Alexandra K. Urza, PhD

Treesearch Publications

• Sylvia Kantor, Jeanne C. Chambers, Duncan Leao, Jessica L. Brown, Brice Hanberry, Matt C. Reeves, Karen C. Short, Claire Tortorelli, Alexandra K. Urza. 2025. Right fuel treatment, right place: Managing wildfire in sagebrush country
• Robert K. Shriver, Elise Pletcher, Franco Biondi, Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg. 2025. Long-term tree population growth can predict woody encroachment patterns
• Daniel R. Schlaepfer, Jeanne C. Chambers, Alexandra K. Urza, Brice Hanberry, Jessi L. Brown, David Board, Steven B. Campbell, Karen J. Clause, Michele R. Crist, John B. Bradford. 2025. Declining ecological resilience and invasion resistance under climate change in the sagebrush region, United States
• Lacey E. Hankin, Felipe H. Barrios-Masias, Alexandra K. Urza, Sarah M. Bisbing. 2024. Lethal combination for seedlings: Extreme heat drives mortality of drought-exposed high-elevation pine seedlings
• Alexandra K. Urza, David Board, John B. Bradford, Jessi L. Brown, Jeanne C. Chambers, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, Karen C. Short. 2024. Disentangling drivers of annual grass invasion: Abiotic susceptibility vs. fire-induced conversion to cheatgrass dominance in the sagebrush biome
• Jeanne C. Chambers, Richard F. Miller, Jessi L. Brown, Sarah C. Barga, Rhett Boswell, Mark Madsen, Matt C. Reeves, Vaughn Thacker, Alexandra K. Urza. 2024. Selecting appropriate vegetation treatments in shrubland and pinyon-juniper ecosystems in a USDA Forest Service wildfire crisis landscape: Evaluating resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive annual grasses and predicting vegetation response
• Jeanne C. Chambers, Eva K. Strand, Lisa M. Ellsworth, Claire Tortorelli, Alexandra K. Urza, Michele R. Crist, Richard F. Miller, Matt C. Reeves, Karen C. Short, Claire L. Williams. 2024. Review of fuel treatment effects on fuels, fire behavior and ecological resilience in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems in the Western U.S.
• Jeanne C. Chambers, Jessi L. Brown, Matt C. Reeves, Eva K. Strand, Lisa M. Ellsworth, Claire Tortorelli, Alexandra K. Urza, Karen C. Short. 2024. Fuel treatment response groups for fire‑prone sagebrush landscapes
• Terrie B. Jain, Sharon M. Hood, Shawn McKinney, Jeffrey E. Ott, Alexandra K. Urza, Morgan Varner, Ilana Abrahamson, Nathaniel Anderson, Michael A. Battaglia, Jeanne C. Chambers, Brice Hanberry, Francis F. Kilkenny, Joseph O’Brien. 2023. Can fuel treatments change how a wildfire burns across a landscape?
• Jeanne C. Chambers, Jessi L. Brown, John B. Bradford, Kevin E. Doherty, Michele R. Crist, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, Alexandra K. Urza, Karen C. Short. 2023. Combining resilience and resistance with threat-based approaches for prioritizing management actions in sagebrush ecosystems
• Georgia L. Vasey, Alexandra K. Urza, Jeanne C. Chambers, Elizabeth G. Pringle, Peter J. Weisberg. 2023. Clinal variations in seedling traits and responses to water availability correspond to seed-source environmental gradients in a foundational dryland tree species
• Sarah M. Bisbing, Alexandra K. Urza, Robert A. York, Lacey E. Hankin, Tessa R. Putz. 2023. Persistent, viable seedbank buffers serotinous bishop pine over a broad fire return interval
• Miranda D. Redmond, Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg. 2023. Managing for ecological resilience of pinyon-juniper ecosystems during an era of woodland contraction
• Lisa A. McCauley, Nicholas Povak, Kristen L. Shive, Edward Smith, Jens Stevens, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, lan H. Taylor, Alan J. Tepley, Derek J. N. Young, Robert A. Andrus, Mike A. Battaglia, Julia K. Berkey, Sebastian Busby, Amanda R. Carlson, Marin E. Chambers, Erich Dodson, Daniel C. Donato, William M. Downing, Paula J. Fornwalt, Joshua S. Halofsky, Ashley Hoffman, Andres Holz, Jose Iniguez, Meg A. Krawchuk, Mark R. Kreider, Andrew J. Larson, Garrett W. Meigs, John Paul Roccaforte, Monica T. Rother, Hugh Safford, Michael Schaedel, Jason S. Sibold, Megan P. Singleton, Monica G. Turner, Alexandra K. Urza, Kyra D. Clark-Wolf, Larissa Yocom, Joseph B. Fontaine, John L. Campbell, Kimberley T. Davis, Marcos D. Robles, Kerry B. Kemp, Philip E. Higuera, Teresa Chapman, Kerry L. Metlen, Jamie L. Peeler, Kyle C. Rodman, Travis Woolley, Robert N. Addington, Brian J. Buma, C. Alina Cansler, Michael J. Case, Brandon M. Collins, Jonathan D. Coop, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Nathan S. Gill, Collin Haffey, Lucas B. Harris, Brian J. Harvey, Ryan D. Haugo, Matthew D. Hurteau, Dominik Kulakowski, Caitlin E. Littlefield. 2023. Reduced fire severity offers near-term buffer to climate-driven declines in conifer resilience across the western United States
