California Botanical Society
Riley Scaff
Forrest Freund
Keir Morse
Thursday, March 9, 2023 7-8pm PT
Riley Scaff, Pitzer College
“Restoring an Iconic Joshua Tree Forest: Revegetation, natural recovery and soil ecology in a Mojave Desert burn area”
Fire has historically been an infrequent component of the Mojave Desert ecosystem. However, the proliferation of non-native invasive grasses has led to larger, more severe wildfires in the past several decades. In 2020, the Dome Fire devastated around 40,000 acres of dense joshua tree forest in the Mojave National Preserve, threatening a climate refuge for the joshua tree. I evaluated the efficacy of two common revegetation methods—seeding and outplanting—surveyed natural plant recovery on the burn area and investigated whether spatial heterogeneity in soil microbiota and nutrients affected outplant survivorship and growth.
Riley's research was supported by a 2021 Paul Silva Student Research grant.
Riley is a senior at Pitzer College pursuing a self-designed major combining biology and geology, but his primary interests are in plant ecology, restoration ecology and conservation. Riley is also interested in the interactions between living systems and larger earth systems, and how those linkages can be used to promote ecosystem resilience in a rapidly changing climate. When Riley is not hugging trees or looking at rocks, Riley is probably hiking, cycling local trails, or rock climbing!
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2023 Schedule of Talks
12-Jan: Keir Morse, California Botanic Garden
9-Feb: Forrest Freund, UC Berkeley
9-Mar: Riley Scaff, Pitzer College
13-Apr: Regan E. Dunn, La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
RESCHEDULED TO JUNE 8
11-May:TBD
8-June: Regan E. Dunn, La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
13-Jul: Tadeo Ramirez Parada, UC Santa Barbara
10-Aug:
14-Sep:
12-Oct:
9-Nov:
14-Dec:
View Recordings of Past Talks on our YouTube Channel: