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My current research interests are on the effects of both natural and human disturbance on forest dynamics and on the influence of understory plants on tree regeneration. Much of my recent research has focused on identifying the influence of land use history and climate on patterns of structural and compositional change in conifer forests in the western United States and east Asia at stand and landscape scales. I have worked extensively on the dynamics of subalpine forests with bamboo in panda habitat in Sichuan, China, and I have done fieldwork on highland bamboo forests in the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda. At Penn State I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Biogeography, Forest Geography, Landscape Ecology, Vegetation Dynamics, and Invasive Species Ecology.
I am currently seeking graduate student applicants to work with me on several of the projects that are described below. Research assistantships are available from May 2003 onwards.
For more information, please visit the Vegetation Dynamics Lab web page, or view Dr. Taylor's CV.
Additional information about these opportunities will be posted soon.
1. Fire-Climate Interactions in California
2. Stand Structure and Dynamics of Giant Sequoia Stands at their Northern Range
4. Yosemite Valley Fire History
5. Development of multimedia educational tools: Fire use in Yosemite National Park
6. Post-doctoral Appointment: Fire-Climate Interactions in California
Matt Beatty (Ph.D) Pre-Euramerican forest structure and dynamics in mixed conifer forests in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California.
Andrew Scholl (PhD). The role of people, fire, and climate on fire and vegetation dynamics in mixed conifer forests in Yosemite National Park, California.
John Sakulich (M.Sc.)Fire Regime Dynamics of Mixed Conifer Forests in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas.
Alejandro Guarin (M.Sc., 2003) Climate-triggered tree mortality in Yosemite National Park, California.
Christine Mares (M.Sc., 2003) Fuel consumption and vegetation response to fire in east side pine forests in northeastern California
Mills, Helen (M.Sc., 2002) Structural and compositional change in vegetation in Chiricahua National Monument, Cochise County, Arizona
Nagel, Tom (M.Sc., 2002) Montane chaparral and high severity fire in mixed conifer forests of the Lake Tahoe Basin, California
Norman, Steve (Ph.D, 2002) Historic and climatic influences on fire regimes and forest dynamics in northeastern California.
Ko, Dong Wook. (M.Sc., 2001) The regeneration status of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California and Nevada.
Kluber, Jennifer (M.Sc., 2000) Twentieth century vegetation changes in Chiricahua National Monument Arizona.
Scholl, Andrew (M.Sc., 1999) Structure and dynamics of red fir (Abies magnifica)-western white pine (Pinus monticola) forests, Carson Range, Nevada
Beaty, Matt (M.Sc., 1998). Matt's research examined variability in fire regimes and forest structure at stand and landscape scales in a small watershed covered with mixed conifer and true fir forests on the western slope of the southern Cascades. The fire regime was remarkably variable for a small watershed this undoubtedly contributed to the high structural diversity present in the watershed.
Arabas, Karen. (Ph.D., 1997). Karen's research examined the effects of historic and experimental prescribed fires on succession and patterns of species abundance in pine and mixed oak forests on serpentine bedrock in southern Pennsylvania. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Science at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.
Bekker, Matt (M.Sc. 1996). Matt's research identified spatial and temporal patterns of fire regime parameters and forest structure in upper montane and mixed conifer forests. A novel finding of his research was that large high severity patch generating fires were historically common in mixed conifer forests. This contradicts the commonly held view of fires in mixed conifer forests being low severity events that drive only fine scale stand dynamics.
Dando, William (M.Sc. 1996). Bill's research identifies the relationship between forest species composition and site conditions in the Ridge and Valley and Pocono Plateau in 1800 and in 1989. All of Bill's data was spatially referenced and analyzed using GIS. His results indicate that site-species associations for presettlement forests are not the same as those in the current highly disturbed forests. Disturbance has caused shifts in regional and landscape scale species distribution patterns.
Solem, Mike (M.Sc. 1995). Mike's research describes fire regimes and stand structural pattern in a forest landscape dominated by red fir and lodgepole pine in the southern Cascades. Mike's research shows that lodgepole pine forests burn with mixed severity and that widespread fires are associated with very dry years.
Wall, Alys (M.Sc. 1998). Alys compared standard dendroclimatic reconstruction methods with those from a nonlinear neural network analysis on a common data set. A novel finding was that for some locations neural networks gave better results which suggests that use of neural networks on large tree-ring data sets could improve our understanding of mechanisms controlling historic climate patterns.
Reference conditions and fire history in mixed conifer forests, Yosemite National Park
Presettlement forests and fire regimes in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Twentieth Century Vegetation Changes in Chiricahua National Monument.
These projects have been funded by the USDA Forest Service, USDI National Park Service, The Joint Fire Sciences Program, World Wildlife Fund, The National Geographic, and the National Academy of Sciences program for advanced study in China.
Taylor, A.H. and C.N. Skinner. 2003. Spatial and temporal patterns of historic fire regimes and forest structure as a reference for restoration of fire in the Klamath Mountains. Ecological Applications (in press).
Taylor, A.H. and M.N. Solem. 2001a. Fire regimes and stand dynamics on an upper montane forest landscape in the southern Cascades, Caribou Wilderness, USA. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Club 128:350-361.
Bekker, M. and A.H. Taylor. 2001b. Gradient analysis of fire regimes in montane forests of the Thousand Lakes Wilderness, southern Cascades, California, USA. Plant Ecology 155:15-28.
Beaty, R.M. and A.H. Taylor. 2001c. Spatial and temporal variation in fire regimes in a mixed conifer forest landscape, southern Cascades, California, USA. Journal of Biogeography 28:955-966.
Taylor, A.H. 2000. Fire history and forest changes along in mid and upper montane forests of the Southern Cascades, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA. Journal of Biogeography 27:87-104.
Taylor, A.H. and Skinner, C.N. 1998. Fire history and landscape dynamics in a late successional reserve, Klamath Mountains, California, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 111:285-301.
Taylor, A.H., and Qin Zisheng 1997. Temperate bamboo forest dynamics and panda conservation in China, in G. Chapman (ed.), The Bamboos, pp. 189-203, Academic Press, New York.
Taylor, A.H., Qin Zisheng, and Liu Jie. 1996. Structure and dynamics of subalpine forests in the Wang Lang Natural Reserve, China. Vegetatio 134:125-138.
Taylor, A.H. 1995. Forest expansion and climate change in the mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) zone, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA. Arctic and Alpine Research 27:207-216.
Taylor, A.H., Qin Zisheng, and Liu Jie. 1995. Tree regeneration in an Abies faxoniana forest after bamboo dieback, Wang Lang Natural Reserve, China. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 25:2034-2039.