 7]. In: Halofsky, Jessica E.; Peterson, David L.; Dante-Wood, S. Karen; Hoang, Linh; Ho, Joanne J.; Joyce, Linda A., eds. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Northern Rocky Mountains [Part 2]. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-374. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 275-316.

    Reeves, Matthew Clark; Bagne, Karen E.; Tanaka, John. 2017. Potential climate change impacts on four biophysical indicators of cattle production from western US rangelands. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 70(5): 529-539.

    Past Research

    My past research has been diverse ranging from evaluating big game habitat and creating vegetation classifications in southwestern ecosystems to mapping wildland fuels for the coterminous US. I have developed a significant number of geospatial models and quantitative prediction systems using remote sensing as a primary driver.

    Research Interest

    I focus on developing novel rangeland analysis tools aimed at helping managers and regional stakeholders to make more cost effective and efficacious management decisions. The latest of these is the Rangeland Production Monitoring Service (RPMS) offering both retrospective analysis and in season projections of fuel and forage.

    These weekly fuel and forage projections can be viewed and downloaded here:

    Rangeland Fuel and Forage Projections (Please note that an ArcGIS login is required)

    Fire and fuel professionals now have unprecedented data to support weekly fire behavior projections while range managers can more effectively communicate forage expectations with stakeholders. This new service provides analysis across US rangelands for managers, producers and all stakeholders.  In addition, I am focused on climate change effects on rangelands and livestock; Development of simulation models for understanding effects of management and climate on vegetation performance and subsequent fuelbed properties; and use of remote sensing for wide area and inter-annual quantification of fuels on US rangelands and Inventory and monitoring of US rangelands.

     

    Reeves, Matt; Frid, Leonardo. 2016. The Rangeland Vegetation Simulator: A user-driven system for quantifying production, succession, disturbance and fuels in non-forest environments. In: Iwaasa, Alan; Lardner, H. A. (Bart); Schellenberg, Mike; Willms, Walter; Larson, Kathy, eds. Proceedings of the 10th International Rangelands Congress: The Future Management of Grazing and Wild Lands in a High-Tech World; 16-22 July, 2016; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The International Rangeland Congress. p. 1062-1063.

    Reeves, Matthew C.; Ryan, Kevin C.; Rollins, Matthew G.; Thompson, Thomas G. 2009. Spatial fuel data products of the LANDFIRE Project. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 18: 250-267.

    Reeves, Matthew C.; Bagget, L. Scott. 2014. A remote sensing protocol for identifying rangelands with degraded productive capacity. Ecological Indicators. 43: 172-182.

    Why This Research Is Important

    Budgets for land management activities are shrinking while escalating wildfire costs make future prioritization of projects increasingly more important. There is a paucity of decision support tools and quantitative models aimed at improving and predicting management outcomes, or climatic change. The great uncertainty regarding probable management efficacy (especially when complicated by greater climatic uncertainty), large loss of resources from wildfires, and increasing emphasis on key species such as sage grouse obviate the need for more timely, accurate and useful spatially explicit information. My research is helping improve this situation and I have developed ecological simulation and mapping protocols for understanding climatic change and management effects on rangeland ecosystems.

