Dr Jeanne Chambers – Measuring Ecological Resilience to Combat Wildfires
Original Article Reference
This SciPod is a summary of the paper ‘Operationalizing Resilience and Resistance Concepts to Address Invasive Grass-Fire Cycles’, from Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00185
About this episode
Invasive plants can permanently alter ecosystems to promote conditions that support their own persistence. For example, certain invasive grasses can make areas prone to more frequent and larger wildfires, which negatively impact native species but favour fire-resistant invaders. This self-perpetuating process, termed a grass-fire cycle, can be impossible to reverse. Dr Jeanne Chambers of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rocky Mountain Research Station and her colleagues – Matt Brooks, Matt Germino, Jeremy Maestas, David Board, Matt Jones, and Brady Allred – recently examined how an ecosystem’s resilience to fire and resistance to invasive grasses influence whether a grass-fire cycle will establish. In their paper, the scientists introduced a geospatial tool and decision matrix that incorporate measures of ecological resilience and resistance to invasive grasses for designing management strategies to combat grass-fire cycles.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 
What does this mean?
Share: You can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt: You can change, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Credit: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
More episodes
Dr. Ali Najarnezhadmashhadi | Where Gas Meets Liquid: Rethinking Carbon Capture for a Net-Zero Future
The story of climate change is often told through numbers. Rising temperatures, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, and tightening timelines toward global climate targets dominate headlines. Yet behind these numbers lies a quieter, more complex story of engineering innovation. It is a story about how we might redesign industrial systems to reduce emissions without dismantling the infrastructure that modern life depends on. At the center of this effort is carbon capture, a technology that has shifted from theoretical promise to practical necessity.
Mara Bălașa – Professor Rickard Sandberg | Green Steel and the Price of a Cleaner Future
Steel is everywhere. It forms the skeletons of skyscrapers, the frames of cars, the rails beneath trains, and the machines that build modern economies. Yet behind this essential material lies a difficult truth. Steelmaking is one of the world’s most carbon intensive industries. Each ton of conventional steel can release nearly two tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As countries race to reduce emissions and limit climate change, transforming the way steel is made has become an urgent challenge.
Dr. Clayton Raines | From Alewives to Bass: Discovering the Viruses Lurking in North America’s Fish
In rivers and lakes across North America, fish carry secrets invisible to the naked eye, secrets that researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Eastern Ecological Science Center are determined to help uncover. With a passion for aquatic health and an interest in viral sleuthing, these researchers, including Dr. Clayton Raines, a fish biologist, have conducted groundbreaking research that is reshaping our understanding of fish disease. From uncovering a new virus in alewives to decoding the mystery behind the blotchy skin of black basses, this work not only expands the frontiers of fish virology but also reveals the hidden complexities of ecosystems. Here, we explore Raines’ and colleagues’ fascinating findings and their implications for fish management, conservation, and the health of freshwater species.
Prof. Debra Zoran | After the Storm: Protecting Companion Animals in Crisis
When disaster strikes, the images that dominate news coverage are almost always human centered. We see flooded neighborhoods, collapsed buildings, families waiting in shelters, and exhausted first responders. Yet woven into nearly every one of those scenes is another presence, often trembling at the end of a leash or peering out from a carrier. Companion animals are not an afterthought in modern life. They are family members, sources of emotional stability, and in some cases essential partners such as service dogs. As natural and human-made disasters grow in frequency and severity, the question of how to protect people inevitably includes the question of how to protect their animals.
Increase the impact of your research
• Good science communication helps people make informed decisions and motivates them to take appropriate and affirmative action.
• Good science communication encourages everyday people to be scientifically literate so that they can analyse the integrity and legitimacy of information.
• Good science communication encourages people into STEM-related fields of study and employment.
• Good public science communication fosters a community around research that includes both members of the public, policymakers and scientists.
• In a recent survey, 75% of people suggested they would prefer to listen to an interesting story than read it.
Step 1 Upload your science paper
Step 2 SciPod script written
Step 3 Voice audio recorded
Step 4 SciPod published