About

QuantitativeEcology is a Research Lab in the School of Forestry and the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University. We focuses on the application of advanced mathematical, computational, technological and statistical tools to any number of problems spanning from modeling population dynamics to devleoping "big data" solutions and algorithims to imporviing our understanding of spatial patterns and species interactions. Quantitative ecologists often apply some combination of deterministic and/or stochastic mathematical models to theoretical ecological questions and commonly depend on sophisticated methods in applied statistics, mathematics and computer science.

Our research aim is to exploit the potential of information found in increasingly larger and more complex data sets using mathematical equations, conceptual graphics, and model development. While quantitative ecology can deepen our understanding of the world, the field commonly requires strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills. QuantitativeEcology is committed to developing scientists with these skills and collaborating with other researchers and organizations devoted to quantitative analyses and rigor, open enquiry, and enhancing our understanding of ecological systems.

People

Andrew Sanchez Meador - P.I. (Hometown: Brandon, MS)

Dr. Sánchez Meador is the Executive Director of the Ecological Restoration Institute and a Professor of Forest Biometrics and Quantitative Ecology in the School of Forestry at Northern Arizona University. His research program focuses primarily on quantitative forest ecology, spatial pattern-process interactions, applied remote sensing, forest biometrics, vegetation dynamics and modeling and ecological restoration. His current research and teaching interests range from multi-scale forest restoration and ecology issues, to practical interpretations of large complex data sets, to neighborhood effects on individual tree growth and stand patterning, to new ways of visualizing data for science communication.

Jill Beckmann - Ph.D. (Hometown: Centerville, OH)

Jill's research focuses on understanding neighborhood- or fine-scale spatial patterning, forest successional trajectories following treatments, and the role of plant interactions and climate on individual tree growth, mortality and ecological processes.

Aidan Franko - M.F. (Hometown: Denver, CO)

Aidan’s professional paper will focus a needs assessment for the Wood For Life program, a partnership including the Ecological Restoration Institute, the National Forest Foundation, the USDA Forest Service, and tribal communities that benefits forests by turning small trees cut down to reduce wildfire danger into fuelwood and getting it to those who need it.

Tristan O'Mara - Ph.D. (Hometown: Seattle, WA)

Tristan's reserach will center around a Salt River Project-funded project to develop a Strategic Prioritization And Restoration toolKIT (SPARKit) for forest and woodlands of north-central Arizona. She is wokring with stakeholders to collaboratively scope and compile information (e.g., public perspectives, stakeholder values at risk, previous and current prioritization efforts and resource assessments) that will be necessary for SPARKit, which can then in turn be used to facilitate sequencing of treatments among and within watersheds across the forest and woodlands of a pilot landscape in north-central Arizona. Tristan's work provides the foundation to meet public land management goals of 1) effectively changing fire behavior and mitigating wildifre effects, and 2) improving the overall resilience of regional landscapes.

Mady Litzenberger - M.Sc. (Hometown: Tyler, TX)

Mady's project, undertaken in the Priest River Experimental Forest of northern Idaho, explores the use of the free-selection silvicultural system to enhance resilience in northern Rockies mixed conifer forests. Initiated in 2006, it aims to reintroduce shade-intolerant tree species, particularly affected by the invasion of white pine blister rust since the early 1900s, and assess the impact of canopy openness and site preparation on their regeneration and survival. Collaborating with the United States Forest Service, the study spans 80 hectares, integrating 16 experimental strata across various canopy openness classes and site preparation methods to understand conditions fostering forest resilience and the survival of these species.

Alumni

Ryan Blackburn - Ph.D.
Merideth Reiser - M.Sc.
John Pelak - M.Sc.
Jonathon Donager - Postdoctoral Scholar
Caden Chamberlian - B.S., Hooper UG Researcher
Matt Jaquette - M.Sc.
Lucas Molina – M.Sc.
Dany Rochimi – M.Sc.
Marguerite Rapp – M.Sc.
Sushil Nepal – M.Sc.
Tim Bryant – M.Sc.
Michael O’Reilly – B.S., Hooper UG Researcher
Kyle Rodman – M.Sc.
Michael Johnson – M.Sc.
Karin Kralicek – Lab Assistant
Greg Black – B.S., Hooper UG Researcher

Projects

QuantitativeEcology develops research projects centered on quantifying how natural and anthropogenic disturbances shape forested ecosystems and the application of novel quantitative approaches to answer questions regarding these ecosystems. Our research interests include applied statistics, restoration ecology, ecosystem pattern-process interactions, vegetation demographics and dynamics, exploring factors influencing the economics of fire suppression and treatment costs, and emerging technology – specifically mobile devices and sensors, open-source hardware, and unmanned aerial systems.

