Dan Kashian

Dan Kashian, Associate Professor

Office#

3107 Biological Sciences Building

Research Area

Phone

(313) 577-9093

Fax

dkash@wayne.edu

WebSite

clasweb.clas.wayne.edu/dkash

Research Interest Publications Teaching Lab Members Lab News CV

My research centers on the community, ecosystem, and landscape ecology of terrestrial ecosystems and the influence of disturbances in shaping the distribution and spatial heterogeneity of terrestrial plant communities and ecosystems. Much of my work is aimed towards understanding how the combination of site factors, biotic interactions, natural disturbances, and humans affect landscape patterns and ecosystem processes in forests. In particular, I am interested in how changing climate has (and will) affect the processes that shape disturbance dynamics and the interaction of disturbances that control plant community distribution, structure, and function, particularly in forests. My recent research has focused heavily on patterns and processes of plant and forest succession, as well as the implications of climate change for forest ecosystem structure and function at multiple spatial scales. Nearly all of my research has been field-based, supplemented by GIS, remote sensing, and simulation modeling. My study sites include the Front Range of Colorado, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, northern Minnesota, northern Lower Michigan, and southeastern Michigan.

Dr. Kashian's Education Experience

B.S., Natural Resources, University of Michigan, 1993

M.S., Forest Ecology, University of Michigan, 1998

Ph.D., Zoology/Forest Ecology and Management, University of Wisconsin, 2002.

Postdoctoral Associate, Colorado State University, 2003-2006.

Joined WSU faculty in 2006.

Huge Ponderosa pine

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Much of my recent and current research has been located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, particularly in and around Yellowstone National Park. Large stand-replacing wildfires such as the 1988 Yellowstone fires create a very complex, fine-grained mosaic of lodgepole pine seedling densities across the burned landscape. My work here has examined the permanence of this landscape pattern given successional changes in stand structure across the landscape, which acts to compress the initial variability towards a common stand structure. These changes in structural variability have direct influences on changes in landscape pattern, causing the landscape to become more coarse-grained as initially dissimilar stands coalesce into larger patches. This work also highlights the natural occurrence of uneven-aged lodgepole pine stands and lends insight into potential silvicultural alternatives in these forests.


1 Year After Fire	20 Years After Fire	100 Years After Fire

My initial work on stand structure has been carried further to examine how global change may affect carbon cycling at stand- and landscape scales. Understanding the how climate, disturbances, and stand structure affect carbon dynamics remains an important challenge in ecology, particularly as the frequency and severity of disturbances increases with climate change.


Wilcox fire, Grand Teton NP, 2000	Beetle Kill in Grand Teton NP

Landscape heterogeneity in stand structure is linked to variability in carbon storage, and climate change may therefore drastically affect the carbon balance of landscapes and the globe by affecting the disturbance regimes that shape stand structure across landscapes. In Yellowstone, we asked how climate-mediated changes in fire regimes alter the distribution of carbon budgets and thus the behavior of the entire Yellowstone landscape as a net sink or source of carbon in the global carbon cycle. In particular, we focused on net ecosystem production (NEP) – the difference between net primary production and heterotrophic respiration – and how it varies with stand structure and succession. We used replicated chronosequences to measure how annual net carbon storage (NEP) varies with age and density built new allometric equations to predict tree biomass in the region, and extrapolated stocks and fluxes to the landscape.


Carbon storage following the 1988 fires	Hypothesized carbon storage following beetle outbreaks

Current work: We have recently completed a study funded by the Department of Energy’s National Institute for Climate Change Research that expands the carbon/disturbance research to understand how bark beetle outbreaks affect forest carbon storage at stand and landscape scales under multiple climate scenarios. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and most of the Rocky Mountain West is experiencing an extensive and intensive insect outbreak, such that insects including the mountain pine beetle (MPB) are an important driver of carbon dynamics and may determine whether western landscapes are carbon sinks or sources.

