USGS: Biology arrow iconStatus & Trends Home arrow iconIssues arrow iconFire+Shrubland/Steppe
Have a suggestion for new material?


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

Human Influence on California Fire Regimes

Periodic wildfire maintains the integrity and species composition of many ecosystems, including the Mediterranean-climate shrublands of California. However, human activities alter natural fire regimes, which can lead to cascading ecological effects. Increased human ignitions at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) have recently gained attention, but More...

  • blank image

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...

  • blank image

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...

  • blank image

Effectiveness of Postfire Seeding to Reduce Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) Growth and Reproduction in Recently Burned Sagebrush Steppe

This web resource addresses the positive relationship between cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and fire frequency as a major concern for land managers in semi-arid shrublands throughout western North America, particularly in Great Basin sagebrush steppe. Management tools are needed to break this cycle, and in this project we will evaluate the use of More...

  • blank image

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Fire and Nonnative Invasive Plants

Where nonnative plant species have invaded wildlands or have potential to invade, fire may influence their abundance and the effects of the nonnative species on native plant communities. USGS scientists and colleagues have contributed chapters to a volume that synthesizes scientific information regarding wildland fire and nonnative invasive plant More...

  • blank image

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...

  • blank image

Fire Ecology Research

Fire Ecology Research is conducted in the Sierra Nevada forests, California shrublands, and the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Information obtained from these studies will lower the risk to human life and property, and help safeguard the stability and diversity of Pacific Southwest ecosystems. Wildland fires are an important ecosystem process More...

  • A high-intensity chaparral fire in California