In general, we adopt an open approach to quantitative investigations, working from exploratory data analyses to mathematical-based analytics. Quantitative analyses are, thus, treated more like a proper language than tools and we use this language to enhance our understating of ecological systems. QuantitativeEcology is a flexible and resilient research lab, open to collaborations with federal and state land management agencies, private institutions, NGOs, other universities, and private companies.

Example Research Areas...

Ecological Restoration, Forest Dynamics and Spatial Pattern-Forest Process Interaction

Assisting disturbance regimes and forest structure, composition and function towards desired conditions is a central tenant for ecological restoration and a primary objective for federal land management. While it is well accepted that forest ecosystem functions and processes are sensitive to spatial patterning, particularly in ponderosa pine and dry mixed-conifer of the southwest US, the scientific basis for understanding the influence of spatial patterns within forest and restoration ecology is limited to a handful of studies over small geographic areas. Key to understanding the drivers of forest dynamics and the development of prescriptions intended to mimic desired environmental change are scale-dependent spatial information at the stand-, group-, and tree-level.

Quantifying Forest Conditions: Monitoring Implementation and Effects of Treatment

Treatments targeting ecological restoration in frequent-fire forests of the Southwest are generally aimed at approximating conditions prior to fire-exclusion conditions by reducing tree densities and hazardous fuels, and reintroducing surface fire. The treatments are typically mechanical in nature, but increasingly managers are utilizing natural fire ignitions (sometimes called “managed” fire) to achieve restoration and hazardous fuels reduction objectives. However, approaches minimizing risk and public scrutiny may result in undesirable outcomes or not achieve desired objectives altogether, thus underscoring the need for rapid forest assessment and/or sound adaptive management methodologies. Understanding how best to utilize field-based inventories and samples, integrate landscape ecology and remote sensing techniques and approaches, and merge monitoring results into future actions in an adaptive management framework are essential to monitoring the effectiveness and success of management actions.

The Future of Forestry: Big Data, Remote Sensing, and Mobile Technology

Accurate and reliable forestry data are obtained by an increasing variety of means (e.g., wireless sensor networks, lidar, smartphone and tablet applications) providing an opportunity for the development of new approaches and analytical techniques in forestry. However, increases in volume and speed of acquisition, along with uncertainty in precision and bias from new technologies, creating challenges for traditional analytical and statistical approaches for current forestry applications. Through various projects, QuantitativeEcology.org is evaluating and adopting technologies such as mobile lidar and machine learning approaches such as random forests and mask convolutional neural networks, to organize, store, query, summarize and analyze increasing larger and more complex datasets for forestry and ecological restoration applications.

Forest Measurements and Tree Allometry

Assessing basic tree and forest characteristics is essential for many aspects of forestry and natural resources management. Practitioners “measuring” the forest provide data that are used to support land management decisions concerning not only timber resources, but also wildlife habitat, recreation, forest health, watershed condition and ecosystem processes. Tree allometry focuses on quantitative relationships between key tree dimensional characteristics (which are usually easy to measure) and other properties (which are often difficult to assess) and is key to assessments of product volume, forest biomass, carbon stocks and understanding tree structure. Understanding past and present quantities of volume, biomass, and carbon is necessary to understand forests' capacity to provide ecosystem services including wood and fiber production for traditional timber products or bioenergy and better understanding of forest carbon stores is essential to greenhouse-gas accounting related to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Structural and Functional Influence of Dead Wood in Southwestern Forest Ecosystems

Changes in climate and shifts in insect and disease dynamics are expected to result in increased tree mortality, inevitability resulting in increases in coarse woody debris (CWD; i.e., snags and logs) populations. These structures are known to serve important roles in biodiversity, trophic chains, forest regeneration, nutrient cycling and overall carbon storage, yet CDW abundance and distributions are poorly understood and snag fall and downed log decay rates are rarely quantified. Understanding the condition, variability and dynamics of CWD has traditionally been done by extrapolating from field inventories and through the utilization of chronosequences. These approaches, due to high variability in localized CWD and difficulties sampling across vast forest condition and environmental gradients, can result in problematic inaccuracies and are both time consuming and costly. Through various ongoing studies, QuantitativeEcology.org is exploring the accuracy and effectiveness of (1) long-term ecological studies as a sources documenting CDW dynamics, (2) the use of various modeling approaches for the estimation of short- and long-term snag fall and downed wood decay rates, and (3) the use of ALS, UAS, and MLS lidar, as well as new field-based sample designs, to assess CWD loading, condition, and size distribution in frequent-fire ecosystems of the southwestern US.

