A study from Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service found the four-day extreme heat event scorched more than 1,000 square miles of tree canopy.

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:FacultyEmployment Type:Regula...

Tides and glacial earthquakes caused record ice loss at Hektoria Glacier

This storymap highlights the real-world impacts and accomplishments of the Fire Science Exchange Network in fiscal year 2024.

In a study based on long-term data, WSL researchers show that woodpecker populations grow when there is more deadwood.

Interior has indicated that it plans to lay off employees in science centers across the country, including deep cuts at some offices.

The Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota seeks outstanding applicants for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor faculty position focused on forest regeneration dynamics. This may include focus areas of early stand dynamics, forest genetics, climate-adaptive seed/tree selection, nursery systems, or environmental stress physiology, which may fall within broader disciplines such as silviculture, restoration ecology, or forest operations. This is a 9-month, full-time, tenure-track faculty position with research (50%) and teaching (50%) responsibilities. The successful candidate will have access to office and laboratory space in the department. The position is available beginning August 2026, with review of applications beginning December 8, 2025.ResponsibilitiesResponsibilities include but are not limited to:

Maintenance and repair of the Organic Geochemistry Laboratory equipment, including but not limited to gas chromatographs, liquid chromatographs & ...

Background The increasing size, severity, and frequency of wildfires is one of the most rapid ways climate warming could alter the structure and function of high-latitude ecosystems. Historically, boreal forests in western North America had fire return intervals (FRI) of 70–130 years, but shortened FRIs are becoming increasingly common under extreme weather conditions. Here, we quantified pre-fire and post-fire C pools and C losses and assessed post-fire seedling regeneration in long (> 70 years), intermediate (30–70 years), and short (< 30 years) FRIs, and triple (three fires in < 70 years) burns. As boreal forests store a significant portion of the global terrestrial carbon (C) pool, understanding the impacts of shortened FRIs on these ecosystems is critical for predicting the global C balance and feedbacks to climate. Results Using a spatially extensive dataset of 555 plots from 31 separate fires in Interior Alaska, our study demonstrates that shortened FRIs decrease the C storage capacity of boreal forests through loss of legacy C and regeneration failure. Total wildfire C emissions were similar among FRI classes, ranging from 2.5 to 3.5 kg C m−2. However, shortened FRIs lost proportionally more of their pre-fire C pools, resulting in substantially lower post-fire C pools than long FRIs. Shortened FRIs also resulted in the combustion of legacy C, defined as C that escaped combustion in one or more previous fires. We found that post-fire successional trajectories were impacted by FRI, with ~ 65% of short FRIs and triple burns experiencing regeneration failure. Conclusions Our study highlights the structural and functional vulnerability of boreal forests to increasing fire frequency. Shortened FRIs and the combustion of legacy C can shift boreal ecosystems from a net C sink or neutral to a net C source to the atmosphere and increase the risk of transitions to non-forested states. These changes could have profound implications for the boreal C-climate feedback and underscore the need for adaptive management strategies that prioritize the structural and functional resilience of boreal forest ecosystems to expected increases in fire frequency.

Atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames Corraliza and nuclear security specialist Sébastien Philippe, professors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, have been awarded 2025 MacArthur Fellowships.

Stomatal regulation plays a critical role in controlling tree water loss and mediating atmosphere–vegetation–soil water coupling, yet the implications of species-specific differences in stomatal regulation on this coupling remain poorly understood. Drimys species possess primitive leaf anatomy with limited stomatal closure capacity, while Nothofagus exhibits more effective stomatal control. We compared multi-year sap flux data from these two co-occurring Southern Chilean species to evaluate how stomatal traits influence water-coupling dynamics across timescales. Using boosted regression tree modeling and wavelet coherence analysis, we found that while both species showed similar functional responses to environmental drivers, the relative importance of these drivers differed between them. Both Drimys and Nothofagus responded to VPD, but Drimys sap flux was more strongly influenced by soil moisture, particularly during early season wet periods and late-season drought. In contrast, Nothofagus showed greater dependence on light and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), reflecting tighter stomatal regulation. Wavelet coherence analyses further confirmed stronger soil moisture control of sap flux in Drimys, especially at weekly to sub-seasonal timescales, and provided evidence that stomatal regulation can either buffer or amplify late-season soil moisture deficits. These findings suggest Drimys follows a high water use, low-conservation strategy closely tied to soil moisture, whereas Nothofagus demonstrates more conservative water use governed by atmospheric conditions. The strong soil moisture dependence of Drimys may increase its vulnerability to future warming and drying trends, with implications for forest composition and hydrological modeling in a changing climate.