• Alexandra K. Urza, Brice Hanberry, Terrie B. Jain. 2023. Landscape-scale fuel treatment effectiveness: Lessons learned from wildland fire case studies in forests of the western United States and Great Lakes region
• Jeanne C. Chambers, Jessi L. Brown, John B. Bradford, David Board, Steven B. Campbell, Karen J. Clause, Brice Hanberry, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, Alexandra K. Urza. 2023. New indicators of ecological resilience and invasion resistance to support prioritization and management in the sagebrush biome, United States
• Damaris A. Chenoweth, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, Jeanne C. Chambers, Jessi L. Brown, Alexandra K. Urza, Brice Hanberry, David Board, Michele Crist, John B. Bradford. 2022. Ecologically relevant moisture and temperature metrics for assessing dryland ecosystem dynamics
• Georgia L. Vasey, Peter J. Weisberg, Alexandra K. Urza. 2022. Intraspecific trait variation in a dryland tree species corresponds to regional climate gradients
• Terrie B. Jain, Ilana Abrahamson, Nathaniel Anderson, Sharon M. Hood, Brice Hanberry, Francis F. Kilkenny, Shawn McKinney, Jeffrey E. Ott, Alexandra K. Urza, Jeanne C. Chambers, Michael A. Battaglia, J. Morgan Varner, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2021. Effectiveness of fuel treatments at the landscape scale: State of understanding and key research gaps
• Jeanne C. Chambers, Alexandra K. Urza, David Board, Richard F. Miller, David A. Pyke, Bruce A. Roundy, Eugene W. Schupp, Robin J. Tausch. 2021. Sagebrush recovery patterns after fuel treatments mediated by disturbance type and plant functional group interactions
• Stephanie M. Freund, Beth A. Newingham, Jeanne C. Chambers, Alexandra K. Urza, Bruce A. Roundy, J. Hall Cushman. 2021. Plant functional groups and species contribute to ecological resilience a decade after woodland expansion treatments
• Alexandra K. Urza. 2021. Climbing with climate change: Increasing aridity is forcing some treelines to retreat uphill
• Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg, David Board, Jeanne C. Chambers, Stanley G. Kitchen, Bruce A. Roundy. 2021. Episodic occurrence of favourable weather constrains recovery of a cold desert shrubland after fire
• Devin E. McMahon, Alexandra K. Urza, Jessi L. Brown, Conor Phelan, Jeanne C. Chambers. 2021. Modelling species distributions and environmental suitability highlights risk of plant invasions in western United States
• Tessa R. Putz, Alexandra K. Urza, Lacey E. Hankin, Sarah M. Bisbing. 2021. Seasonal water availability drives trait variation in isolated Basin and Range Pinus ponderosa
• Sarah M. Bisbing, Alexandra K. Urza, Brian J. Buma, David J. Cooper, Marjorie Matocq, Amy L. Angert. 2021. Can long-lived species keep pace with climate change? Evidence of local persistence potential in a widespread conifer
• Jeffrey E. Ott, Francis F. Kilkenny, Alexandra K. Urza, Jeanne C. Chambers, David Board. 2020. Post-fire native species seed mixes are effective at keeping out cheatgrass in the Great Basin
• Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg, Thomas Dilts. 2020. Evidence of widespread topoclimatic limitation for lower treelines of the Intermountain West, United States
• Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg, Jeanne C. Chambers, Benjamin W. Sullivan. 2019. Shrub facilitation of tree establishment varies with ontogenetic stage across environmental gradients
• Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg, Jeanne C. Chambers, David Board, Samuel W. Flake. 2019. Seeding native species increases resistance to annual grass invasion following prescribed burning of semiarid woodlands
• Alexandra K. Urza. 2018. Vegetation dynamics at the woodland-shrubland interface: Role of climate, disturbance, and species interactions
• Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg, Jeanne C. Chambers, Jessica M. Dhaemers, David Board. 2017. Post-fire vegetation response at the woodland-shrubland interface is mediated by the pre-fire community