    Education
    • Washington State University, B.S., Rangeland Management, 1995
    • Arizona State University, M.S., Environmental Resources, 1999
    • University of Montana, Ph.D., Remote Sensing and Ecological Modeling, 2004
    Professional Experience
    • Research Ecologist,  US Forest Service,  2009 - Current
      I am a Research Ecologist specializing in rangelands
    • Instructor for Principles of Rangeland Management ,  University of Montana,  2012 - 2012
      I taught Principles of Rangeland Management in Fall Semester of 2012. I led students on 5 field trips evaluating rangeland health, elk habitat, monitoring techniques and ecological sites.
    • Fuels Team Leader for the LANDFIRE Project,  US Forest Service,  2004 - 2009
      I was the lead spatial analyst and team leader for the LANDFIRE project
    • Consultant for rangeland wildlife habitats,  Self ,  1995 - 1996
      I was a consultant who worked to providing habitat assessments for elk, mule deer and lekking birds in in rangelanlds.
    Professional Organizations
    • Adjunct Faculty,  University of Montana,  2012 - Current
      Adjunct professor, sponsoring students, joint ventures and lecturer
    • Board Member,  Society for Range Management,  2002 - Current
      Event organizer and active member on GIS and Remote Sensing and Inventory and Monitoring Committees
    Awards & Recognition
    • Certificate of Merit for scientific leadership of the rangeland component for the RPA Assessment, 2011
      Certificate of Merit for scientific leadership of the rangeland component for the USDA FS 2010 RPA Assessment Report from Tom Tidwell, chief of the US Forest Service
    • Meritorious award for completion of LANDFIRE project awarded by Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, 2009
      Meritorious award for completion of LANDFIRE project awarded by Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory
    • Meritorious award for completion of LANDFIRE project awarded by Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, 2009
      Meritorious award for completion of LANDFIRE project awarded by Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory
    • Award for outstanding service awarded by US Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management. , 2005
      Award for outstanding service awarded by US Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management.
    • Outstanding Graduate Student, 1999
      I was voted the outstanding graduate student at Arizona State Univeristy in the Department of Architecture and Environmental Design
    • Outstanding Range Management Senior, 1995
      I was voted the outstanding senior at Washington State Univeristy
    Other Publications

    Data and Tools

    • Asymmetric phenological changes projected for U.S. rangelands

      Year: 2023
      Growing seasons on U.S. rangelands are projected to decrease substantially by mid-to-late century.

    • New RMRS product improves national response to drought

      Year: 2022
      The epic droughts of 2018 in the southwestern U.S. devastated landscapes and economies. The Rangeland Production Monitoring System was used to help the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the USDA Farm Service Agency identify the areas most affected by drought and seek emergency funding to facilitate reseeding efforts.

    • Wetter environment and increased grazing reduced the area burned in northern Eurasia

      Year: 2021
      Grassland fires dominated the declining trend of burned areas in northern Eurasia, accounting for 93 % of the decline of the total area burned. Grassland fires in Kazakhstan contributed 47 % of the total area burned and 84% of the decline. Wetter climate and increased grazing are the principle driving forces for the decline.

    • New Products Improve National Response to Drought on Rangelands

      Year: 2020
      The epic droughts of 2018 in the Southwestern U.S. devastated landscapes and economies alike. The Rangeland Production Monitoring Service was used to help the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency identify the most affected areas and seek emergency funding to facilitate re-seeding efforts. 

    • A global look at trees and forest in drylands

      Year: 2020
      Drylands cover 41 percent of the earth’s surface and are home to nearly 2 billion people. Despite lacking water, they are vital, productive landscapes providing food, fiber, and habitat that people and animals depend on to survive. RMRS scientists contributed expertise on North American drylands to the groundbreaking Food and Agriculture Organization publication Trees, forests and land use in drylands: the first global assessment. This first-of-...

    • Using FIA Data to Predict Forest Understory Vegetation Structure

      Year: 2019
      Understanding the structure of understory vegetation in forests is critical for estimating carbon stocks, fuel loading, and assessing wildlife habit. Using nationally collected inventory data shows promise in providing better estimates and assessments in these areas over large geographical regions.

    • Predicting the effects of climate change on cattle production in western U.S. rangelands

      Year: 2018
      Forage availability for grazing animals has always been vulnerable to the effects of variations of weather and climate from year–to–year, with some years and decades markedly drier than others.  For example, the Northern Great Plains recently experienced the worst drought in 30 years by some measures, causing ranchers to run out of grass and water for their animals and forcing adjustments to herd sizes, which can have longer–term economic consequences. It is unclear how climate change will impact the western cattle industry—are grazing conditions likely to get worse, better, or stay the same? 

    • Rangeland Drought: Effects and Adaptation Strategies

      Year: 2016
      There is a critical need to understand how drought affects rangelands because drought severity and drought-associated disturbances are expected to increase with climatic change.
    https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/about/people/mreeves