Eric E. Knapp, PhD

Research Ecologist

Pacific Southwest Research Station

0000-0002-6991-8157

eric.e.knapp@usda.gov

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Treesearch Publications

Eric E. Knapp, Tom A. Nagel. 2025. Thoughts on fire, fuels, and forest management in Slovenia
Alan H. Taylor, Jan Oliver Wallgrün, Eric E. Knapp, Alexander Klippel, José J. Sánchez. 2025. Being there: effectiveness of a 360-degree virtual tour for increasing understanding of forest treatments for fire hazard reduction in California, USA
Nehalem C. Clark, Signe Leirfallom, Hannah Farrell, Michael A. Battaglia, Brandon M. Collins, Justin S. Crotteau, Kimberley T. Davis, Paula J. Fornwalt, Paul F. Hessburg, Sharon M. Hood, Eric E. Knapp, W. Keith Moser, Jose Negron. 2024. What do we know about forest treatments and fire? Photos and long-term studies help us understand
Michelle Coppoletta, Eric E. Knapp, Brandon M. Collins, Celeste S. Abbott, Hannah M. Fertel, Scott L. Stephens. 2024. Fire history in northern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests across a distinct gradient in productivity
Emily G. Brodie, Christopher J. Fettig, Martin Ritchie, Eric E. Knapp, Christopher Looney. 2024. Ecological forestry treatments affect fine-scale attributes within large experimental units to influence tree growth, vigor, and mortality in ponderosa pine/white fir forests in California, U.S.
Emily Brodie, Eric E. Knapp, Wesley R. Brooks, Stacy Drury, Martin Ritchie. 2024. Forest thinning and prescribed burning treatments reduce wildfire severity and buffer the impacts of severe fire weather
Joseph D. Birch, Matthew B. Dickinson, Alicia Reiner, Eric E. Knapp, Scott N. Dailey, Carol Ewell, James A. Lutz, Jessica R. Miesel. 2023. Heading and backing fire behaviours mediate the influence of fuels on wildfire energy
Emily G. Brodie, Eric E. Knapp, Andrew M. Latimer, Hugh D. Safford, Marissa Vossmer, Sarah M. Bisbing. 2023. The century-long shadow of fire exclusion: Historical data reveal early and lasting effects of fire regime change on contemporary forest composition
Jeffrey M. Kane, Alexis A. Bernal, Eric E. Knapp, Harold Zald. 2023. Tree resistance to drought and bark beetle-associated mortality following thinning and prescribed fire treatments
Clarke A. Knight, Lysanna Anderson, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Champagne, Rosie M. Clayburn, Jeffrey N. Crawford, Anna Klimaszewski-Patterson, Eric E. Knapp, Frank K. Lake, Scott A. Mensing, David Wahl, James Wanket, Alex Watts-Tobin, Matthew D. Potts, John J. Battles. 2022. Land management explains major trends in forest structure and composition over the last millennium in California’s Klamath Mountains
Jan Oliver Wallgrün, Eric E. Knapp, Alan Taylor, Alexander Klippel, Jiayan Zhao, Pejman Sajjadi. 2021. Place-based learning through a proxy - variations in the perceived benefits of a virtual tour
Kellen Nelson, Emily O’Dean, Eric E. Knapp, Albert J. Parker, Sarah M. Bisbing. 2021. Persistent yet vulnerable: resurvey of an Abies ecotone reveals few differences but vulnerability to climate change
Eric E. Knapp, Yana S. Valachovic, Stephen L. Quarles, Nels G. Johnson. 2021. Housing arrangement and vegetation factors associated with single-family home survival in the 2018 Camp Fire, California
R. K. Hagmann, Paul F. Hessburg, S. J. Prichard, Nicholas Povak, P. M. Brown, P. Z. Fulé, Robert E. Keane, Eric E. Knapp, J. M. Lydersen, K. L. Metlen, Matthew Reilly, A. J. Sánchez Meador, S. L. Stephens, Jens Stevens, A. H. Taylor, L. L. Yocom, Michael A. Battaglia, D. J. Churchill, L. D. Daniels, D. A. Falk, P. Henson, J. D. Johnston, M. A. Krawchuk, C. R. Levine, G. W. Meigs, A. G. Merschel, Malcolm P. North, Hugh Safford, T. W. Swetnam, A. E. M. Waltz. 2021. Evidence for widespread changes in the structure, composition, and fire regimes of western North American forests
Malcolm P. North, R York, Brandon M. Collins, M Hurteau, Gavin M. Jones, Eric E. Knapp, L Kobziar, H McCann, M Meyer, S Stephens, R Tompkins, C L. Tubbesing. 2021. Pyrosilviculture needed for landscape resilience of dry western United States forests
A. W. Slack, J. M. Kane, Eric E. Knapp. 2021. Growth and defense inform large sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) mortality in a fire‐excluded forest of the central Sierra Nevada