Citations of Non-Forest Service Publications

• Urza, Alexandra K.; Sibold, Jason S. 2013. Non-destructive aging of postfire seedlings for four conifer species in northwestern Montana, USA. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 28: 22-29.
• Urza, Alexandra K.; Sibold, Jason S. 2017. Climate and seed availability initiate alternate post-fire trajectories in a lower subalpine forest. Journal of Vegetation Science 28: 43-56.
• Redmond, Miranda D.; Kelsey, K. C.; Urza, Alexandra K.; Barger N. N. 2017. Interacting effects of climate and landscape physiography on piñon pine growth using an individual-based approach. Ecosphere 8(3): e01681.
• Urza, Alexandra K.; Weisberg, Peter J.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Dhaemers, Jessica M.; Board, David. 2017. Post-fire vegetation response at the woodland-shrubland interface is mediated by the pre-fire community. Ecosphere 8(3): e01851.
• Vitali, Alessandro; Urbinati, Carlo; Weisberg, Peter J.; Urza, Alexandra K.; Garbarino, Matteo. 2018. Effects of natural and anthropogenic drivers on land-cover change and treeline dynamics in the Apennines (Italy). Journal of Vegetation Science 29: 189-199.

• Project
  

  Research supporting the Dixie National Forest Pine Valley high-risk landscape

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/projects/bilresearch-supporting-wildlife-habitat-and-ecological-resiliency-improvement-project
  Station

  Rocky Mountain Research Station
• Program
  

  Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/programs/drylandecosystems
  Station

  Rocky Mountain Research Station

Articles

• Article
  

  Can long-term population growth explain woody encroachment?

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/articles/can-long-term-population-growth-explain-woody-encroachment
• Article
  

  A review of fuel treatment effects on fuels, fire behavior, and ecological resilience in sagebrush ecosystems

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/articles/review-fuel-treatment-effects-fuels-fire-behavior-and-ecological-resilience-sagebrush
• Article
  

  A burning question: Does cheatgrass need fire to become ecologically dominant?

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/articles/burning-question-does-cheatgrass-need-fire-become-ecologically-dominant
• Article
  

  Selecting appropriate vegetation treatments in shrubland and pinyon-juniper ecosystems

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/articles/selecting-appropriate-vegetation-treatments-shrubland-and-pinyon-juniper-ecosystems

Multimedia

• Video

  Meet Alexandra Urza

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/products/multimedia/videos/meet-alexandra-urza
• Webinars
  

  Fuels Treatment Effectiveness

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/products/multimedia/webinars/fuels-treatment-effectiveness
• Webinars

  Effectiveness of Fuel Treatments at the Landscape Scale

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/products/multimedia/webinars/effectiveness-fuel-treatments-landscape-scale

• University of Nevada-Reno, Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, 2018
• Colorado State University, M.S., Ecology, 2012
• Reed College, B.A., International Policy Studies, 2006