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Ecological Foundations for Fire Management in North American Forest and Shrubland Ecosystems

Fire occurs in many North American ecosystems, and most of these systems are resilient to fires that occur within a broad range of variability in frequency and intensity. In a recent USFS publication (General Technical Report PNW-GTR-779, ), USGS scientist Jon Keeley led a team of scientists from various agencies and academic institutions in More...

  • cover, USFS General Technical Report PNW-GTR-779

Southwest Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse

The Internet Map Server (IMS) visually displays the non-native, invasive plants (weed) occurrences in the current (2003) SWEMP database. An IMS allows you to interactively draw, query, and print maps. The SWEMP IMS was developed from ESRI's ArcIMS presentation product.The Southwest Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse is a cooperative effort More...

  • SWEMP IMS Screenshot, United States Map

Conservation Genetics: Plants

This web page presents samples of genetics and genomics research from the USGS Biological Resources Discipline about the conservation genetics of plants.

  • John A. Young sampling American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) for genetic analysis.

Influence of Timber Harvest and Floods on the Distribution of Exotic Riparian Plants

Riparian vegetation is intimately linked to the stream and river channels along which it grows. This project addresses the status of the riparian zone along Redwood Creek north coastal California, and answers three questions: 1) How have the overstory riparian conditions changed in Redwood Creek and major tributaries since the advent of timber More...

  • Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) colonizes bare ground areas

Fire and Invasive Annual Grasses in Western Ecosystem

This resource provides an overview of the research on ways to prevent invasive annual grass invasions and restore invaded habitats, which has independently and repeatedly been identified by all land management agencies as a top national research priority. Annual grasses have invaded a number of shrub and forest ecosystems in western North America More...

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Impact of Fire and Grazing on Diversity and Invasion in Sierran Forests

USGS scientists are conducting research through the Joint Fire Science Program to determine if fire contributes most to plant invasion in low-nutrient soils by making available increased nutrients that invasive grasses may exploit more effectively than native flora. Soil nutrient changes can vary widely depending on soil properties and the amount More...

  • Photo of Ponderosa pine forest fire with cheatgrass-dominated understory being managed

Wildfire and Invasive Plants

The severity of wildfires in recent years has increased public awareness and concern about a fuel build-up in western U.S. forests. Federal land management agencies are responding by greatly expanding programs to reduce hazardous fuels, but little is know about the efficacy of fuel treatments for mitigating wildfire severity or the influence of More...

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National Resources Monitoring Partnership (NRMP)

Natural resource managers face complex decisions that require a clear understanding of the status of wildlife populations and their habitats. Monitoring is key to making effective management decisions and evaluating the outcomes of those decisions. The goal of NRMP is to improve the accessibility of monitoring efforts to resource managers to aid More...

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National Resources Monitoring Partnership (NRMP) Newsletter

Natural Resource Monitoring Partnership (NRMP) is a collaborative effort by the natural resource management community to improve monitoring efforts in order to support effective evaluation and decision-making by sharing information on monitoring projects and protocols. The Natural Resource Monitoring Partnership was built for easy access to More...

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Fire and Research Management Exchange System (FRAMES)

The Fire Research And Management Exchange System or FRAMES is a systematic method of exchanging information and transferring technology between wildland fire researchers, managers, and other stakeholders. In partnership with the US Geological Survey's National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Program, FRAMES is implementing web-based More...

  • Image of forest fire