Teaching

A key feature of the QuantitativeEcology Lab is strong integration between instruction and research activities. Teaching is where we being to develop our thoughts, conceptual tools, and methodologies and remains the arena where we verify our findings. QuantitativeEcology owes its origins to to many late-night (over pints) discussions where the the flow of information increases and the integration between instruction and research activities blurs. Throughout our courses and workshops, we use an interdisciplinary approach to enable students to master quantitative and visual representation techniques in the widest sense. We draw on the expertise of professors and professionals from several disciplines, from forest ecology to remote sensing and statistics to computer science.

Courses Taught

Class Class Title Semester
FOR 413 & 414C Ecosystem Assessment I & II Fall
FOR 606 Ecological Data Analysis Fall (Odd Years)
FOR 641 Data Metaphors and Visualization Fall
FOR 313 Silviculture (Forest Resource Sampling) Fall
FOR 324W Forest Management I (Forest Biometrics) Spring

Workshops Taught

Year Class Title Semester
2020 Big Data Analytics in Forestry Spring

Publications

  1. Westfall, James A.; Coulston, John W.; Gray, Andrew N.; Shaw, John D.; Radtke, Philip J.; Walker, David M.; Weiskittel, Aaron R.; MacFarlane, David W.; Affleck, David L.R.; Zhao, Dehai; Temesgen, Hailemariam; Poudel, Krishna P.; Frank, Jereme M.; Prisley, Stephen P.; Wang, Yingfang; Sánchez Meador, Andrew J.; Auty, David; Domke, Grant M. 2023. A national-scale tree volume, biomass, and carbon modeling system for the United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-104. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 60 p. Download
  2. Rodman, K.C., Davis, K.T., Parks, S.A., Chapman, T.B., Coop, J.D., Iniguez, J.M., Roccaforte, J.P., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Springer, J.D., Stevens-Rumann, C.S., Stoddard, M.T., Waltz, A.E.M., and Wasserman, T.N. 2023. Refuge-yeah or refuge-nah? Predicting locations of forest resistance and recruitment in a fiery world. Global Change Biology, 00, 1-22. Download
  3. Hjerpe, E., Colavito, M., Edgeley, C., Burnett2, J., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Combrink, T., and Vosick, D. 2023. Measuring the long-term costs of uncharacteristic wildfire: A case study of the 2010 Schultz Fire in northern Arizona. International Journal of Wildland Fire. Download
  4. Vorster, A., Stevens-Rumann,, C. Young, N., Woodward, B., Chambers, M., Cheng, A., Tsz Hin Choi, C., Thompson, M., Schultz, C., Aplet, G., Caggiano, M., Addington, R., Battaglia, M., Bowker, D., Buma, D., Evangelista, P., Mueller, S., Romme, W., Huffman, D.W., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Tinkham., W., Tuten, M., and West Fordham, A. 2023. Metrics and considerations for evaluating forest treatment effectiveness for wildfire mitigation. Journal of Forestry, fvad036. Download
  5. Schnake, D.K., Forrester, J.A., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Mladenoff, D.J., and Lorimer, C. 2023. Tree Regeneration and Spatial Patterning Among Midtolerant Tree Species, following Creation of Variable-Sized Harvest Gaps in Northern Wisconsin, USA. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 6:1144091. Download
  6. Whelan, A., Cannon, J.B., Bigelow, S.W., Rutledge, B.T., and Sánchez Meador, A.J. 2023. Improving generalized models of forest structure in complex forest types using area- and voxel-based approaches from lidar. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113362. Download
  7. Polinko, A.D., Rapp, M.A., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Graves, A.D., Ryerson, D.E., and Waring, K.M. 2022. Western Spruce Budworm Effects on Forest Resilience. Plants, 11(23), 3266 1-15. Download
  8. Rodman, K.C., Crouse, J.E., Donager, J.J., Huffman, D.W., and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2022. Patterns and drivers of recent land cover change on two trailing-edge forest landscapes. Forest Ecology and Management 521, 120449. Download
  9. Fulé, P.Z., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Moore, M.M., Covington, W.W., Normandin, D.P., Kolb, T.E., Huffman, D.W., and J.P. Roccaforte. 2022. Forest restoration treatments increased growth and did not change survival of ponderosa pines in severe drought, Arizona. Ecological Applications, e2717. Download
