Scott Stephens

Associate Professor of Fire Science
Ph.D.  Wildland Resource Science    University of California, Berkeley, 1995
B.S.   Eletricial Engineering    Sacramento State University, 1985

137 Mulford Hall (mail)
209 Mulford Hall (office)
Berkeley, California 94720
stephens@nature.berkeley.edu
office: 510-642-7304   lab: 510-642-7304   fax:  510-643-5438

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I am interested in the interactions of wildland fire and ecosystems. This includes how prehistoric fires once interacted with ecosystems, how current wildland fires are affecting ecosystems, and how future fires and management may change this interaction. I am also interested in wildland fire policy and how it can be improved to meet the challenges of the next decades. How fire will be affected by climate change is a new area of research.

Wildland fires typically have very complex behaviors. They are affected by changes in fuels, topography, weather, and ignition patterns. This diverse behavior produces equally diverse effects. I believe to predict fire effects you must first quantify fire behavior and fuel consumption, fire size, fire season, and past fire occurrence. In many cases the use of replicated experimental prescribed fires are necessary to make inferences. Information from these studies can then be used to develop quantitative models. Currently there is substantial debate on how or if land managers should reduce fuel hazards or engage in salvage logging and have given testimony on this topic on three occasions at the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Forest and Forest Health and Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands (http://cnr.berkeley.edu/stephens-lab/stephens.htm). I believe the central question in this debate is the definition of desired future conditions for our diverse ecosystems. Once we have this then we must decide what management tools are appropriate to achieve and maintain the desired conditions

Sierra San Pedro Martir Mountains, Mexico. One large, mixed conifer ecosystem exists in western North America where logging has never occurred and a policy of large-scale fire suppression was never initiated, this area is in the Sierra San Pedro Martir (SSPM) Mountains. The SSPM is unique within the California floristic province in that its open forests are still influenced by lightning ignited fires. This research project has collected quantitative information on fire history and what types of forest structures (live tree densities, fuel loads, snag densities, regeneration) exist in a mixed conifer forest that has a disturbance regime that has not been affected by management, with the exception of livestock grazing. Spatial patterns of regeneration and forest insects and diseases are also being investigated.

Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project. The goals of the research proposed here is to learn how to use an adaptive management and monitoring system to understand ecosystem behavior, incorporate stakeholder participation, and inform the implementation of adaptive management for Forest Service lands in the Sierra Nevada of California. The preferred alternative is to apply strategic fuel management at the landscape level. The approach is based on the theory (Finney 2001) that disconnected fuel treatment patches that overlap in the direction of the head fire spread reduce the overall rate and intensity of the fire. Despite the sound conceptual underpinning of strategic fuel treatments, there is uncertainty regarding their efficacy in modifying fire behavior and concern regarding potential impacts on wildlife and water resources. Scott Stephens and John Battles are leading the Fire and Forest Health module of this project. More information can be found at http://snamp.cnr.berkeley.edu/

Fire and Fire Surrogates Treatments for Ecological Restoration. Current coniferous forests in many areas of the US are denser and more spatially uniform, have more small trees and fewer large trees, and have greater quantities of forest fuels than did their presettlement counterparts. The results include a deterioration in forest health and sustainability, and an increased probability of large, high-severity wildfires. The need for restorative practices is clear. Less clear, however, is the appropriate balance among cuttings, mechanical fuel treatments, and prescribed fire. What components or processes are changed or lost, and with what effects, if fire "surrogates" such as cuttings and mechanical fuel treatments are used instead of fire, or in combination with fire? This is the area addressed by this project. Stephens is the principal investigator on the Sierra Nevada research site at the University of California Blodgett Research Forest. The first 6 years of this project and done, another proposal to continue work is being developed.

ESPM Department Undergradute Teaching Award 2004

Millar, C.I., Stephenson, N.L., and Stephens, S.L. 2007. Climate change and forests of the future: Managing in the face of uncertainty. Ecological Applications (in press).

McCaffrey, S., J.J. Moghaddas, and S.L. Stephens. 2007. What is public opinion concerning fuel treatment? Field survey results from the fire and fire surrogate fuel treatments in a Sierran mixed conifer forest, California, USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire (in press).