Colorado Front Range

Much of my work is couched in conservation of biodiversity and investigates the persistence of threatened species and ecosystems across landscapes. Trembling aspen is a valued species in the Rocky Mountains for its contribution to biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and aesthetics, but has been documented to experience a general decline across the West My work on the northern Colorado Front Range showed that factors leading to aspen decline such as fire exclusion, grazing, and ungulate browsing are evident within very specific ecological contexts, but a decrease from the current amount of aspen area may still fall within the historic range of variability because many stands originated from human activities.


Declining Aspen in Colorado	Lone Aspen in Colorado	Postfire Aspen in Colorado

Current work: Funded by the US Forest Service and in collaboration with Dr. John Bradford, USGS, we are completing a comparative study in northern Minnesota and the Colorado Front Range to understand stand-level responses of aspen forests, including growth decline and mortality, to weather fluctuations, particularly drought, using a multi-scale approach that will examine differences in forest responses between regions as well as the importance of site conditions within each region. Understanding the relationship between drought and aspen mortality is especially important because future climatic conditions are expected to include greater frequency and severity of drought events.

Northern Lower Michigan

An important focus of my lab is how disturbances shape the ecology and management of jack pine-dominated ecosystems – both forests and barrens. Jack pine ecosystems in this region are dominated by management for the federally endangered Kirtland’s warbler, which requires large stands of dense young jack pine typically provided by extensive plantations. Our lab attempts to identify the historical range of variability of various factors of jack pine ecosystems to determine where management may be moving jack pine-dominated landscapes to unnatural states. My work has examined microclimate, physiography, soil, and vegetation of this landscape in detail to identify landscape ecosystems dominated by jack pine, and has quantified the shape, size, and ecological significance of biological legacies (“stringers”) in these ecosystems following stand-replacing wildfires.


Kirtland's Warbler	Jack Pine Stringers

Current work: Funded by the Joint Fire Sciences Program, we are examining how well Kirtland’s warbler management fits into the historical range of variability of young jack pine forests in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula. We are using historical records of forest vegetation and reconstructed fire regimes to estimate the pre-settlement coverage of young jack pine stands for comparison to current coverage to determine the appropriateness of the current levels of warbler management. We are also examining use of jack pine barrens of northern Lower Michigan by upland sandpipers with a project funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Upland sandpipers use openland for breeding, and appear to use jack pine barrens only briefly because of their dynamic, successional nature compared to more stable anthropogenic openland such as pastures and hayfields.

Southeastern Lower Michigan

Though largely urban, southeastern Michigan offers many opportunities for forest and landscape ecology research. Our lab is heavily invested in examining the ecological impacts of the emerald ash borer (EAB) on forests in the region. EAB has now spread to 15 states and 2 Canadian provinces, but was originally introduced in suburban Detroit, making Michigan an important forebearer of ecological impacts of other states. Our lab has completed important research describing the potential of ash to persist in the presence of EAB by examining the structure and dynamics of ash regeneration across the landscape.


EAB locations	EAB Galleries	Dead Ash

Our lab has many projects in southeastern Michigan, including effects of EAB-caused ash mortality and prescribed fire on amphibian communities (PhD work by Tori Schneider); distribution, movement, and diet of coyotes across suburban and urban landscapes in southeastern Michigan (PhD work by Bill Dodge); and the structure of disjunct forest types in natural areas (senior thesis work by Ben Spei). While unfunded, these projects are a significant and important part of our research agenda at Wayne State University.

Publications

Journal Articles Published

1. Refereed Publications

Kashian, D.M.*, W.H. Romme, D.B. Tinker, M.G. Turner, and M.G. Ryan. In press. Post-fire changes in forest carbon storage over a 300-year chronosequence of Pinus contorta-dominated forests. Ecological Monographs.

Kashian, D.M.*, R.G. Corace, L.M. Shartell, D. Donner, and P. Huber. 2012. Variability and persistence of post-fire biological legacies in jack pine-dominated forests of northern Lower Michigan. Forest Ecology and Management 263: 148–158.

Corace, R.G., L.M. Shartell, L.A. Schulte, W.L. Brininger, M.K.D. McDowell, and D.M. Kashian*. 2012. An ecoregional context for forest management on National Wildlife Refuges of the Upper Midwest, U.S.A. Environmental Management 49: 359-371.

