Articles

Wildflowers offer a diverse array of nutrients from pollen and nectar which are important for wild pollinator communities. A new study shows that different wild bee species have a range of nutritional needs, requiring nutritionally diverse plant communities to better support them.

A new project examines various combinations of fuel reduction treatment activities across the elevational gradient of forest types along the Front Range of the southern Rocky Mountains to understand how burn severity is altered when challenged with wildfire.

Terrain-induced wake vortices can generate tornado-scale fire whirls. The Deer Creek Fire provided a natural laboratory for understanding fire-generated tornadic vortices and their relationship to deep convection. This event involved ingestion of ambient vertical vorticity from a terrain-generated mountain wake. The observed sequence—shedding of von Kármán wake vortices, fire intensificatio...

The FireWorks curriculum has become an essential resource for educators because it makes fire science accessible, relatable, and fun. Thousands of students use the program each year, gaining a clearer understanding of wildfire and its role in the environment—knowledge that is increasingly important as many communities experience more fire.

Where can managers maximize restoration work for High-Five pine species? Using 30 years of field data and current knowledge of blister rust, new models developed by Forest Service scientists identify areas likely to be at risk and help prioritize areas for restoration and maintenance of healthy populations.

Forest managers have continued challenges with exotic plant species following timber harvest. A new project looks at understory responses for seven years post-timber harvest across ten timber sales on the Black Hills National Forest.

Researchers are working to get ahead of smooth brome invasion and determine management options for both the public and private land managers.

Educational materials and demonstrations by smaller NGOs may help landowners consider the benefits of prescribed fire on or near the Dakota Prairie Grassland.

Ongoing work with the belowground plant community is improving our insights into ecological theory to provide managers with a more comprehensive picture of nutrient acquisition and storage from a whole-plant perspective.

Fire-managed forests of the past provide an alternative option for management.

What can ranch managers expect in terms of forage quality after prescribed fire in the Great Plains? Initial findings from a new comprehensive study in the mixed grass prairie detail how adaptive management can help.

A new project reconstructs the historical vegetation of Kentucky - without frequent surface fires, fire-tolerant oaks have experienced a severe decline.

Producers are dealing with swings in forage availability for their livestock. A new resource called the South Dakota Drought Tool supports increased efficiency in herd production.

The NOAA Fire Weather Testbed facilitated integration of the Forest Service’s WindNinja model into the National Weather Service's spot weather forecasting system. This allows forecasters the new capability to run and visualize WindNinja in operational viewers for automated spot weather forecasts.

National Forests and Grasslands currently are estimated to store around 57 percent of their carbon potential. Planting riparian forests can more than double initial carbon accumulation rates versus natural regeneration, suggesting restoration of these areas can be highly impactful for land managers.

Western Forbs synthesizes knowledge gained from decades of research and practical experience with more than 50 native forb species.

Historical fire regimes are a useful but imperfect guide to future management for ecological integrity. Direct plant and animal data, where available, can reveal management targets that historical estimates alone would miss.

For six years, Forest Inventory and Analysis has supported the Oconaluftee Job Corps CCC by providing training in how to do forest inventories.

Fire managers rely on fuel moisture and wildfire danger models to assess conditions for prescribed burning and prioritize resources during busy wildfire seasons. These models have historically focused on the moisture content of surface fuels, like sticks and logs, but have ignored the role of soil moisture and its effects on living fuels, such as shrubs and trees. As it turns out, soil moisture is a critical driver of fire spread.

The Asian longhorned beetle arrived in the United States via solid wood packing materials and continues to pose a massive threat to North American forests. Ecologist R. Talbot Trotter III from the Forest Service’s Northern Research Station worked with colleagues from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to develop Asian Longhorned Beetle Eradication and Risk Tracking (ALBERT) 1.0 as a toolkit to support invasive insect eradication programs. Together, these tools within ALBERT 1.0 support managers by estimating infestation risk, tracking changes over time, and evaluating management strategies.