  10. Donager, J.J., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and D.W. Huffman. 2022. Southwestern ponderosa pine forest patterns following wildland fires managed for resource benefit differ from reference landscapes. Landscape Ecology, 37(1), 285-304. Download
  11. Azpeleta Tarancón, A., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Padilla, T., Fulé, P.Z., and Y.-S. Kim. 2021. Trends of forest and ecosystem services changes in the Mescalero Apache Tribal Lands. Ecological Applications, 31(8), [e02459]. Download
  12. Singleton, M.P., Thode, A.E., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Iniguez, J.M., and J.T. Stevens. 2021. Management strategy influences landscape patterns of high-severity fire in the southwestern US. Landscape Ecology, 36(12), 3429-3449. Download
  13. Donager, J.J, Sankey, T., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Sankey, J., and A. Springer. 2021. Integrating airborne and mobile lidar data with UAV photogrammetry for rapid assessment of changing forest snow depth and cover. Science of Remote Sensing, 4, 100029. Download
  14. Hagmann, R.K., Hessburg, P.F., Prichard, S.J., Povak, N.A., Brown, P., Fulé, P., Keane, R.E., Knapp, E., Krawchuk, M., Lyderson, J., Metlen, K., Reilly, M., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Stephens, S., Stevens, J., Taylor, A., Yocom, L., Battaglia, M.A., Churchill, D.J., Falk, D.A. , Johnston, J., Levine, C., Meigs, G., Merschel, A., Naficy, C. , North, M.P., Safford, H., Waltz, A. 2021. Evidence for Widespread Changes in the Structure, Composition, and Fire Regimes of Western North American Forests. Ecological Applications, 31(8), [e02431]. Download
  15. Moore, M.M., Huffman, D.W., Fulé, P.Z., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Covington, W.W., Roccaforte, J.P., Springer, J.D., Stoddard, M.T., Normandin, D.P., Curran, S., Laughlin, D.C., Strahan, R.T., Moser, W.K. 2021. Fort Valley Experimental Forest G. A. Pearson Natural Area forest restoration site: tree overstory, herbaceous understory, fuels, and repeat photographs database. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. Link
  16. Blackburn, R.C. Buscaglia, R. and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2021. Voxel-based descriptions of airborne lidar improve modeling of forest conditions. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 51(8), 1106-1116. Download
  17. Singleton, M.P., Thode, A.E., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and J.M. Iniguez. 2021. Moisture and vegetation cover limit ponderosa pine regeneration in high-severity burn patches in the southwestern US. Fire Ecology 17 (14), 1-15. Download
  18. Stoddard, M.T., Roccaforte, J.P., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Huffman, D.W., Fulé, P.Z., Waltz, A.E.M, and W.W. Covington 2021. Ecological restoration guided by historical reference conditions can increase resilience to climate change of southwestern US Ponderosa pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 493, 119256. Download
  19. Donager, J.J., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and RC Blackburn. 2021. Adjudicating Perspectives on Forest Structure: How Do Airborne, Terrestrial, and Mobile Lidar-Derived Estimates Compare? Remote Sensing 13 (12), 2297. Download
  20. Jaquette, M., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Huffman, D.W., and M.A. Bowker. 2021. Mid-Scale Drivers of Variability in Dry Mixed-Conifer Forests of the Mogollon Rim, Arizona. Forests. 12 (5), 622. Download
  21. Vaughan, D., Auty, D., Dahlen, J., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and K. Mackes. 2021 Modelling variation in wood stiffness of Pinus ponderosa using static bending and acoustic measurements. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research 94 (2), 232-243. Download
  22. Rochimi, D., Waring, K. M., and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2021. Evaluating Early Post-fire Tropical Lower Montane Forest Recovery in Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 33 (2), 113-125. Download
  23. Vaughan, D., Auty, D., Kolb, T., Dahlen, J., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and K. Mackes. 2021. Wood density variation in naturally regenerated stands of Pinus ponderosa in northern Arizona, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 51 (4), 583-594. Download
  24. Chamberlain, C., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and A. Thode. 2021. Airborne lidar provides reliable estimates of canopy base height and canopy bulk density in southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 481, 118695. Download