Hicke, J.A., C.D. Allen, A.R. Desai, M.C. Dietze, R.J. Hall, E.T. Hogg, D.M. Kashian, D. Moore, K. Raffa, R. Sturrock, and J. Vogelmann. 2012. Effects of biotic disturbances on forest carbon cycling in the United States and Canada. Global Change Biology 18: 7-34.

Kashian, D.M.*, R.M. Jackson, and H.D. Lyons. 2011. Forest structure altered by mountain pine beetle outbreaks affects subsequent attack in a Wyoming lodgepole pine forest, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 41: 2403-2412.

Kashian, D.M.*, and J.A. Witter. 2011. Assessing the potential for ash canopy tree replacement via current regeneration following emerald ash borer-caused mortality on southeastern Michigan landscapes. Forest Ecology and Management 261: 480-488.

Smithwick, E.A.H., D.M. Kashian, M.G. Ryan, and M.G. Turner. 2009. Long-term nitrogen storage and soil nitrogen availability in post-fire lodgepole pine ecosystems. Ecosystems 12: 792-806.

Smithwick, E.A.H., M.G. Ryan, D.M. Kashian, W.H. Romme, D.B. Tinker, and M.G. Turner. 2009. Modeling the effects of fire and climate change on carbon and nitrogen storage in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) stands. Global Change Biology 15: 535-548.

Kashian, D.M.*, W.H. Romme, and C.M. Regan. 2007. Reconciling divergent interpretations of quaking aspen decline on the northern Colorado Front Range. Ecological Applications 17: 1296-1311.

Binkley, D., D.M. Kashian, S. Boyden, M.W. Kaye, J.B. Bradford, M.A. Arthur, P.J. Fornwalt, and M.G. Ryan. 2006. Patterns of growth dominance in forests of the Rocky Mountains, U.S.A. Forest Ecology and Management 236: 193-201.

Schoennagel, T., M.G. Turner, D.M. Kashian, and A. Fall. 2006. Influence of fire regimes on lodgepole pine stand age and density across the Yellowstone National Park (USA) landscape. Landscape Ecology 21:1281-1296.

Kashian, D.M.*, W.H. Romme, D.B. Tinker, M.G. Turner, and M.G. Ryan. 2006. Carbon storage on landscapes with stand-replacing fires. Bioscience 56: 598-606.

Kashian, D.M.*, M.G. Turner, W.H. Romme, and C.G. Lorimer. 2005. Variability and convergence in stand structural development on a fire-dominated subalpine landscape. Ecology 86: 643-654.

Kashian, D.M.*, M.G. Turner, and W.H. Romme. 2005. Variability in leaf area and stemwood increment along a 300-year lodgepole pine chronosequence. Ecosystems 8: 48-61.

Kashian, D.M.*, D.B. Tinker, M.G. Turner, and F.L. Scarpace. 2004. Spatial heterogeneity of lodgepole pine sapling densities following the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34: 2263-2276.

Turner, M.G., D.B. Tinker, W.H. Romme, D.M. Kashian, and C.M. Litton. 2004. Landscape patterns of sapling density, leaf area, and aboveground net primary production in postfire lodgepole pine forests, Yellowstone National Park (USA). Ecosystems 7: 751-775.

Kashian, D.M.*, B.V. Barnes, and W.S. Walker. 2003. Ecological species groups of landform-level ecosystems dominated by jack pine in northern Lower Michigan, USA. Plant Ecology 166: 75-91.

Walker, W.S., B.V. Barnes, and D.M. Kashian. 2003. Landscape ecosystems of the Mack Lake burn, northern Lower Michigan, and the occurrence of the Kirtland's warbler. Forest Science 49: 119-139.

Kashian, D.M.*, B.V. Barnes, and W.S. Walker. 2003. Landscape ecosystems of northern Lower Michigan and the occurrence and management of the Kirtland’s warbler. Forest Science 49: 140-159.

Kashian, D.M.*, and B.V. Barnes. 2000. Landscape influence on the spatial and temporal distribution of the Kirtland’s warbler at the Bald Hill burn, northern Lower Michigan, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 30: 1985-1904.

