Grassland, Shrubland and Desert
Ecosystem Research Program
Nancy Shaw, Research Botanist
email: nshaw [at] fs.fed.us
phone: (208) 373-4360
fax: (208) 373-4391
Education
B.S., Zoology, Albertson College of Idaho
M.S., Botany, Idaho State University
Ph.D., Crop Science (Seed physiology and technology), Oregon State
University
Research Interests
My primary research interests are in the impacts of invasive species and
changing fire regimes on vegetation of the Great Basin, particularly sagebrush
ecosystems, and the development and use of native plant materials for revegetating disturbed sites in this region. I work with collaborators and
students in the Great Basin and surrounding states. An important facet of our
work is with private sector seed growers.
Our invasive species research in Boise focuses on the ecology, population
dynamics, and genetics of rush skeletonweed, an invasive exotic perennial
invading disturbed plant communities of the northern Great Basin. We are
examining its distribution, ecology, response to fire, and effects on fuel
loading. Funding for this research is provided, in part, by the Joint Fire
Sciences Program project "Changing Fire Regimes, Increased Fuel Loads, and
Invasive Species: Effects on Sagebrush Steppe and Pinyon-Juniper Ecosystems" and
National Fire Plan Project "Impacts of Exotic Weeds on Fuel Loading and Fire
Regimes."
To increase seed supplies of native species, particularly forbs, and the
technology for their use to revegetate burned areas and degraded rangelands in
the Great Basin, I coordinate a collaborative research project between the USDI
BLM Great Basin Restoration Initiative, the Shrubland Biology and Restoration
Project and 10 major cooperators. Objectives of this group, the Great Basin
Native Plant Selection and Increase Project, are to (1) increase the supply of
native plant materials, particularly native forbs, available for restoration;
(2) manage or restore seed sources on wildlands and develop technology to
improve the diversity of introduced grass seedings; and (3) provide technology
transfer. My research for this project focuses on several native forbs of the
Great Basin.
Current Research Projects
Invasive Species
Native Species
|
Lomatium dissectum, L. grayi, L. triternatum Penstemon acuminatus, P. deustus,
P. speciosus
Eriogonum umbellatum |
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