  25. Sánchez Meador, A.J. 2020. Book Review: Individual-based Methods in Forest Ecology and Management: Individual-based Methods in Forest Ecology and Management. A. Pommerening and P. Grabarnik. 2019. Springer International Publishing. Switzerland. 411. Ecological Modelling:425: 109092. Download
  26. Roussel, J.-R., Auty, D., Coops, N.C., Tompalski, P., Goodbody, T.R., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Bourdon, J.-F., de Boissieu, F., and A. Achim. 2020. lidR: An R package for analysis of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 251: 112064. Download
  27. Azpeleta Tarancón, Kim, Y-S., Padilla, T., Fulé, P.Z., and A.JSánchez Meador. 2020. Co-construction of ecosystem services management in tribal lands: Elicit Expert Opinion Approach. Weather, Climate, and Society. 12(3): 487-499. Download
  28. Huffman, D.W., Floyd-Hanna, L., Hanna, D., Crouse, J.E., Fulé, P.Z., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and J.D. Springer. 2020. Fire regimes and structural changes in oak-pine forests of the Mogollon Highlands ecoregion: implications for ecological restoration. Forest Ecology and Management 465: 118087. Download.
  29. Stoddard, M.T., Fulé, P.Z., Huffman, D.W., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and J.P. Roccaforte. 2020. Ecosystem management applications of resource objective wildfires in forests of the Grand Canyon National Park, USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 29: 190-200. Download
  30. Bryant, T., Waring, K.M., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and J. Bradford. 2019. A Framework for Quantifying Resilience to Forest Disturbance. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. 2, 56. Download
  31. Huffman, D.W., Stoddard, M.T., Springer, J.D., Crouse, J.E., Sánchez Meador, A.J. and S. Nepal 2019. Stand dynamics of pinyon-juniper woodlands following hazardous fuels reduction treatments in Arizona. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 72(5):757-767. Download
  32. Yazzie, J.O., Fulé, P.Z., Kim, Y.-S., and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2019. Diné kinship for conserving native tree species in climate change. Ecological Applications. 29(6):e01944. Download
  33. Vaughan, D., Auty, D., Kolb, T., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Mackes, K., Dahlen, J. and K. Moser. 2019. Climate alters ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) wood density more than stand basal area in a replicated stand density experiment in the southwestern USA. Annals of Forest Science. 76(3):85 1-12. Download
  34. Putraditama, A., Kim, Y.-S., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and H. Baral. 2019. Evaluating effectiveness of Community Forest scheme in reducing deforestation in Indonesia. Forest Policy and Economics. 106(2019) 101976. Download
  35. Wasserman, T.N., Sánchez Meador, A.J. and A.E.M. Waltz. 2019. Grain and extent considerations are integral for monitoring landscape-scale desired conditions in fire-adapted forests. Forests. 10(6) 465. Download
  36. Singleton, M.E., Thode, A.E., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and J. Iniguez. 2019. Increasing trends in high-severity fire in the southwestern USA from 1984-2015. Forest Ecology and Management. 433: 709-719. Download
  37. Stoddard, M.T., Huffman, D.W., Fulé, P.Z., Crouse, J.E., and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2018. Forest structure and regeneration 15 years after wildfire in a ponderosa pine and mixed conifer ecotone, Arizona, USA. Fire Ecology. 14: 12. Download
  38. Azpeleta Tarancón, A., Fulé, P.Z., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Kim, Y-S., and T. Padilla. 2018. Spatiotemporal variability of fire regimes in adjacent Native American and public forests, New Mexico, USA. Ecosphere. 9(11): e02492. Download
  39. Donager, J. Sankey, T.T., Sankey, J., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Springer, A. and J.D. Bailey. 2018. Examining forest structure with terrestrial lidar: suggestions and novel techniques based on comparisons between scanners and forest treatments. Earth and Space Science. 5(11): 753-776. Download
  40. Whitehair, L., Fulé, P.Z., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Tarancón, A.A., and Yeon-Su Kim. 2018. Fire regime on a cultural landscape: Navajo Nation. Ecology and Evolution. 2018(8): 9848–9858. Download
