Conserving wildlife under changing fire regimes

Conserving wildlife under changing fire regimes

Fire regimes are changing. What will this mean for wildlife? In the face of rapid environmental changes, animals have three choices: adapt, move, or die. Wildlife responses to changing fire regimes will be no different. In this talk, Dr. Gavin Jones discusses how fire regimes have shaped patterns of wildlife diversity, the effects of megafires on focal species, and how management interventions might move the needle on wildlife conservation in a fiery future.

Presenter Biographies

Gavin Jones is a Research Ecologist with Rocky Mountain Research Station in the Wildlife and Terrestrial Ecosystems Program (USDA Forest Service), and an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the University of New Mexico. Gavin earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. His research group combines empirical field data, ecological theory, and quantitative approaches to figure out how to more effectively conserve wildlife and their ecosystems. Much of his past and ongoing work focuses on how wildlife respond to fire and forest management, and the ecology and conservation of wildlife in fire-prone ecosystems.