Stephens, S.L., Martin, R.E., and Clinton, N.E. 2007. Prehistoric fire area and emissions from California’s forests, woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands. Forest Ecology and Management (in press).

Moritz, M., and S.L. Stephens. 2007. Fire and sustainability: Considerations for California’s altered future climate. Climatic Change (in press).

Collins, B.M., and Stephens, S.L. 2007. Managing natural wildfires in Sierra Nevada wilderness areas. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment DOI: 10.1890/070007

Moghaddas, E.E.Y., and Stephens, S.L. 2007. Thinning, burning, and thin-burn fuel treatment effects on sol properties in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 250:156-166.

Stephens, S.L., Fry, D. L., Franco-Vizcaino, E., Collins, B.M., and Moghaddas, J.J. 2007. Coarse woody debris and canopy cover in an old-growth Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forest from the Sierra San Pedro Martir, Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 240: 87-95.

Collins, B.M., Kelly, N.K., van Wagtendonk, J.W., and Stephens, S.L. 2007. Spatial patterns of large natural fires in Sierra Nevada wilderness areas. Landscape Ecology 22: 545-557.

Stephens, S.L., and Collins, B.M. 2007. Fire policy in the urban-wildland interface in the United States: What are the issues and possible solutions. In: Living on the edge: economics, institutional and management perspectives on wildfire hazards in the urban interface. Advances in the Economics of Environmental Resources, Vol. 6. Elsevier Ltd. Pp. 33-42.

Evett, R., Franco-Vizcaino, E., and Stephens, S.L. 2007. Comparing modern and past fire regimes to assess changes in prehistoric lightning and anthropogenic ignitions in a Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forest in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, Mexico. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37: 318-330.

Collins, B. M., Moghaddas, J. J., and Stephens, S. L. 2007. Initial changes in forest structure and understory plant community following fuel reduction activities in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 239: 102-111.

Menning, K.M., and Stephens, S.L. 2007. Fire climbing in the forest: a semi-qualitative, semi-quantitative approach to assessing ladder fuel hazards. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 22: 88-93.

Evett, R., Franco-Vizcaino, E., and Stephens, S.L. 2007. Phytolith evidence for the absence of a prehistoric grass understory in a Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forest in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, Mexico. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37: 306-317.

Kobziar, L., Moghaddas, J. J., and Stephens, S. L. 2006. Tree mortality patterns following prescribed fires in a mixed conifer forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36: 3222-3238.

Schmidt, L., Hille, M.G., and Stephens, S.L., 2006. Restoring northern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest composition and structure with prescribed fire. Fire Ecology 2: 20-33.

Apigian, K., D. Dahlsten, and S.L. Stephens. 2006. Biodiversity of Coleoptera and the importance of habitat structural features in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest. Environmental Entomology 35: 964-975.

Kobziar, L., and Stephens, S. L. 2006. The effects of fuels treatments on soil carbon respiration in a Sierra Nevada pine plantation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 141: 161-178.

Moody, T.J., Fites-Kaufman, J., and Stephens, S.L. 2006. Fire history and climate influences from forests in the northern Sierra Nevada, USA. Fire Ecology 2: 115-141.

Stephens, S.L., Sugihara, N.G., 2006. Fire management and policy since European settlement. Sugihara, NG, van Wagtendonk, J, Shaffer, KE , Fites-Kaufman, J, , Thode, AE, editors. Fire in California’s ecosystems. California: University of California Press. Berkeley. Pp. 431-443.

Husari, S., Nichols, T., Sugihara, N.G. Stephens, S.L., 2006. Fuel management. Sugihara, NG, van Wagtendonk, J, Shaffer, KE , Fites-Kaufman, J, , Thode, AE, editors. Fire in California’s ecosystems. California: University of California Press. Berkeley. Pp. 444-465.

Stuart, J., Stephens, S.L., 2006. North coast California bioregion. Sugihara, NG, van Wagtendonk, J, Shaffer, KE , Fites-Kaufman, J, , Thode, AE, editors. Fire in California’s ecosystems. California: University of California Press. Berkeley. Pp. 147-169.

