Climate change

WUI and Urban Fires

Urban and WUI fires are an increasing threat to communities in the hot and dry west. Several recent "urban megafires" challenged our understanding of how fires might ignite, propagate and devastate built-up and residential areas dotted with thousands of ignitable materials, ignition sources, etc. By doing fire forensic after catastrophic urban and WUI fires (Eaton and Palisades Fires, 2025, Altadena and Pacific Palisades; Tubbs Fire, Santa Rosa, 2017; Camp Fires, Paradise, 2018; among others) we aim to collect robust evidence on the extent to which urban vegetation and trees - and their management - can increase or reduce fire risk across urban landscapes.

Pyrotyping

Plants have a wide range of traits and properties that make their organs (litter, wood, bark) more or less ignitable and flammable. While some dry leaf litter ignite and burn very fast, others are much more difficult to set ablaze. In this research realm, we are characterizing flammability and biological traits of hundreds of tree and plant species most commonly found in urban and WUI landscapes. We aim to help growers, urban foresters and landscape professionals in plants that reduce fire and ignition risks across human-dominated landscapes, protecting communities while retaining the benefits that vegetation provide to people.

Species Tolerance to Climate Extremes

Climate change will exacerbate climate extremes in some areas with heatwaves, droughts and other climatic variables changing in frequency, intensity and duration. We want to better understand which horticultural species and cultivars will be most likely affected by climate change and which plant traits make species more tolerant, plastic or resistant to climate extremes. Can we select, breed and plant climatically-ready species?

Climate Change Labs in Cities

Cities have climate conditions that often mirror those induced by climate change. Urban heat islands and impervious surfaces can in fact simulate warming and drought. Thus, cities and their urban features can be leveraged to establish urban climate labs, space for time analogs, and experimental sites where to conduct experiments on organism tolerance to altered climatic and hydrological conditions. How can we use urban climates to predict species and community responses to climate change?

Climate Change and Biodiversity

Urban forest and plantings are often hyperdiverse in their species composition. However little is know on how species and cultivar richness might translate in higher climate resilience. Can we design plant assemblages that are climate-ready by coupling plants with different traits? To what extent biodiversity can ultimately increase climate resilience of urban vegetation and forests?

Plant Traits and Climate

Despite human selection, traits of urban forests seem to predictably change along many climate gradients. Analyses of which plant trait combinations might be suited to particular climate conditions might help to predict the effects of future climatic changes as well as inform plant selection, production and use across cities. To what extent can we integrate climate and plant science with urban forestry and ecology theory and practice?