Pacific Southwest Research Station

Science on climate variability and change at PSW focuses on understanding historic and ongoing climate and climate mechanisms through proxies such as tree-rings pollen in lake sediments, and forest structural analysis, and on determining short-term climate and weather in relation to wildfire.

Ongoing Research:

• Climate and Landscape Change Contact: Connie Millar, cmillar@fs.fed.us

Climate has a profound influence in shaping the environment, natural resources, the economy, and other aspects of life throughout the world. How present climate changes will effect the environment is of central concern. In order to assess present climate changes it is necessary to have an idea of the historic patterns of climate. Research at PSW's Sierra Nevada Research Center is focused on determining historic climate patterns by looking at tree-ring records of living and ancient wood. Present climate can be compared to these historic patterns to show present climate changes. By looking at past climate variability and the resulting changes in vegetation patterns on the landscape, a picture of how ecosystems have been influenced by past climate emerges.

• Regional Climate Variability and High-Elevation Forest Response Over the Past 4000 Years
• Medieval Forests, Volcanism, and Response to Climate
• Rock Glaciers and Periglacial Rock-Ice Features in the Sierra Nevada


• Models for Forecasting Climate Effects


• Fire Weather Forecasts Contact Francis Fujioka, ffujioka@fs.fed.us

Fire and resource managers today must attempt to consider an array of resource, environmental, social, political, economic, and fire behavior parameters when making fire management decisions. Through the use of technology such as geographic information systems, expert systems, risk analysis, and modeling, we will look at ways to improve the availability and usefulness of complex data to decision makers.

• Forest Disturbance Forecasts Contact Haiganoush Preisler, hpreisler@fs.fed.us

  We are developing statistical models to quantify, assess and forecast effects of climate change variables on wildland fires, insects, and diseases.

  • Effects of Climate Change on Wildfires This study is in collaboration with UC Merced School of Environmental Engineering and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.


• Disturbance Processes Contact Carl Skinner,

Our research goal is to provide managers with flexible fuel management guidelines to protect forest health and enhance sustainability both under existing conditions and in the event of climate change. Relationships of climate, past fires, and forest dynamics are developed from tree rings, lake sediments, and written historical records. Fuel treatment effectiveness and fire effects on ecosystem components are studied through carefully designed experiments that compare a suite of treatment options.


• Rainfall Gage Data - Redwood Sciences Lab in Arcata, CA.

Research is conducted by:

• Sierra Nevada Research Center (RWU-4202)
• Ecology and Management of Western Forests Influenced by Mediterranean Climate (RWU-4155)
• Wildland Fire Management Research, Development, and Application (RWU-4402)