Plant community ecology

Vegetation Change in Southwestern Plant Communities

We study changes in southwestern plant communities since Euro-American settlement. In particular, we quantify changes in: 1) tree structural characteristics (such as age, density, and diameter distributions), species composition, and spatial pattern; and 2) changes in production, composition, and diversity of herbaceous plants and shrubs associated with 3) changing disturbance regimes (specifically fire, livestock grazing, and timber harvest) over the past 100+ years. The vegetation types we focus on are ponderosa pine, lower mixed conifer, montane and subalpine grasslands, and montane riparian areas. All of these vegetation types were affected by a number of factors that occurred almost simultaneously with Euro-American settlement including climate changes, livestock overgrazing, fire exclusion and suppression, logging, and road building. The combined effects of changing climate and rapid changes in disturbance regimes at the turn of the 20th c. disrupted the natural disturbance-recovery cycles and have implications for long-term alteration in community states across the Southwest.

We use a variety of tools to examine vegetation change in these systems, including direct measurements of age, structure, composition, and spatial pattern on a set of long-term permanent plots (established and mapped between 1909-1915), as well as dendrochronological techniques for tree and stand reconstruction. We use spatial statistics and GIS to examine the fine grain, patch-level changes over time. More recently, we added structural equation modeling to our toolbox, a technique that provides an analytical framework for dealing with the complexity and relative importance of factors affecting community structure, diversity and composition. Recognizing how the natural and anthropogenic disturbances shaped today’s southwestern plant communities provides a critical baseline (natural range of variability concept) for management and potential restoration efforts.

Education

B.A., Valley City State University, 1980
M.S., North Dakota State University, 1982
Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1987

Contact Information

Fall 2008 Courses

Past Courses Taught

Selected Publications

Moore, M.M., C.A. Casey, J.D. Bakker, J.D. Springer, P.Z. Fule, W.W. Covington, and D.C. Laughlin. 2006. Herbaceous vegetation responses (1992-2004) to restoration treatments in a ponderosa pine forest. Rangeland Ecology and Management In Press.

Laughlin, D. C., M. M. Moore, J. D. Bakker, C. A. Casey, J. D. Springer, P. Z. Fulé, and W. W. Covington. 2006. Assessing targets for the restoration of herbaceous vegetation in ponderosa pine forests. Restoration Ecology In Press.

Binkley, D., M. M. Moore, W. H. Romme, and P. Brown. 2006. Was Aldo Leopold Right about the Kaibab Deer Herd? Ecosystems In Press.

Kaye, J. P., S. C. Hart, P. Z. Fulé, W. W. Covington, M. M. Moore, and M. W. Kaye. 2005. Initial carbon, nutrient, and water fluxes following ponderosa pine restoration treatments. Ecological Applications 15:1581-1593.

Heinlein, T. A, M. M. Moore, P. Z. Fulé, and W. W. Covington. 2005. Fire history and stand structure of two ponderosa pine-mixed conifer sites: San Francisco Peaks, Arizona, USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire 14:307-320.

Olberding, S. D., J. E. Mitchell, and M. M. Moore. 2005. “Doing the best we could with what we had?: USFS Research in the Southwest. Rangelands (June 2005):29-36.

Korb, J. E., J. D. Springer, S. R. Powers, and M. M. Moore. 2005. Soil seed banks in Pinus ponderosa forests in Arizona: Clues to site history and restoration potential. Applied Vegetation Science 8:103-112.

Moore, M. M., and D. W. Huffman. 2004. Tree encroachment on meadows of the North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 36 (4):460-469.

Moore, M. M., D. W. Huffman, P. Z. Fulé, W. W. Covington, and J. E. Crouse. 2004. Comparison of historical and contemporary forest structure and composition on permanent plots in southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Forest Science 50:162-176.

Huffman, D. W., and M. M. Moore. 2004. Responses of Fendler ceanothus to forest thinning, prescribed fire, and drought in an Arizona ponderosa pine forest. Forest Ecology and Management 198:105-115.