  41. Mockta, T.K., Fulé, P.Z., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Padilla, T., and Yeon-Su Kim. 2018 Sustainability of teepee pole stands on Mescalero Apache Tribal Lands: characteristics and climate change effects. Forest Ecology and Management 530: 250-258. Download
  42. Burch, B.D. and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2018. Comparison of forest age estimators using k-tree, fixed-radius, and variable-radius plot sampling. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 48 (8): 942-951. Download
  43. Springer, J.D., Huffman, D.W., Stoddard M.T., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and Waltz, A.E.M. 2018. Plant community dynamics following hazardous fuel treatments and mega-wildfire in a southwestern warm-dry mixed-conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 429: 278-286. Download
  44. Roccaforte, J.P., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Waltz, A.E.M., Gaylord, M.L., Stoddard, M.T., and D.W. Huffman. 2018. Delayed tree mortality, bark beetle activity, and regeneration dynamics five years following the Wallow Fire, Arizona, USA: assessing trajectories towards resiliency. Forest Ecology and Management 428: 20-26. Download
  45. Goodrich, B.A., Waring, K.M., Auty, D. and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2018. Interactions of management and white pine blister rust on Pinus strobiformis regeneration abundance in southwestern United States. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research 91: 1-14 Download
  46. Pommerening, A. and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2018. Tree interactions between myth and reality. Forest Ecology and Management. 424: 164-176. Download
  47. Kralicek, K., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and L. Rathbun. 2018. Development and assessment of regeneration imputation models for forest in Oregon and Washington. Forest Ecology and Management. 409 667-682. Download
  48. Huffman, D.W., Crouse, J.E., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Springer, J.D., and M.T. Stoddard. 2018. Restoration benefits of re-entry with resource objective wildfire on a ponderosa pine landscape in northern Arizona, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 408: 16-24. Download
  49. Laughlin, D.C., Strahan, R.T., Huffman, D.W., and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2017. Using trait-based ecology to restore resilient ecosystems: historical conditions and the future of montane forests in western North America. Restoration Ecology. 25 (S2): S135-S146. Download
  50. Owen, S.M., Sieg, C.H., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Fulé, P.Z., Iniguez, J.M., Baggett, L.S., Fornwalt, P.J., and M.A. Battaglia. 2017. Spatial patterns of ponderosa pine regeneration in high-severity burn patches. Forest Ecology and Management. 405: 134-149. Download
  51. Rodman, K.C., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Moore, M.M., and D.W. Huffman. 2017. Influence of Forest Type and Abiotic Factors on Variability in Reference Conditions Across Pinus ponderosa-Dominated Forests in the Southwestern United States. Forest Ecology and Management. 404: 316-329. Download
  52. Sánchez Meador, A.J., Springer J.D., Huffman, D.W., Crouse J.E., and M.A. Bowker. 2017. Ecological restoration treatments improve soil function in frequent-fire forests of the western United States: A systematic review. Restoration Ecology. 25: 497-508 Download
  53. Massey, R., Sankey, T.T., Congalton, R.G., Yadav, K., Thenkabail, P.S., Ozdogan, M., and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2017. MODIS phenology-derived, multi-year distribution of conterminous U.S. crop types. Remote Sensing of Environment. 198: 490-503. Download
  54. Bagdon, B.A., Huang, C.-H., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and S. Dewhurst. 2017. Climate change constrains the efficiency frontier when managing forests to reduce fire severity and maximize carbon storage. Ecological Economics 140: 201-214. Download
  55. Huffman, D.W., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Stoddard, M.T., Crouse, J.E., and J.P. Roccaforte. 2017. Efficacy of resource objective wildfires for restoring ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests of northern Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management. 389: 395-403. Download
  56. Strahan, R.T., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Huffman, D.W., and D.C. Laughlin. 2016. Shifts in community-level traits and functional diversity in a mixed conifer forest: a legacy of land-use change. Journal of Applied Ecology. 53(6) 1755-1765. Download
