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Anthony Ambrose

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Leaf to Landscape: Understanding and Mapping the Vulnerability of Forests to Hotter Droughts
Forests across the southwestern U.S. are crucial components of recreation and play an important role in state and local economies. Healthy forests also provide needed habitat for many wildlife species and contribute many other important services to our planet. “Hotter droughts” (otherwise normal droughts whose effects on ecosystems are exacerbated by higher temperatures) are an emerging climate change threat to forests with some of their earliest and strongest appearances happening in the Southwest. The Leaf to Landscape project uses California’s unusually hot drought as a potential preview of the future, allowing us to collect information that will help guide forest management in the face of a warming climate....
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Increasing Giant Sequoia Reforestation Success after Catastrophic Wildfire Using Soil and Microbial Indicators
Recent catastrophic droughts and wildfires have killed almost 20% of mature giant sequoia trees across California, and it is uncertain whether natural seedling regeneration will be enough to restore these forests, especially in severely burned areas. Researchers supported by this Southwest CASC project will assess whether soil conditions, such as moisture and soil microbial communities can increase sequoia seedling survival. Findings from this project will help land managers identify the most effective replanting strategies and determine which areas are more or less likely to support successful sequoia seedling regeneration. Ancient groves of giant sequoia trees inspire people all over the world. Recently, however,...
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Can Prescribed Fire Help Forests Survive Drought in the Sierra Nevada Mountains?
In 2017, California was experiencing its most severe drought in over a millennia. Low rainfall and record high temperatures resulted in increased tree mortality and complete forest diebacks across the West. Though land managers scrambled to respond, they lacked information needed to make informed decisions. Focusing on California’s central and southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, this project seeks to determine whether a key forest management practice – forest thinning via prescribed fire – can help forests better survive drought. Prescribed fire is commonly used in the western U.S. to remove potential wildfire fuel, such as small trees and shrubs. It is also thought that this act of selectively removing trees helps...
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