Fry, D.L., and S.L. Stephens. 2006. Influence of humans and climate on the fire history of a Ponderosa pine-mixed conifer forest in the southeastern Klamath Mountains, California. Forest Ecology and Management 223: 428-438.

Stephens, S.L., and W.J. Libby. 2006. Anthropogenic fire and bark thickness in coastal and island pine populations from Alta and Baja California. Journal of Biogeography 33: 648-652.

Apigian, K., D. Dahlsten, and S.L. Stephens. 2006. Fire and fire surrogate treatment effects on leaf litter arthropods in a western Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 221:110-122.

Stephens, S.L., and D. R. Fry. 2005. Spatial distribution of regeneration patches in an old-growth Pinus jeffreyi-mixed conifer forest in northwestern Mexico. Journal of Vegetation Science 16:693-702.

Stephens, S.L., and P.Z. Fule. 2005. Western pine forests with continuing frequent fire regimes: Possible reference sites for management. Journal of Forestry 103(7): 357-362.

Beche, L.A., S.L. Stephens, and V.H. Resh. 2005. Prescribed fire effects on a riparian and stream community in the Sierra Nevada: Dark Canyon Creek, California, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 218:37-59

Hille, M.G., and S.L. Stephens. 2005. Hille, M.G., and S.L. Stephens. 2005. Mixed conifer forest duff consumption during prescribed fires: Tree crown impacts. Forest Science 51: 417-424.

Purcell, K., and S.L. Stephens. 2005. Purcell, K., and S.L. Stephens. 2005. Changing fire regimes and the avifauna of California oak woodlands. Studies in Avian Biology. 30:33-45.

Stephens, S.L and J. J. Moghaddas. 2005. Silvicultural and reserve impacts on potential fire behavior and forest conservation: 25 years of experience from Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests. Biological Conservation 25: 369-379.

Stephens, S.L. 2005. Forest fire causes and extent on United States Forest Service Lands. International Journal of Wildland Fire 14: 213-222.

Stephens, S.L and J. J. Moghaddas. 2005. Experimental fuel treatment impacts on forest structure, potential fire behavior, and predicted tree mortality in a mixed conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 215:21-36.

Stephens, S.L and J. J. Moghaddas. 2005. Fuel treatment effects on snags and coarse woody debris in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 214:53-64.

Stephens, S.L. and Ruth, L.W. 2005. Federal forest fire policy in the United States. Ecological Applications 15:532-542.

Stephens, S.L., and D.L. Fry. 2005. Fire history in coast redwood stands in the northeastern Santa Cruz Mountains, California. Fire Ecology 1:2-19.

Stephens, S.L. and Gill, S.J. 2005. Forest structure and mortality in an old-growth Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forest in northwestern Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 205:15-28.

Stephens, S.L., Piirto, D.D., and D.F. Caramagno, 2004. Fire regimes and resultant forest structure in the native Ano Nuevo Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) forest, California. American Midlland Naturalist 152: 25-36.

Stephens, S.L., Finney, M.A., and Schantz, H. 2004. Bulk density and fuel loads of ponderosa pine and white fir forest floors: impacts of leaf morphology. Northwest Science 78: 93-100. Stephens, S.L. 2004. Fuel loads, snag density, and snag recruitment in an unmanaged Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forest in northwestern Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 199: 103-113.

Stephens, S.L. and Collins, B.M. 2004. Fire regimes of mixed conifer forests in the north-central Sierra Nevada at multiple spatial scales. Northwest Science 78: 12-23.

Stephens, S.L., Meixner, T., Poth, M., McGurk, B, Payne, D. 2004. Prescribed fire, soils, and stream water chemistry in a watershed in the Lake Tahoe Basin. International Journal of Wildland Fire 13: 27-35.

Stephens, S.L., Skinner, C.N., Gill, S.J., 2003. Dendrochronology-based fire history of Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forests in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, Mexico. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33:1090-1101.

Stephens, S.L., and M.A. Finney, 2002. Prescribed fire mortality of Sierra Nevada mixed conifer tree species: effects of crown damage and forest floor combustion. Forest Ecology and Management 162: 261-271.

Stephens, S.L. 2001. Fire history of adjacent Jeffrey pine and upper montane forests in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. International Journal of Wildland Fire 10:161-167.