  57. Rodman, K.C., Sánchez Meador, A.J. Huffman, D.W. and K.M. Waring. 2016. Reference conditions and historical fine-scale spatial dynamics in a mixed-conifer forest, Arizona, USA. Forest Science 3(62), 268-280. Download
  58. Schneider, E., Sánchez Meador, A.J. and W.W. Covington. 2016. Reference conditions and historical changes in an unharvested ponderosa pine stand on sedimentary soils. Restoration Ecology 24: 212-221. Download
  59. Taylor, M.H., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Kim, Y.S. Rollins, K., and Will, H. 2015. The economics of ecological restoration and hazardous fuel reduction treatments in the ponderosa pine forest ecosystem. Forest Science 61: 988-1008. Download
  60. Stoddard, M.T., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Fulé, P.Z., and J.E. Korb. 2015. 5-year post-restoration treatment conditions and simulated forest trajectories under alternative climate scenarios in a southwestern warm/dry mixed-conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 356: 253-261. Download
  61. Ouzts, J., Kolb, T. Sánchez Meador, A.J. and D.W. Huffman. 2015. Post-fire ponderosa pine plantings in Arizona and New Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 354: 281-290. Download
  62. Tuten, M.C., Sánchez Meador, A.J. and P.Z. Fulé. 2015. Ecological restoration and fine-scale structural regulation in Southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 348: 57-67. Download
  63. Sánchez Meador, A.J., Waring, K.M., and E.L. Kalies. 2015. Implications of diameter caps on multiple forest resource responses in the context of 4FRI: Results from the Forest Vegetation Simulator. Journal of Forestry 113: 219-230. Download
  64. Waltz, A.E.M., Stoddard, M.T., Kalies, E.L., Springer, J.D., Huffman, D.W. and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2014. Effectiveness of fuel reduction treatments: assessing metrics of forest resiliency and wildfire severity after the Wallow Fire, AZ. Forest Ecology and Management 334: 43-52. Download
  65. Nepal, S., Ojha, B.R., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Gaire, S.P. and C. Shilpakar. 2014. Effect of gamma rays on germination and photosynthetic pigments of maize (Zea mays L.) inbreds. International Journal of Research. 1: 511-545. Download
  66. Azpeleta Tarancón, A., Fulé, P.Z., Shive, K.L., Sieg, C.H., Sánchez Meador, A.J. and B. Strom. 2014. Simulating post-wildfire forest trajectories under alternative climate and management scenarios Ecological Applications. 24: 1626-1637. Download
  67. Reynolds, R.T., Sánchez Meador, A.J., Youtz, J.A., Nicotlet, T., Matonis, M.S., Jackson, P.L., Delorenzo, D., and A.D. Graves. 2013. Restoring composition and structure in Southwestern frequent-fire forests: a science-based framework for improving ecosystem resiliency. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-310. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 76p. Download
  68. Gedeon, C.I., Drickamer, L.C., and A.J. Sánchez Meador. 2012. Importance of burrow-entrance mounds of Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) for vigilance and mixing of soil. The Southwestern Naturalist. 57: 100-104. Download
  69. Sánchez Meador, A.J., Parysow, P.F., and M.M. Moore. 2011. A new method for delineating tree patches and assessing spatial reference conditions of ponderosa pine forests in northern Arizona. Restoration Ecology. 19: 490-499. Download
  70. Sánchez Meador, A.J. and M.M. Moore. 2010. Lessons from long-term studies of harvest methods in southwestern ponderosa pine-Gambel oak forests on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest, Arizona, U.S.A. Forest Ecology and Management. 260: 193-206. Download
  71. Sánchez Meador, A.J., Parysow, P.F., and M.M. Moore. 2010. Historical stem-mapped permanent plots increase precision of reconstructed reference data in ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona. Restoration Ecology. 18: 224-234. Download
  72. Sánchez Meador, A.J., Moore, M.M., Bakker, J.D. and P.F. Parysow. 2009. 108 years of change in spatial pattern following selective harvest of a ponderosa pine stand in northern Arizona, USA. Journal of Vegetation Science. 20: 79-90. Download
  73. Abella, S.R., Covington, W.W., Fulé, P.Z., Lentile, L.B., Sánchez Meador, A.J., and P. Morgan. 2007. Past, Present, and Future Old Growth in Frequent-Fire Conifer Forests of the Western United States. Ecology and Society 12: 16. Download

