Geography: Utah

The 'Goldilocks Principle' applies to mountain pine beetle and climate change

A generation time of 1 year is the most successful strategy for mountain pine beetle, a notable tree killer in the western U.S. However, generations time is dictated by temperature, which is changing globally. Because locally evolved adaptations in mountain pine beetle have resulted in strict physiological requirements for temperature regimes at specific times of the year, population persistence will be dependent on temperature changes that are not too hot, but just right.

Headed uphill? Aridity limits lower treelines in much of the western U.S.

Many forests in dry mountain regions have a lower elevational treeline that constitutes the dry edge of the forest belt.  Lower treelines currently at their climate limit are expected to be more sensitive to changing climate. Lower treelines constrained by non-climatic factors are less likely to respond directly to climate change but may be sensitive to other global change agents. Understanding the controls on the position of lower treeline can help managers anticipate forest shifts in response to climate change and prioritize vegetation treatments.

Increasing use of prescribed fire: Barriers and opportunities

Prescribed fire is an important tool for increasing the resilience of fire-dependent ecosystems and for reducing overall wildfire risk, but it is not being applied at the necessary or desired levels. We investigated barriers and strategies for facilitating prescribed fire application on USFS and BLM lands across the western United States.