Featured Publications
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Climate change, weather, and geography shape seed mass variation and decline across Western North America
Plants can vary their seed size in response to their environment, and as the world changes, how are seeds responding? The answer: some are getting smaller, some are getting bigger, and there are very pronounced species-specific effects.
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Strong patterns of intraspecific variation and local adaptation in Great Basin plants revealed through a review of 75 years of experiments
How common is local adaptation in the Great Basin? Extremely common! To-date, this is the largest meta-analysis of local adaptation in the world, and it was truly a labor of love.
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Nontarget effects of herbicides on annual forbs and seeded grass in the Great Basin, United States, are partially offset by planting depth and application rate
Herbicides such as indaziflam and imazipic can be useful tools in restoration, but they do have non-target effects. Some can be offset with lower application rates and deeper-than-normal planting depths.
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Strong natural selection during plant restoration favors an unexpected suite of plant traits
Smaller plants are most likely to survive during restoration of invaded areas of the Great Basin 🤯
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Does a history of population co‐occurrence predict plant performance, community productivity, or invasion resistance?
Truly surprising, we found that assembling communities from environmentally similar but disparate locations can result in desirable community-level properties
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Seed and seedling traits have strong impacts on establishment of a perennial bunchgrass in invaded semi‐arid systems
The choices seedlings make in the first ten days of life really, really matter for survival. In the desert: make roots.
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Selecting native plants for restoration using rapid screening for adaptive traits: methods and outcomes in a Great Basin case study
Translating science into practice can be challenging; very proud of this group effort to get the best seeds into production! Also includes root washing 101, our tips for getting the best seedling measurements
2025
Strain et al. 2025. Root exudation by an annual grass modifies soil biogeochemical cycling: a mechanism for invasion Ecosystems, 28(6), p.60.
Massatti et al. 2025. Suturing fragmented landscapes: Mosaic hybrid zones in plants may facilitate ecosystem resiliency. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(31), p.e2410941122.
Lenzo et al. 2025. Climate change, weather, and geography shape seed mass variation and decline across Western North America. Global Change Biology, 31(8), p.e70416.
Heston et al. 2025. Few forage kochia found in historically seeded fuel breaks in the Northern Great Basin. Arid Land Research and Management, pp.1-19.
Vahsen et al. 2025. Phenological sensitivity of Bromus tectorum genotypes depends on current and source environments. Ecology, 106(3), p.e70025.
2024
Shriver et al. 2024. Nontarget effects of herbicides on annual forbs and seeded grass in the Great Basin, United States, are partially offset by planting depth and application rate. Restoration Ecology, e14218.
Faske et al. 2024. Environment predicts the maintenance of reproductive isolation in a mosaic hybrid zone of rubber rabbitbrush. Evolution, 78(2), 300-314.
Leger et al. 2024. Integrating evolutionary potential and ecological function into agricultural seed production to meet demands for the decade of restoration. Restoration Ecology, 32(8), e13543
2023
Hankin et al. 2023. Reforestation of high elevation pines: Direct seeding success depends on seed source and sowing environment. Ecological Applications, p.e2897.
Agneray et al. 2023. Does a history of population co‐occurrence predict plant performance, community productivity, or invasion resistance? Ecology, p.e4100.
Osuna‐Mascaró et al. 2023 Fine‐scale spatial genetic structure in a locally abundant native bunchgrass (Achnatherum thurberianum) including distinct lineages revealed within seed transfer zones. Evolutionary Applications, 16, 979-996.
Gornish et al. 2023. Pre‐fire grazing and herbicide treatments can affect post‐fire vegetation in a Great Basin rangeland. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 4(1), p.e12215.
2022
McClinton et al. 2022. Field observations and remote assessment identify climate change, recreation, invasive species, and livestock as top threats to critically imperiled rare plants in Nevada. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 3, p.1070490.
McClinton et al. 2022. Ecology of Eriogonum tiehmii, a rare soil specialist: Arthropod diversity, soil preferences, and demography. Ecosphere, 13(8), e4187.
Balmaki et al. 2022. Modern approaches for leveraging biodiversity collections to understand change in plant-insect interactions. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, p.828.
Agneray et al. 2022. Phenotypes and environment predict seedling survival for seven co‐occurring Great Basin plant taxa growing with invasive grass. Ecology and Evolution, 12(5), e8870.
2021
Faske et. al. 2021. Genomic and common garden approaches yield complementary results for quantifying environmental drivers of local adaptation in rubber rabbitbrush, a foundational Great Basin shrub. Evolutionary Applications, 14(12), 2881-2900.
Shackelford et al. 2021. Drivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(9), 1283-1290.
de Queiroz et al. 2021. Creating a Great Basin native annual forb seed increase program: lessons learned. Native Plants Journal, 22(1), 90-102.
Porensky et al. 2021. Using native grass seeding and targeted spring grazing to reduce low-level Bromus tectorum invasion on the Colorado Plateau. Biological Invasions, 23(3), 705-722.
Leger et al. 2021. Selecting native plants for restoration using rapid screening for adaptive traits: methods and outcomes in a Great Basin case study. Restoration Ecology 29, 4, e13260