Media

Media Coverage

  1. Forest Service amending management of old-growth forest – Adrian Skabelund, Arizona Daily Sun, January 23, 2024
  2. New Findings Revolutionize What We Understand About America’s Forests– Staff Writer, SciTech Daily, Jan 16, 2024
  3. Forest service proposes old-growth management plans. Here's what to know in Arizona – Hayleigh Evans, Arizona Republic, Dec 22, 2023
  4. Report says new models will improve understanding of America's forests– Staff Writer, Phys Org, Dec 7, 2023
  5. Revolutionizing what we understand about America’s forests– Staff Writer, NAU Review, Dec 6, 2023
  6. ‘No end to fire season.’ Arizona’s new normal means it’s fire season in February – John Washington, Arizona Luminaria, Feb 23, 2023
  7. NAU foresters pioneer nationwide wildfire treatment map – Ryan Heinsius, KNAU - NPR, Feb 7, 2023
  8. Protecting our water: SRP-funded projects take on challenges of snowpack, watershed health – Staff Writer, NAU News, Jan 11, 2023
  9. Southwest institutes receive $16 million in federal infrastructure funds to map and assess national wildfire mitigation efforts – Staff Writer, NAU News, Oct 27, 2022
  10. The inevitable next time: Flagstaff residents grapple with the new reality of wildfire and flood –Ryan Heinsius, KNAU - NPR, Sept 9, 2022
  11. Fire is not the enemy – InHospitable Podcast, NPR – Anthony Wallace, Sept 8, 2022
  12. The Forest Service's ban on controlled burns has come to a close – Kirk Siegler, NPR, Sept 5, 2022
  13. Why suppressing wildfires may be making the Western fire crisis worse – Kirk Siegler, NPR, Aug 27, 2022
  14. The wildfires near Flagstaff will come with an even higher price: threat of serious post-fire flooding – Lacey Latch, Arizona Republic, Aug 30, 2022
  15. Thinning and burning help a forest survive drought – Melissa Sevigny, KNAU – NPR, Aug 30, 2022
  16. Wildfire Economics – Julio Mora Rodriguez, Cronkite News – NPR, Jun 30, 2022
  17. Rodeo-Chediski Fire scarred Arizona forests. How have they changed in the past 20 years? – Brandon Loomis and Zayna Syed, Arizona Republic, Jun 20, 2022
  18. ‘Nothing to go back to’: the way of life lost to New Mexico’s historic fire – Annette McGivney, The Guardian, May 18, 2022
  19. Forest health in Arizona: Stressed by drought and pests, trees are losing resilience to changing climate – Fiona L.Q. Flaherty, Cronkite New, May 9, 2022
  20. Arizona Wildlife Federation to hunters and anglers: 'We need to be advocates for climate action' – Sean Golightly, Arizona Daily Sun, Feb 9, 2022
  21. Abnormally dry conditions can spark early wildfire season this year – Jasmine Ramirez, KOLD News 13 Tucson, February 9, 2022
  22. Ecologists compare accuracy of lidar technologies for monitoring forest vegetation – Staff Writer, NAU News, July 9, 2021
  23. NAU Researchers Find Forest Treatments Have Long-lasting Effects – Ron Dungan, KJZZ Phoenix, June 14, 2021
  24. Study: Forest Restoration Shows Benefits Decades After Initial Treatment – Melisa Sevigny, KNAU, Jun 2, 2021
  25. Technology is playing a role in forest restoration and fire prevention – Elliott Polakoff, AZ Family, May 31, 2021
  26. NAU students determined to return Arizona forest to its former glory, one tree at a time – Brian Webb, FOX 10 Phoenix, May 17, 2021
  27. NAU’s Ecological Restoration Institute talks forest health with Sen. Mark Kelly – Staff Writer, NAU News, May 6 2021
  28. Predicted Arizona dry year could impact trees, cause fires – Associated Press Staff Writer, January 18 2021
  29. Record dry year could add stress for trees, firefighters alike – Adrian Skabelund, Arizona Daily Sun Radio, January 16, 2021
  30. Recover or restore? Bill Williams project aims to prevent wildfires by thinning forests - Anton Delgado, Arizona Republic, December 9 2020
  31. Climate Change Is Not The Only Reason For Record Wildfires – Rachel Martin, Iowa Public Radio, September 16, 2020
  32. West Coast Fires: Climate, Forest Management, Lax Rules, Plenty Of Blame To Go Around - Kirk Siegler, NPR, September 15, 2020
  33. SRP funding groundbreaking NAU research into forest health, increasing diversity in STEM - Staff Writer, NAU News, September 2, 2020
  34. Ecological Restoration Institute at NAU announces Andrew Sánchez Meador as new executive director – Staff Writer, NAU News, June 19, 2020
  35. NAU's Ecological Restoration Institute Names New Executive Director – Associated Press, June 30, 2020
  36. Long-term efficacy of managed wildfires in restoration efforts is focus of new NAU study – Staff Writer, NAU News, APR 23, 2020
  37. Combining western science, Indigenous knowledge offers new approach to help forests adapt to new conditions – Staff Writer, August 15, 2019
  38. Research partnership between NAU, Salt River Project provides solutions to Arizona’s problems – Staff Writer, NAU News, August 12, 2019
  39. At Century-Old Experimental Forest, History Is In The Trees – M. Sevigny, KNAU, April 9, 2019
  40. Study Quantifies Upward Trend in Southwest Wildfires – M. Sevigny, KNAU, March 1, 2019
  41. Raging California wildfires give us a taste of climate change’s deadly potential – B. Parsons, The Colorado Independent, November 14, 2018
  42. Kaibab National Forest leads partner effort to bring critical geographic data to Arizona – J. Banks, USDA Forest Service, Sep 17, 2018
  43. Planning to mitigate disasters – J. Russell, The Lumberjack; October 19,2017
  44. Study finds surprising ponderosa regrowth after severe wildfires – E. Cowen, Arizona Daily Sun; October 5, 2017
  45. Catastrophe: A Forest in Flames – Chapter 13: Cattle grazing's effect on the fire - T. Balcom, Payson Roundup/White Mtn Independent; July 18, 2017
  46. Decades after the Radio Fire, how Mount Elden's recovery is playing out - E. Cowen, Arizona Daily Sun; June 18, 2017
  47. The structure and functions of forests - K. Young, Science Moab; March 31, 2017
  48. Preventing future forest fires. KPNX Phoenix and NAZ Today coverage of Semester C course - N. Harrison, KPNX 12 News; September 16, 2016
  49. Mixed-conifer forests at risk for high-severity wildfire - NAU Staff Writer, NAU News; November 1, 2015
  50. Research Matters: How Do Diameter Caps Affect Forest Resources? - S. Wilent, The Forestry Source; March 1, 2015
  51. Restoring Composition and Structure in Southwestern Frequent-Fire Forests - K. Malcolm, Forest Service RMRS; April 16, 2015

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