The Safford lab at UC-Davis is engaged in a wide variety of resource management-related science, in California and other western US states as well as internationally. The lab works in close collaboration with many partner agencies and institutions, especially the US Forest Service, US Geological Survey, Cal Fire, the Joint Fire Science Program, and research organizations and universities around the world.
Current research focus areas of the Safford lab include:
– General application of ecological science to resource and fire management
– Ecological restoration, before and after disturbance
– Disturbance (especially fire and grazing) impacts on biodiversity
– Human management effects on forest structure and fuels
– Fire and forest management planning in Mediterranean-climate ecoregions
– Management response to climate change
– Changing fire regimes and their impacts on ecosystem succession and resilience
– Ecosystem service assessment of natural landscapes
– International technical assistance to resource and fire managers in developing nations
– Management of tropical mountain ecosystems