2. Journal Articles Submitted (to Refereed Journals):

Shartell, L.M., Corace III, R.G., Storer, A.J., and D.M. Kashian. Broad and local scale drivers of earthworm functional groups in the Upper Midwest and associated impacts to forested ecosystems. Submitted to Ecological Applications, August 2012.

Schneider, V.P., and D.M. Kashian*. Amphibian desiccation in response to canopy mortality created by the emerald ash borer in southeastern Michigan. Submitted to Copeia, August 2012.

Kulakowski, D., Kaye, M.W., and D.M. Kashian. Drivers and extent of long-term aspen cover change in the western U.S. Submitted to Forest Ecology and Management, July 2012.

Kashian, D.M.*, and R.M. Jackson. Changes in forest carbon storage following mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Submitted to Ecology, August 2012.

Dodge, W.B., and D.M. Kashian*. Coyote (Canis latrans) distribution across an urban landscape in southeastern Michigan. Submitted to Urban Ecosystems, June 2012.

Schneider, V.P., and D.M. Kashian*. Effects of prescribed burns on herpetofauna in wetlands in southeastern Michigan. Submitted to Restoration Ecology, March 2012.

3. Technical Documents:

Battaglia, M.A., K.N. Nelson, D.M. Kashian, and M.G. Ryan. 2010. Forest biomass and tree planting for fossil fuel offsets in the Colorado Front Range. Pp. 81-93 in: Jain T.B., R.T. Graham, and J. Sandquist, tech. eds. Integrated management of carbon sequestration and biomass utilization opportunities in a changing climate: Proceedings of the 2009 National Silviculture Workshop; 2009 June 15-18; Boise, ID. Proceedings RMRS-P-61. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 351 pp.

Kaufmann, M.R., G.H. Aplet, M. Babler, W.L. Baker, B. Bentz, M. Harrington, B.C. Hawkes, L.S. Huckaby, M.J. Jenkins, D.M. Kashian, R.E. Keane, D. Kulakowski, W. McCaughy, J. Negron, J. Popp, W.H. Romme, T. Schoennagel, W. Shepperd, F.W. Smith, E.M. Sutherland, D. Tinker, and T.T. Veblen. 2009. The status of our understanding of lodgepole pine and mountain pine beetles – a focus on forest ecology and potential fire behavior. Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, Fort Collins, CO.

Comer, P.J., D.A. Albert, H.A. Wells, B.L. Hart, J.B. Raab, D.L. Price, D.M. Kashian, R.A. Corner, and D.W. Schuen. 1995. Michigan’s presettlement vegetation, as interpreted from the General Land Office Surveys 1816-1856. Report to the US EPA Water Division and the Wildlife Division, Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing, MI. 76 pp.

4. Book Reviews:

Kashian, D.M. In press. Distilling a complex subdiscipline down for introductory students. Landscape Ecology. Published online February 9, 2012.

Kashian, D.M. 2005. Considering forest sustainability on modern landscapes. Landscape Ecology 20: 1025-1027.

Kashian, D.M. 2005. Defending against the alien invaders. Plant Ecology 180: 275-277.

Kashian, D.M. 2004. Managing the forest matrix to conserve biodiversity. Landscape Ecology 19: 703-704.

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Teaching

Teaching biology and ecology at the university level is important in ensuring that students are able to think critically, solve problems, communicate clearly, and - perhaps most importantly - appreciate ecological issues.College teaching demands a serious and conscientious effort, especially because it may inspire students to pursue careers in biology, ecology, and natural resources. It may be equally important in guiding non-majors or elective students to clearly communicate biological and ecological issues, because many will become influential public voices in the near future. Finally, though students are the primary benefactors of effective teaching, teaching also benefits the teacher as it fosters clear, critical thinking about their discipline.


