You are here

Home / Geography / Southwestern Region (R3)

Geography: Southwestern Region (R3)

New Research Provides Insights About One of the West’s Most Rapidly Declining Birds

FS News Posted on: February 19, 2021
FORT COLLINS, Colo., Feb 19, 2021–New research recently published in the journal PLOS ONE offers clues about why one of the West’s most unique and iconic songbirds has lost over 80 percent of its population during the last half-century. “Pinyon Jay declines are a real biological mystery, especially since scientists know that the pinyon-juniper woodlands where this bird lives have been expanding for many decades,” said co-author Elisabeth Ammon of the Great Basin Bird Observatory.  “There’s never been an obvious explanation for why their numbers are dropping so fast.”

A través del humo: Búhos moteados, incendios forestales, y restauración forestal

Documents and Media Posted on: February 09, 2021
 En el suroeste, los científicos y los administradores están trabajando juntos para encontrar formas de reducir el riesgo de futuros mega fuegos y al mismo tiempo mantener el hábitat crítico de anidación. Document Type: Other Documents

Area burned at high severity is increasing in western U.S. forests

Science Spotlights Posted on: January 19, 2021
Increases in burned area across the western United States since the mid-1980s have been widely documented and linked partially to climate factors, yet evaluations of trends in fire severity are lacking. We documented an overall eight-fold increase in annual area burned at high severity across all western U.S. forests from 1985-2017 coincident with a warming climate.

MSO 101: A synthesis of the ecology of the Mexican spotted owl keeps on giving

Documents and Media Posted on: December 08, 2020
Recent research adds to the existing knowledge with improved understanding about owl demography and ecology, spatial distribution and connectivity of owl habitat, wildfire trends in owl habitat, and regional differences in ecology.  Document Type: Other Documents

FireCLIME VA: A New Fire and Climate Vulnerability Assessment Tool for the U.S. Southwest

Documents and Media Posted on: December 08, 2020
The FireCLIME VA tool is a new resource that allows land managers to compare management strategies under various climate scenarios and to gauge the potential effectiveness of those strategies for reducing undesirable impacts of climate on wildfire regimes and resulting impacts of wildfire on natural ecosystems.  Document Type: Other Documents

POSTPONED: Tree regeneration following wildfires in ponderosa pine forests

Events Posted on: December 07, 2020
In this webinar, Paula Fornwalt will discuss a recent project that examined post-fire tree regeneration in ponderosa pine forests of Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

Dirt goes downhill: Are we making better post-wildfire erosion control treatment decisions?

Events Posted on: December 07, 2020
In this webinar, Pete Robichaud discussed soil erosion prediction tools to allow for better post-fire land management decision-making.

Location, Location, Location. Scale, Scale, Scale: Mexican Spotted Owl Habitat

Documents and Media Posted on: December 05, 2020
Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists use modeling to help untangle the layers of complexity among these relationships in order to gain insights about the Mexican spotted owl that would be impossible to obtain otherwise.  Document Type: Other Documents

Through the Smoke: Spotted Owls, Wildfire, and Forest Restoration

Documents and Media Posted on: December 05, 2020
In the Southwest, scientists and managers are working together to find ways to reduce the risk of future megafires while also maintaining critical nesting habitat for Mexican spotted owls.  Document Type: Other Documents

Co-Managing Wildfire Risk Across Boundaries (CoMFRT)

Events Posted on: December 03, 2020
In this webinar, Dan William and Mo Essen discussed the Co-Management of Wildfire Risk Transmission Partnership (CoMFRT) partnership.  

Pages