Project Overview

Scientific research and investigations will include – but, are not limited to – ecology and management of fire, climate change, plants (both invasives and natives), wildlife, and plant-animal interactions in the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, Mojave Desert, and western Colorado Plateau bioregions. The USGS project plan is for continuity in conducting research that can inform federal land management agencies while also advancing understanding of basic ecological processes. The integration of basic and applied research will be a central theme of the research at WMRS, as well as advancing collaborations with university researchers and students, staff from the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, US Forest Service and other Federal and State land managers. A central objective will be to develop collaborations with researchers working out of WMRS.

The UC-WMRS conducts many types of research in the biological and physical sciences that are consistent with the mission of the USGS-WERC. The close proximity and parallel interests of the two institutions strongly suggest that formalized cooperation would be mutually beneficial and in the public interest.

The first step is to bring WERC to WMRS by providing lab and work space for WERC scientists, as well as greenhouse space as soon as possible. Long term goals include various types of cooperation, as for example during the recent Regional Climate Change conference (CEREC) in which WERC scientists participated.