Fulé, P. Z, J. E. Crouse, A. E. Cocke, M. M. Moore, and W. W. Covington. 2004. Changes in canopy fuels and potential fire behavior 1880-2040: Grand Canyon, Arizona. Ecological Modelling 175:231-248.

Kerns, B. K., M. M. Moore, M. E. Timpson, and S. C. Hart. 2003. Soil properties associated with vegetation patches in a Pinus ponderosa-bunchgrass mosaic. Western North American Naturalist 63(4): 452-462.

Fulé, P. Z., J. E. Crouse, T. A., Heinlein, M. M. Moore, W. W. Covington, and G. Verkamp. 2003. Mixed severity fire regime in a high-elevation forest: Grand Canyon, Arizona. Landscape Ecology 18:465-486.

Waltz, A.E.M., P.Z. Fulé, W.W. Covington, and M.M. Moore. 2003. Diversity in ponderosa pine forest structure following ecological restoration treatments. Forest Science 49:885-900.

Huffman, D. W., and M. M. Moore. 2003. Ungulate herbivory on buckbrush in an Arizona ponderosa pine forest. Journal of Range Management 56:357-362.

Fulé, P.Z., T.A. Heinlein, W.W. Covington, and M.M. Moore. 2003. Assessing fire regimes on Grand Canyon landscapes with fire scar and fire record data. International Journal of Wildland Fire 12:129-145.

Fulé, P.Z., W. W. Covington, H. B. Smith, J. D. Springer, T. A. Heinlein, K. D. Huisinga, and M. M. M. Moore. 2002. Testing ecological restoration alternatives: Grand Canyon, AZ. Forest Ecology and Management 170:19-41.

Fulé, P. Z., W. W. Covington, M. M. Moore, T.A. Heinlein, and A. E. M. Waltz. 2002. Natural variability in forests of Grand Canyon, USA. Journal of Biogeography 29:31-47.

Kerns, B. K., M. M. Moore, and S. C. Hart. 2001. Estimating forest-grassland dynamics using soil phytolith assemblages and ?13C of soil organic matter. EcoScience 8:478-488.

Moore, M. M., W. W. Covington, and P. Z. Fulé. 1999. Invited Feature - Reference conditions and ecological restoration: A southwestern ponderosa pine perspective. Ecological Applications 9:1266-1277.

Mast, J. N., P. Z. Fulé, M. M. Moore, W. W. Covington, and A.E.M. Waltz. 1999. Restoration of presettlement age structure of an Arizona ponderosa pine forest. Ecological Applications 9:228-239.

Fulé, P. Z., W. W. Covington, and M. M. Moore. 1997. Determining reference conditions for ecosystem management of southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Ecological Applications 7:895-908.

Covington, W. W., P. Z. Fulé, M. M. Moore, S. C. Hart, T. E. Kolb, J. N. Mast, S. S. Sackett, and M. R. Wagner. 1997. Restoration of ecosystem health in southwestern pine forests. Journal of Forestry 95:23-29.

Covington, W. W., and M. M. Moore. 1994. Postsettlement changes in natural fire regimes and forest structure: Ecological restoration of old-growth ponderosa pine forests. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 2:153-181.

Covington. W. W. and M. M. Moore. 1994. Southwestern ponderosa forest structure: Changes since Euro-American settlement. Journal of Forestry 92:39-47.

Morgan, P., G.H. Aplet, J.B. Haufler, H.C. Humphries, M.M. Moore, and W.D. Wilson. 1994. Historical range of variability: A useful tool for evaluating ecosystem change. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 2:87-111.

Moore, M. M., and D. A. Deiter. 1992. Stand density index as a predictor of herbage production in northern Arizona pine forests. Journal of Range Management 45:267-271.

Moore, M. M., and M. E. Bauer. 1990. Classification of forest vegetation in north -central Minnesota using Landsat Multispectral Scanner and Thematic Mapper data. Forest Science 36:330-342.

Brand, M. D., M. M. Moore, and R. P. Williams. 1988. North Dakota's School Lands and their management. Rangelands 10:51-53.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 October 2007 )