Justin P. Ziegler, Chad M. Hoffman, Brandon M. Collins, Eric E. Knapp, William E. Mell. 2021. Pyric tree spatial patterning interactions in historical and contemporary mixed conifer forests, California, USA
Eric E. Knapp, Alexis A. Bernal, Jeffrey M. Kane, Christopher J. Fettig, Malcolm P. North. 2021. Variable thinning and prescribed fire influence tree mortality and growth during and after a severe drought
Warren P. Reed, J. Morgan Varner, Eric E. Knapp, Jesse K. Kreye. 2020. Long-term changes in masticated woody fuelbeds in northern California and southern Oregon, USA
Eric E. Knapp, Bob Carlson, Malcolm P. North, Jamie Lydersen, Brandon M. Collins. 2020. Restoring forest heterogeneity with thinning and prescribed fire: Initial results from the central Sierra Nevada, California
Jianwei Zhang, Kaelyn Finley, Eric E. Knapp. 2019. Resilience of a ponderosa pine plantation to a backfiring operation during a mid-summer wildfire
Malcolm P. North, Jens Stevens, David F. Greene, Michelle Coppoletta, Eric E. Knapp, Andrew M. Latimer, Christina M. Restaino, Ryan E. Tompkins, Kevin R. Welch, Rob A. York, Derek J.N. Young, Jodi N. Axelson, Tom N. Buckley, Becky Estes, Rachel N. Hager, Jonathan W. Long, Marc D. Meyer, Steven M. Ostoja, Hugh D. Safford, Kristen L. Shive, Carmen L. Tubbesing, Heather Vice, Dana Walsh, Chhaya M. Werner, Peter Wyrsch. 2019. Tamm Review: Reforestation for resilience in dry western U.S. forests
Brandon M. Collins, Jay D. Miller, Eric E. Knapp, David B. Sapsis. 2019. A quantitative comparison of forest fires in central and northern California under early (1911–1924) and contemporary (2002–2015) fire suppression
Natalie C. Pawlikowski, Michelle Coppoletta, Eric E. Knapp, Alan H. Taylor. 2019. Spatial dynamics of tree group and gap structure in an old-growth ponderosa pine-California black oak forest burned by repeated wildfires
Scott L Stephens, Brandon M. Collins, Christopher J. Fettig, Mark A. Finney, Chad M Hoffman, Eric E. Knapp, Malcolm P. North, Hugh Safford, Rebecca B Wayman. 2018. Drought, tree mortality, and wildfire in forests adapted to frequent fire
Eric E. Knapp, Jamie Lydersen, Malcolm P. North, Brandon M. Collins. 2017. Efficacy of variable density thinning and prescribed fire for restoring forest heterogeneity to mixed-conifer forest in the central Sierra Nevada, CA
Becky Estes, Eric E. Knapp, Carl N. Skinner, Jay D. Miller, Haiganoush K. Preisler. 2017. Factors influencing fire severity under moderate burning conditions in the Klamath Mountains, northern California, USA
Andrew Slack, Jeffrey Kane, Eric E. Knapp, Rosemary Sherriff. 2017. Contrasting impacts of climate and competition on large sugar pine growth and defense in a fire-excluded forest of the Central Sierra Nevada
Eric E. Knapp, Martin Ritchie. 2016. Response of understory vegetation to salvage logging following a high-severity wildfire
Jesse K. Kreye, J. Morgan Varner, Jeffrey M. Kane, Eric E. Knapp, Warren P. Reed. 2016. The impact of aging on laboratory fire behaviour in masticated shrub fuelbeds of California and Oregon, USA
Nicolas M. Harrison, Andrew P. Stubblefield, J. Morgan Varner, Eric E. Knapp. 2016. Finding balance between fire hazard reduction and erosion control in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California–Nevada
Jens Stevens, Hugh D. Safford, Malcolm P. North, Jeremy S. Fried, Andrew Gray, Peter M. Brown, Christopher R. Dolanc, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Donald A. Falk, Calvin A. Farris, Jerry F. Franklin, Peter Z. Fulé, R. Keala Hagmann, Eric E. Knapp, Jay D. Miller, Douglas F. Smith, Thomas W. Swetnam, Alan H. Taylor, Julia A. Jones. 2016. Average stand age from forest inventory plots does not describe historical fire regimes in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America
R. Sollmann, Angela M. White, Gina L. Tarbill, Patricia N. Manley, Eric E. Knapp. 2016. Landscape heterogeneity compensates for fuel reduction treatment effects on Northern flying squirrel populations
Jamie Lydersen, Brandon M. Collins, Eric E. Knapp, Gary B. Roller, Scott Stephens. 2015. Relating fuel loads to overstorey structure and composition in a fire-excluded Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest
Eric E. Knapp. 2015. Long-term dead wood changes in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest: habitat and fire hazard implications
Matthew I. Cocking, J. Morgan Varner, Eric E. Knapp. 2014. Long-term effects of fire severity on oak–conifer dynamics in the southern Cascades
Martin Ritchie, Eric E. Knapp. 2014. Establishment of a long-term fire salvage study in an interior ponderosa pine forest
Phillip J. van Mantgem, Jonathan C.B. Nesmith, MaryBeth Keifer, Eric E. Knapp, Alan Flint, Lorriane Flint. 2013. Climatic stress increases forest fire severity across the western United States
Eric E. Knapp, Carl N. Skinner, Malcolm P. North, Becky Estes. 2013. Long-term overstory and understory change following logging and fire exclusion in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest
Jamie Lydersen, Malcolm P. North, Eric E. Knapp, Brandon M. Collins. 2013. Quantifying spatial patterns of tree groups and gaps in mixed-conifer forests: reference conditions and long-term changes following fire suppression and logging
Kevin C. Ryan, Eric E. Knapp, J. Morgan Varner. 2013. Prescribed fire in North American forests and woodlands: history, current practice, and challenges
Martin Ritchie, Eric E. Knapp, Carl N. Skinner. 2013. Snag longevity and surface fuel accumulation following post-fire logging in a ponderosa pine dominated forest
Jay D. Miller, Carl N. Skinner, Hugh D. Safford, Eric E. Knapp, Carlos M. Ramirez. 2012. Northwest California National Forests fire severity monitoring 1987-2008
James D. McIver, Scott L. Stephens, James K. Agee, Jamie Barbour, Ralph E. J. Boerner, Carl B. Edminster, Karen L. Erickson, Kerry L. Farris, Christopher J. Fettig, Carl E. Fiedler, Sally M. Haase, Stephen C. Hart, Jon E. Keeley, Eric E. Knapp, John F. Lehmkuhl, Jason J. Moghaddas, William Otrosina, Kenneth Outcalt, Dylan W. Schwilk, Carl N. Skinner, Tom Waldrop, C. Phillip Weatherspoon, Daniel Yaussy, Andrew Youngblood, Steve Zack. 2012. Ecological effects of alternative fuel-reduction treatments: highlights of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate study (FFS)
Jesse K. Kreye, J.Morgan Varner, Eric E. Knapp. 2012. Moisture desorption in mechanically masticated fuels: effects of particle fracturing and fuelbed compaction
Eric E. Knapp, Phillip C. Weatherspoon, Carl N. Skinner. 2012. Shrub seed banks in mixed conifer forests of northern California and the role of fire in regulating abundance
Scott L. Stephens, Ralph E. J. Boerner, Jason J. Moghaddas, Emily E. Moghaddas, Brandon M. Collins, Christopher B. Dow, Carl Edminster, Carl E. Fiedler, Danny L. Fry, Bruce R. Hartsough, Jon E. Keeley, Eric E. Knapp, James D. McIver, Carl N. Skinner, Andrew Youngblood. 2012. Fuel treatment impacts on estimated wildfire carbon loss from forests in Montana, Oregon, California, and Arizona
Eric E. Knapp, Malcolm P. North, M. Benech, Becky Estes. 2012. Chapter 12: The variable-density thinning study at Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest
Becky Estes, Eric E. Knapp, Carl N. Skinner, Fabian C.C. Uzoh. 2012. Seasonal variation in surface fuel moisture between unthinned and thinned mixed conifer forest, northern California, USA
Carl N. Skinner, H. D. Safford, J. D. Miller, Eric E. Knapp, C. M. Ramirez. 2012. Trends and causes of severity, size, and number of fires in northwestern California, USA
Eric E. Knapp, J. Morgan Varner, Matt D. Busse, Carl N. Skinner, Carol J. Shestak. 2011. Behaviour and effects of prescribed fire in masticated fuelbeds
Jesse K. Kreye, J. Morgan Varner, Eric E. Knapp. 2011. Effects of particle fracturing and moisture content on fire behaviour in masticated fuelbeds burned in a laboratory
Phillip J. Van Mantgem, Nathan L. Stephenson, Eric E. Knapp, John Barrles, Jon E. Keeley. 2011. Long-term effects of prescribed fire on mixed conifer forest structure in the Sierra Nevada, California
Jeffrey M. Kane, J. Morgan Varner, Eric E. Knapp. 2010. Understory vegetation response to mechanical mastication and other fuels treatments in a ponderosa pine forest
Matt D. Busse, Carol J. Shestak, Ken Hubbert, Eric E. Knapp. 2010. Soil physical properties regulate lethal heating during burning of woody residues
Thomas Spies, Jay D. Miller, Joseph B. Buchanan, John F. Lehmkuhl, Jerry F. Franklin, Sean P. Healey, Paul F. Hessburg, Hugh D. Safford, Warren B. Cohen, Rebecca Kennedy, Eric E. Knapp, James K. Agee, Melinda Moeur. 2010. Underestimating risks to the northern spotted owl in fire-prone forests: response to Hanson et al
Noreen Parks, Eric E. Knapp. 2009. Viewing forests through a historical lens
Dylan W. Schwilk, Jon E. Keeley, Eric E. Knapp, James Mciver, John D. Bailey, Christopher J. Fettig, Carl E. Fiedler, Richy J. Harrod, Jason J. Moghaddas, Kenneth Outcalt, Carl N. Skinner, Scott L. Stephens, Tom Waldrop, Daniel Yaussy, Andrew Youngblood. 2009. The national Fire and Fire Surrogate study: effects of fuel reduction methods on forest vegetation structure and fuels
Jay D. Miller, Eric E. Knapp, Carl H. Key, Carl N. Skinner, Clint J. Isbell, R. Max Creasy, Joseph W. Sherlock. 2009. Calibration and validation of the relative differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR) to three measures of fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains, California, USA
Jeffrey M. Kane, J. Morgan Varner, Eric E. Knapp. 2009. Novel fuelbed characteristics associated with mechanical mastication treatments in northern California and south-western Oregon, USA
Eric E. Knapp, Becky Estes, Carl N. Skinner. 2009. Ecological effects of prescribed fire season: a literature review and synthesis for managers
Lawrence A. Rabin, William W. Oliver, Robert F. Powers, Martin Ritchie, Matt D. Busse, Eric E. Knapp. 2009. Historical growth plots in the Pacific Southwest
Scott L. Stephens, Jason J. Moghaddas, Carl Edminster, Carl E. Fiedler, Sally M. Haase, Michael G. Harrington, Jon E. Keeley, Eric E. Knapp, James D. McIver, Kerry Metlen, Carl N. Skinner, Andrew Youngblood. 2009. Fire treatment effects on vegetation structure, fuels, and potential fire severity in western U.S. forests
Sarah T. Hamman, Ingrid C. Burke, Eric E. Knapp. 2008. Soil nutrients and microbial activity after early and late season prescribed burns in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest
Rice Kevin J., Eric E. Knapp. 2008. Effects of competition and life history stage on the expression of local adaptation in two native bunchgrasses
Eric E. Knapp, Dylan W. Schwilk, Jeffrey M. Kane, Jon E. Keeley. 2007. Role of burning season on initial understory vegetation response to prescribed fire in a mixed conifer forest
Andrew Youngblood, Heidi Bigler-Cole, Christopher J. Fettig, Carl Fiedler, Eric E. Knapp, John F. Lehmkuhl, Kenneth Outcalt, Carl N. Skinner, Scott L. Stephens, Thomas A. Waldrop. 2007. Making fire and fire surrogate science available: a summary of regional workshops with clients
Scott M. Ferrenberg, Dylan W. Schwilk, Eric E. Knapp, Eric Groth, Jon E. Keeley. 2006. Fire decreases arthropod abundance but increases diversity: early and late season prescribed fire effects in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest
Dylan W. Schwilk, Eric E. Knapp, Scott M. Ferrenberg, Jon E. Keeley, Anthony Caprio. 2006. Tree mortality from fire and bark beetles following early and late season prescribed fires in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest
Eric E. Knapp, Jon E. Keeley. 2006. Heterogeneity in fire severity with early season and late season prescribed burns in a mixed conifer forest
Jeffrey M. Kane, Eric E. Knapp, J. Morgan Varner. 2006. Variability in Loading of Mechanically Masticated Fuel Beds in Northern California and Southwestern Oregon
Eric E. Knapp, Jon E. Keeley, Elizabeth A. Ballenger, Teresa J. Brennan. 2005. Fuel reduction and coarse woody debris dynamics with early season and late season prescribed fires in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest
Eric E. Knapp, Scott L. Stephens, James D. McIver, Jason J. Moghaddas, Jon E. Keeley. 2004. Fire and fire surrogate study in the Sierra Nevada: evaluating restoration treatments at Blodgett Forest and Sequoia National Park

University of California, Ph.D., Genetics, emphasis population genetics, plant ecology, plant population biology, 1992
University of California, M.S., Agronomy, 1988
University of California, B.A., Biology, 1985

Last updated June 2, 2026

Eric E. Knapp, PhD

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