Dr. Kashian teaches in Yellowstone	Aging trees in Yellowstone

Less formally, I simply love to teach, especially in the field. I have been lucky to have studied with several fantastic instructors throughout my career thus far, who showed me that teaching is an opportunity rather than a burden. For ecology, I believe that teaching is about being outside in the natural world, where learning is most effective and most enjoyable. I’ve found that dragging a group of students to the tree outside the window is always more effective than showing its picture. I have a career goal of teaching field-based courses whenever possible, and this is even more critical at an urban university – though it may not be intuitive. Field learning is crucial for learning ecology, as it forces students to think critically about the real, uncontrolled, often chaotic natural world, particularly those students who otherwise may never have done so.


Hiking in the bog!	Examining a witch's broom	IDing a Tree in Trees & Shrubs 2007

A large part of my pedagogy involves establishing myself at the students’ level rather than as an authority figure. Using an enthusiasm for the material and approachability to the students, I seek to earn rather than demand respect from my students. Teaching from the students’ perspective is absolutely critical to the teaching-learning process because effective learning is spawned by communication. A class made “fun” occurs not only when the teacher can effectively unravel complex ideas into bits of discernable understanding, but also when the teacher can cultivate the students’ thinking as part of both the teacher’s and students’ life-long learning. The teacher is not just the bearer of facts, but a veritable keystone of the teaching-learning process. I prefer to approach my teaching with the idea that although I may know more about the subject matter than my students, I can always learn from them.

I also believe that a critical part of teaching involves including undergraduate students in research, particularly field research. I actively involve students as field assistants on larger field projects in Yellowstone or southeastern Michigan, and I encourage and advise interested undergraduate students to conduct their own independent research in my lab.

Courses Taught

Biology 4130: Ecology (WI) (Winter Terms 2008 and 2009)

Biology 5180: Biology of Trees and Shrubs (Fall Terms 2007 and 2008)

Biology 8000: Foundations of Ecology (Fall 2008)

Biology 1500: Basic Life Diversity (Fall Terms 2009 and 2011, Winter Terms 2011 and 2013)

Biology 5440/7440: Terrestrial Ecology (Fall Terms 2010 and 2012)

Biology 5540/7540: Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology (Winter Terms 2010 and 2012)

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Lab Members

			Tori Schneider, PhD student
			Jordan Sinclair, PhD student
			Bill Dodge, PhD student
			Becky Jackson, MS student
			Jacob Korte, MS student
			Maggie Tucker, MS student
			Julia Sosin, BS student

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Lab Alumini

Lab Alumni	Former Position	Current Position
Stephanie Brown	Lab/field assistant, 2010-2012
Lisa Cross	Lab/field assistant, 2010-2012	URS Corporation, Detroit
Jen Fugaban	McNair Scholar, 2010-2011	MPS Group, Detroit
Ben Spei	Undergrad Research, 2010-2011

Lab News

April 2012	Dr. Kashian was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor, effective August 2012.
March 2012	Bill Dodge’s research again featured on The Environmental Report in a follow-up piece. Listen to the feature story here.
March 2012	Tori Schneider was selected as one of six students to represent Wayne State at the State Capital highlighting graduate student research in Michigan.
March 2012	Dr. Kashian presented a webinar on biological legacies in jack pine for the Lake States Fire Consortium. Watch the archived webinar here.
February 2012	Jordan Sinclair’s poster and Tori Schneider’s poster took first and second place, respectively, at the 2012 WSU Graduate Student Symposium. See the posters here and here.
July 2011	Bill Dodge’s research featured on Michigan Public Radio’s The Environmental Report. Listen to the feature story.
May 2011	Tori Schneider was recognized as an outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant by the Department of Biological Sciences.
October 2010	Bill Dodge’s research was featured in the Detroit Free Press.
February 2011	Bill Dodge’s poster was one of the winners at the 2011 WSU Graduate Student Symposium. View his poster here.
August 2010	Tori Schneider was invited to give a talk on her research at the Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. Read the abstract here.
October 2009	Watch Dr. Kashian featured in a short clip on fall color for WWJ-TV.
March 2009	The Kashian Lab is featured in CLASNotes, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences newsletter. Read it here.
February 2009	Dr. Kashian featured in the Wayne State Alumni magazine. Read the article here.
October 2008	Dr. Kashian is interviewed by WDET radio about research in Yellowstone. Listen to the clip here.

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Dr.Kashian's Professional Record