Personal Summary

Dr. Cansler studies the effects of disturbance and climate change on ecosystems in western North America, using field data and remote sensing. She is a certified Fire Ecologist with the Association for Fire Ecology, and fire has been continuing theme of her research. Her ecological research interests are broad, including: plant functional traits and community ecology, plant conservation biology, ecosystem biomass/fuel structure, reanalysis of large datasets, and use of active remote sensing for research and management.

Education

Ph.D., Environmental and Forest Resources. University of Washington, Seattle, USA, 2015

M.S., Forest Resources. University of Washington, Seattle, USA, 2011

B.A., Willamette University, Salem, USA, 2002

Research Interests

Publications

Cova, G., V.R. Kane, S. Prichard, M. North, C.A. Cansler. 2023. The outsized role of California’s largest wildfires in changing forest burn patterns and coarsening ecosystem scale. Forest Ecology and Management: 528, 120620.

Shearman, T.M., J.M. Varner, S.M. Hood, P.J. van Mantgem, Cansler, C.A., M.C. Wright. 2022. Predictive accuracy of post-fire conifer death declines over time in models based on crown and bole injury. Ecological Applications: e2760. Doi: 10.1002/eap.2760

Cansler, C.A. V.R. Kane, B.N. Bartl-Geller, D.J. Churchill, P.F. Hessburg, N.A. Povak, J.A. Lutz, J.T. Kane, A.J. Larson. 2022. Postfire treatments alter forest canopy structure up to three decades after fire. Forest Ecology and Management: 505: 119872. Doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119872.

Cansler, C.A., V.R. Kane, P.F. Hessburg, J.T. Kane, S.M.A. Jeronimo, J.A. Lutz, N.A. Povak, D.J. Churchill, A.J. Larson. 2022. Previous wildfires and management treatments moderate subsequent fire severity. Forest Ecology and Management: 504: 119764. Doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119764

Churchill, D.J., S.M.A. Jeronimo, P.F. Hessburg, C.A. Cansler, N.A. Povak, V.R. Kane, J.A. Lutz, A.J. Larson. 2022. Post-fire landscape evaluations in Eastern Washington, USA: Assessing the Work of Contemporary Wildfires. Forest Ecology and Management, 504: 119796. Doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119796

Larson, A.J., S.M.A. Jeronimo, P.F. Hessburg, J.A. Lutz, N.A. Povak, C.A. Cansler, V.R. Kane, D.J. Churchill. 2022. Tamm Review: Ecological Principles to Guide Post-Fire Forest Landscape Management in the Inland Pacific and Northern Rocky Mountain Regions. Forest Ecology and Management, 504: 119680. Doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119680

Picotte, J., C.A. Cansler, C.A. Kolden, J.A. Lutz, C. Key, N.C. Benson, K.M. Robertson. 2021. Determination of burn severity models ranging from regional to continental scales for the conterminous United States. Remote Sensing of Environment, 263: 112569. Doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2021.112569

Harvey B.J., S.J. Hart, C.A. Cansler. Chapter 8: The disturbance regime concept. Routledge Handbook of Landscape Ecology. 2021. Edited By R.A. Francis, J.D.A. Millington, G.L.W. Perry, E.S. Minor. Routledge, London. Doi: 10.4324/9780429399480

Cansler, C.A., S.M. Hood, J.M. Varner, P.J. van Mantgem. 2020. A large database supports the use of simple models of post-fire tree mortality for thick-barked conifers, with less support for other species. Fire Ecology. 16(1) 1-37. Doi: 10.1186/s42408-020-00082-0.

Lutz, J.A., S. Struckman, T.J. Furniss, C.A. Cansler, S.J. Germain, L.L. Yocom, D.J. McAvoy, C.A. Kolden, A.M.S. Smith, M.E. Swanson, A.J. Larson. 2020. Large-diameter trees dominate snag and surface biomass following reintroduced fire. Ecological Processes, 9(1), 1-13. Doi: 10.1186/s13717-020-00243-8

Cansler, C.A., S.M. Hood, J.M. Varner, P.J. van Mantgem, M.C. Agne, R.A. Andrus, M.P. Ayres, B.D. Ayres, J.D. Bakker, M.A. Battaglia, B.J. Bentz, C.R. Breece, J.K. Brown, D.R. Cluck, T.W. Coleman, R.G. Corace, W.W. Covington, D.S. Cram, J.B. Cronan, J.E. Crouse, A.J. Das, R.S. Davis, D.M. Dickinson, S.A. Fitzgerald, P.Z. Fulé, L.M. Ganio, L.M. Grayson, C.B. Halpern, J.L. Hanula, B.J. Harvey, J.K. Hiers, D.W. Huffman, M. Keifer, T.L. Keyser, L.N., Kobziar, T.E. Kolb, C.A. Kolden, K.E. Kopper, J.R. Kreitler, J.K. Kreye, A.M. Latimer, AP. Lerch, M.J. Lombardero, V.L. McDaniel, C.W. McHugh, J.D. McMillin, J.J. Moghaddas, J.J. O’Brien, D.D.B. Perrakis, D.W. Peterson, S.J. Prichard, R.A. Progar, K.F. Raffa, E.D, Reinhardt, J.C., Restaino, J.P. Roccaforte, BM. Rogers, K.C. Ryan, HD. Safford, A.E. Santoro, T.M. Shearman, A.M. Shumate, C.H., Sieg, S.L. Smith, R.J. Smith, N.L. Stephenson, M. Steuver, J.T. Stevens, M.T. Stoddard, W.G. Thies, N.M. Vaillant, S.A. Weiss, D.J., Westlind, T.J. Woolley, M. Wright. 2020. The Fire and Tree Mortality Database (FTM): a database for empirical modeling of tree mortality after fire. Scientific Data, 7(194). Doi: 10.1038/s41597-020-0522-7

Povak, N., D.J. Churchill, C.A. Cansler, P.F. Hessburg, V.R. Kane, J. Kane, J.A. Lutz, A.J. Larson. 2020. Wildfire severity and post-fire salvage harvest effects on long-term forest regeneration. Ecosphere, 11(8). Doi: 10.1002/ecs2.3199

Shearman T.M., J.M. Varner, S.M. Hood, C.A. Cansler, J.K. Hiers. 2019. Modelling post-fire tree mortality: Can random forest improve discrimination of imbalanced data? Ecological Modelling, 414(108855). Doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108855

Hessburg,  P.F., C.L. Miller,  N.A. Povak,  A.H. Taylor,  P.E. Higuera,  S.J. Prichard,  M.P. North, B.M. Collins,  M.D. Hurteau,  A.J. Larson,  C.D. Allen,  S.L. Stephens,  H.R. Huerta, C. Stevens Rumann,  L.D. Daniels,  Z. Gedalof,  R.W. Gray,  V.R. Kane,  D.J. Churchill,  R.K. Hagmann, T.A. Spies, S.A. Parks,  C.A. Cansler,  R.T. Belote,  T.T. Veblen,  M.A. Battaglia, C. Hoffman, C.N. Skinner, H.D. Safford. 2019. Climate, environment, and Disturbance History Govern Resilience of Western North American Forests. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment. 7:239. Doi: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00239

Cansler, C.A., M.E. Swanson, T.J. Furniss, A.J. Larson, J.A. Lutz. 2019. Surface fuels before and after reintroduced fire in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest. Fire Ecology. 15:16. Doi: 10.1186/s42408-019-0035-y

Haugo, R.D., B.S Kellogg, C.A. Cansler, C.A. Kolden, K.B. Kemp, J. Robertson. K.L. Metlen. N.M. Vaillant, C.M. Restaino. 2019. The Missing Fire: Quantifying human exclusion of wildfire in Pacific Northwest forests, USA. Ecosphere: e02702. Doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2702

Hood, S.M., J.M. Varner, P. van Mantgem, C.A. Cansler. 2018. Fire and tree death: Understanding and improving modeling of fire-induced tree mortality. Environmental Research Letters. 13:113004. Doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aae934

Meddens, A.J.H., C.A. Kolden, J.A. Lutz, A.M.S. Smith, C.A. Cansler, J.T. Abatzoglou, G.W. Meigs, W.M. Downing, M.A. Krawchuk. 2018. Fire refugia: What are they and why do they matter for global change? Bioscience. 68:944-954. Doi: 10.1093/biosci/biy103

Lutz, J.A., T.J. Furniss, D.J. Johnson, et al. 2018. Global importance of large-diameter trees in forests. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 27:849–864. Doi: 10.1111/geb.12747

Cansler, C.A., D. McKenzie, C.B. Halpern. 2018. Fire enhances the complexity of forest structure in alpine treeline ecotones. Ecosphere. 9:e02091. Doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2091

Ward, A., C.A. Cansler, and A.J. Larson. 2017. Black carbon on coarse woody debris in once- and twice-burned mixed-conifer forest. Fire Ecology. 13(2). Doi: 10.4996/fireecology.130288796

Cansler, C.A., D. McKenzie, C. Halpern. 2017. Area burned in alpine treeline ecotones reflects region-wide trends. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 25:1209-1220. Doi: 10.1071/WF16025

Lutz, J.A., T.J. Furniss, S.J. Germain, K.M.L. Becker, E.M. Blomdahl, S.A. Jeronimo, C.A. Cansler, J.A. Freund, M.E. Swanson, and A.J. Larson. 2017. Shrub consumption and community change by reintroduced fire in Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Fire Ecology. 13:104-126. Doi: 10.4996/fireecology.1301104

Larson, A.J., C.A. Cansler, S.G. Cowdery, S. Hiebert, T.J. Furniss, M.E. Swanson, and J.A. Lutz. 2016. Post-fire morel (Morchella) mushroom abundance, spatial structure, and harvest sustainability. ForestEcology and Management. 337:16-25. Doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2016.06.038

Kolden, C., J.T. Abatzoglou, J.A. Lutz, C.A. Cansler, J. Kane, J. van Wagtendonk, C. Key. 2015. Climate contributors to forest mosaics: ecological persistence following wildfire. Northwest Science. 89:219-238. Doi: 10.3955/046.089.0305

Kane, V.R., C.A. Cansler, N.A. Povak, J.T. Kane, R.J. McGaughey, J.A. Lutz, D.J. Churchill, M.P. 2015. Mixed severity fire effects within the Rim fire: Relative importance of local climate, fire weather, topography, and forest structure. Forest Ecology and Management. 358:62-79. Doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2015.09.001

Kane, V.R., J.A. Lutz, C.A. Cansler, N.A. Povak, D.J. Churchill, D.F. Smith, J.T. Kane, M.P North. 2015. Water balance and topography predict fire and forest structure patterns. Forest Ecology and Management. 338:1-13. Doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2014.10.038

Cansler, C.A., D. McKenzie. 2014. Climate, fire size, and ecological setting influence severity and spatial pattern of wildfires. Ecological Applications. 24:1037-1056. Doi: 10.1890/13-1077.1

Larson, A.J., R.T. Belote, C.A. Cansler, S.A. Parks, and M.S. Dietz. 2013. Latent resilience in ponderosa pine forest: Effects of resumed frequent fire. Ecological Applications. 23:1243–1249. Doi: 10.1890/13-0066.1

Cansler, C.A., D. McKenzie. 2012. How robust are burn severity indices when applied in a new region? Evaluation of alternate field-based and remote-sensing methods. Remote Sensing. 4:456-483. Doi: 10.3390/rs4020456

Professional Experience

2023-present   Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Management, University of Montana

2023-present   Affiliate Assistant Professor, School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington

2022                Lead Research Scientist, Forest Resilience Lab, School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington

2019-2022       Postdoctoral Researcher, Forest Resilience Lab, School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington

2017-2019       Postdoctoral Research Forester, Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service

2015-2016       Research Scientist, Fire and Mountain Ecology Lab, School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington