Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, PhD

Treesearch Publications

• Donald J. Brown [editor], Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy [editor], Corinne A. Diggins [editor], Alexander Silvis [editor], Kathryn M. Shallows [editor]. 2026. Ecology and Restoration of Red Spruce Ecosystems in the Central and Southern Appalachians
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Mary Beth Adams. 2024. Proceedings of the 22nd Central Hardwood Forest Conference: managing future forests today
• Gregory J. Nowacki, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2024. Using witness trees as pyro-indicators to depict past fire environments across the eastern United States
• Joseph M. Gray, Jamie L. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Sophan Chhin. 2023. Reference Curves for Central Appalachian Red Spruce
• Cynthia Huebner, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Chris A. Underwood. 2023. Comparison of seed bank composition over a gradient of pyrophilic vegetation
• Jessica LaBella, Jordge LaFantasie, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Louis M. McDonald. 2022. Effect of light interception on photosynthetic capacity and vegetative reproduction of running buffalo clover
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2022. Twenty-year trends in running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum Muhl. Ex A. Eaton; Fabaceae) on a managed forest in northeastern West Virginia
• Gregory J. Nowacki, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2022. The influence of historic fire on the Midwestern Tension Zone
• W. Mark Ford, Joshua B. Johnson, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2021. Northern Long-Eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) Day-Roost Loss in the Central Appalachian Mountains following Prescribed Burning
• George E. Hahn, T. Adam Coates, W. Michael Aust, M. Chad Bolding, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2021. Long-term impacts of silvicultural treatments on wildland fuels and modeled fire behavior in the Ridge and Valley Province, Virginia (USA)
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Jessica D. Perkins, Crystal Krause, Cynthia Huebner, Lorenzo Ferrari, Linda S. Smith. 2021. Primeval Paths: Bison in West Virginia
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Randall Morin. 2020. Change in Montane Forests of East-central West Virginia over 250 years
• George E. Hahn, T. Adam Coates, W. Michael Aust, Carolyn A. Copenheaver, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2020. Eight years later, did a wildfire in southwestern Virginia accomplish first-entry prescribed fire tree regeneration objectives?
• Stacy Byrd, Scott E. Schlarbaum, Barbara S. Crane, Cornelia Wilson, Paul Schaberg, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2020. Restoration of the American chestnut will require more than a blight-resistant tree
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Gregory J. Nowacki, Roger C. Anderson, Marlin L. Bowles, Richard B. Brugam, Noel B. Pavlovic, Samniqueka Halsey, Jenny McBride. 2020. Visualizing the Ecological Importance of pre-Euro-American Settlement Fire across Three Midwestern Landscapes
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2019. Inferring fire regimes from data you may already have: assessing landfire fire regime maps using local products
• Emma Georgia Thompson, Thomas Adam Coates, Wallace Michael Aust, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2019. Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Effects on Forest Floor Properties and Erosion Potential in the Central Appalachian Region, USA
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Thomas M. Schuler, Mary Beth Adams. 2018. Early impacts of fire and canopy gaps on seedling and sapling layers: evidence for reversing mesophication? In: Kirschman, Julia E., comp
• John Brown, Jan K. Wiedenbeck, Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2018. Patterns of overstory mortality in a shelterwood- burn central Appalachian forest
• Patricia R. Butler-Leopold, Louis Iverson, Frank R. Thompson, Leslie Brandt, Stephen Handler, Maria Janowiak, P. Danielle Shannon, Chris Swanston, Scott Bearer, Alexander M. Bryan, Ken Clark, Greg Czarnecki, Philip DeSenze, William D. Dijak, Jacob S. Fraser, Paul F. Gugger, Andrea Hille, Justin Hynicka, Claire A. Jantz, Matthew C. Kelly, Katrina M. Krause, Inga La Puma, Deborah Landau, Richard G. Lathrop, Laura P. Leites, Evan Madlinger, Stephen Matthews, Gulnihal Ozbay, Matthew Peters, Anantha M. Prasad, David A. Schmit, Collin Shephard, Rebecca Shirer, Nicholas Skowronski, Al Steele, Susan L. Stout, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, John Thompson, Richard M. Turcotte, David A. Weinstein, Alfonso Yáñez. 2018. Mid-Atlantic forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis: a report from the Mid-Atlantic Climate Change Response Framework project
• Jean Lorber, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Steve Croy. 2018. Characterizing effects of prescribed fire on forest canopy cover in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
• John Brown, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Thomas M. Schuler, Jan K. Wiedenbeck. 2018. Silvicultural Prescriptions Influence the Proportion of High-Quality Hardwood Butt Logs Harvested over a Half-Century of Management
• John Brown, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Thomas M. Schuler. 2018. Overstory cohort survival in an Appalachian hardwood deferment cutting: 35-year results
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Pamela Edwards, Thomas M. Schuler. 2018. Establishment of native species on a natural gas pipeline: the importance of seeding rate, aspect, and species selection
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Jane Bard, Jeff Kochenderfer, Paul Berrang. 2017. Mortality, early growth, and blight occurrence in hybrid, Chinese, and American chestnut seedlings in West Virginia
• Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, John Brown, Jan K. Wiedenbeck. 2017. Managing Appalachian hardwood stands using four management practices: 60-year results
• Michael P. Strager, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Aaron E. Maxwell. 2016. Predicting post-fire change in West Virginia, USA from remotely-sensed data
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Robert Whetsell. 2016. West Virginia's big trees: setting the record straight
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Gregory J. Nowacki. 2016. Landscape-fire relationships inferred from bearing trees in Minnesota
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Robert Whetsell. 2016. Realistic restoration targets
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Katharina U. Wood, James S. Rentch. 2015. Impacts of wildfire recency and frequency on an Appalachian oak forest
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Gregory J. Nowacki, Charles V. Cogbill. 2015. Mapping pyrophilic percentages across the northeastern United States using witness trees, with focus on four national forests
• Adele Fenwick, Jamie L. Schuler, Shawn Grushecky, Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2014. Kanawha State Forest, WV: Wildland fire fuel load assessment and geospatial distribution
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2014. Mapping fire regimes from data you may already have: assessing LANDFIRE fire regime maps using local products
• Stacy Byrd, Scott E. Schlarbaum, Cornelia Wilson, Sandra L. Anagnostakis, Michael R. Saunders, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Paul Schaberg, James McKenna, Jane F. Bard, Paul C. Berrang, David M. Casey, Chris E. Casey, Barbara Crane, Brian D. Jackson, Jeff D. Kochenderfer, Russ MacFarlane, Robert Makowske, Mark Miller, Jason A. Rodrigue, Jim Stelick, Christopher D. Thornton, Tyler S. Williamson. 2014. Reintroduction of American Chestnut in the National Forest System
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Brian R. R. Sturtevant. 2014. Using scenario modeling for red spruce restoration planning in West Virginia
• N.K. Jensen, E.J. Holzmueller, Pamela Edwards, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, D.R. DeWalle, K.W.J. Williard. 2014. Tree response to experimental watershed acidification
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, James Rentch, Mary Beth Adams, Walter Carson. 2014. Reversing legacy effects in the understory of an oak-dominated forest
• Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Mary Beth Adams, W. Mark Ford. 2013. Analysis of two pre-shelterwood prescribed fires in a mesic mixed-oak forest in West Virginia
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Gregory J. Nowacki. 2013. The use of witness trees as pyro-indicators for mapping past fire conditions
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Michael Strager, James Rentch. 2012. Site characteristics of red spruce witness tree locations in the uplands of West Virginia, USA
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Michael P. Strager. 2012. European settlement-era vegetation of the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia
• Mary Beth Adams, Pamela Edwards, W. Mark Ford, Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Frederica Wood. 2012. Fernow Experimental Forest: Research History and Opportunities
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Michael Strager. 2011. Site characteristics of American chestnut, oak, and hickory witness trees on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia
• Mary Beth Adams, W. Mark Ford, Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2011. Effects of natural gas development on forest ecosystems
• Mary Beth Adams, Pamela Edwards, W. Mark Ford, Joshua B. Johnson, Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Frederica Wood. 2011. Effects of development of a natural gas well and associated pipeline on the natural and scientific resources of the Fernow Experimental Forest
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2010. Red spruce as witness tree on the Monongahela National Forest
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2010. Red spruce restoration modeling in LANDIS
• Thomas M. Schuler, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Mary Beth Adams, Mark Ford. 2010. Seed bank response to prescribed fire in the central Appalachians.
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Thomas M. Schuler. 2008. Deferred rotation harvests in central Appalachia: 20- and 25-year results
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Gregory J. Nowacki, Thomas M. Schuler. 2007. Rule-based mapping of fire-adapted vegetation and fire regimes for the Monongahela National Forest
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 2006. Assigning fire regimes on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia
• Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy. 1999. A comparison of FVS/Suppose computed volume with USDA Forest Service cruise volume on the Monongahela National Forest

Citations of Non-Forest Service Publications

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/Product/RDS-2014-0022
• https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/catalog/RDS-2021-0056
• https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/catalog/RDS-2021-0055
• https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/catalog/RDS-2017-0052

Data and Tools

• Dataset
  

  Silvics of North America

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/products/dataandtools/silvics-north-america

• Project
  

  Studying Fire History Using Witness Trees

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/nrs/projects/witnesstrees
  Station

  Northern Research Station
• Program
  

  Ecological Sustainability of Central Appalachian Forests

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/nrs/programs/appalachian
  Station

  Northern Research Station
• Project
  

  Mapping Past, Present, and Future Hydro-Ecology, Fire, and Vegetation for Oak Ecosystem Restoration

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/nrs/projects/hydro-ecology-fire-vegetation-oak
  Station

  Northern Research Station
• Experimental Forest or Range
  

  Fernow Experimental Forest

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/nrs/forestsandranges/locations/fernow
  Station

  Northern Research Station

Multimedia

• Webinars

  Planning for Oak Restoration at Scale

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/nrs/products/multimedia/webinars/planning-oak-restoration-scale-0
• Webinars

  SCIENCEx Experimental Forests and Ranges Week: Silviculture

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/products/multimedia/webinars/sciencex-experimental-forests-and-ranges-week-silviculture
• Webinars

  Primeval Paths: Bison in West Virginia

  https://research.fs.usda.gov/nrs/products/multimedia/webinars/primeval-paths-bison-west-virginia

• West Virginia University, Ph.D., Forest Resources Sciences, 2011
• State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, M.S., Resource Management/Silviculture, 1992
• Davis and Elkins College, B.S., Pre-forestry, 1989