New publications on modeling the effects of fire on vegetation

In this new publication in Ecological Modelling, the authors address the relationship between ecohydrology and wildfire and the representation of fire effects on vegetation carbon in ecohydrologic models, which requires a fully coupled modeling approach where wildfire and its effects co-evolve with ecohydrologic processes. Here they present the integration of a fire-effects model that is coupled to the distributed ecohydrologic model RHESSys and the fire-spread model WMFire. 

Bart, R.R., Kennedy, M.C., Tague, C.L., McKenzie, D. (2019) Integrating fire effects on vegetation carbon cycling within an ecohydrologic model, Ecological Modelling 416(2020): 108880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108880

New Publication: does forest thinning enhance the activity & growth of remaining trees?

In this new publication, the authors conducted a large-scale thinning experiment in a semi-arid pine afforestation in the Yatir forest, located at the northern edge of the Negev desert, Israel. RHESSys was also used to upscale tree-scale measurements.

Tsamir, M., Gottlieb, S., Preisler, Y., Rotenberg, E., Tatarinov, F., Yakir, D., Tague, C., Klein, T., Stand density effects on carbon and water fluxes in a semi-arid forest, from leaf to stand-scale, Forest Ecology and Management 453: 117573. doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117573

Ty Brandt PhD Dissertation Defense

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New WRR Publication

In this new publication, authors Gabrielle Boisrame, Sally Thompson, Naomi Tague, and Scott Stephens use RHESSys to look at the hydrologic response of a restored fire regime in a basin within Yosemite National Park, California.

Boisrame, G.F.S, Thompson, S.E., Tague C., Stephens, S.L. (2019) Restoring a Natural Fire Regime Alters the Water Balance of a Sierra Nevada Catchment, WRR https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024098

Tague presentation at Gordon Conference

Naomi Tague recently presented “Animating Green Stuff in Hydrologic Models: Where We Are and What Is Next?” at the Gordon Research Conference –  Catchment Science: Interactions of Hydrology, Biology and Geochemistry, Transcending the Uniqueness of Place in the Age of Big Data, June 23-28 at Proctor Academy in Andover, NH.

New Publication -investigating forest thinning and the influence of subsurface features on water use and regeneration

In this new publication in Frontiers, authors Naomi (Christina) Tague and Max Moritz highlight the importance of accounting for site-specific variation, such as soil water storage capacity, in assessing how fuel treatments may interact with ecosystem water use and drought vulnerability, and ultimately downslope impacts on streamflow.

Tague, C.L., Moritz, M.A. (2019) Plant Accessible Water Storage Capacity and Tree-Scale Root Interactions Determine How Forest Density Reductions Alter Forest Water Use and Productivity, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2:36. doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00036

Eco‐hydrologic impacts of forest density reduction in seasonally dry regions

In their new publication ” The changing water cycle: The eco‐hydrologic impacts of forest density reduction in Mediterranean (seasonally dry) regions“, authors Tague, Moritz, and Hanan, offer an eco‐hydrologic perspective that considers both how much water trees use (hydrology) but also how water availability affects forest ecophysiology and health (ecology). This eco‐hydrologic perspective helps to build a conceptual model of the mechanisms through which changes in forest structure and composition can influence water availability, forest productivity, and mortality patterns, particularly in Mediterranean‐climate regions, both during and after droughts.

Tague, C.L., Moritz, M., Hanan, E. (2019) The changing water cycle: The eco‐hydrologic impacts of forest density reduction in Mediterranean (seasonally dry) regions, WIREs 6(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1350

Congratulations Heckman

Congratulations to Tague Team PhD student Chris Heckman on successfully defending his PhD thesis proposal “Forest resiliency through a sub-surface lens”.
Using the RHESSys model, Chris’s research explores how the vast variability in soil water storage across the Sierra Nevada will affect vegetation’s response to climate change.

Katalyn Voss PhD thesis defense

Katalyn Voss, PhD candidate and TagueTeamLab friend, will this morning defend her PhD thesis “Contributions of Glacial Melt, Snowmelt, and Groundwater to Streamflow During Low-Flow Periods: A Paired Catchment Approach in the Arun Watershed, Eastern Nepal”. Naomi Tague is a member of her PhD committee.
9am 6th floor Ellison Hall – ERI conference room.

Team Citeplan Bren MESM project

TagueTeamLab leader Naomi Tague and member Will Burke were advisors on the Bren MESM project for Team Citeplan, who spent the last year investigating the relationship between timber management, fire regimes, and wildfire behavior. Now, their findings and deliverables are being sent to a team of researchers at UC Berkeley and to officials at CAL FIRE where they will hopefully use Citeplan’s standardized approach for Wildfire Risk and Hazard assessment.
Congratulations to Bren MESM student team members Caitlin Swalec, Lauren Krohmer, Emma Siegfried, Laura Gray, and Courtney Schatzman on completing this project!