Alan Taylor

Professor of Geography

202 Walker
University Park, PA
aht1@psu.edu
814-865-1509

Huck Affiliations

Most Recent Publications

Humans and climate modulate fire activity across Ethiopia

Lucas B. Harris, Alan H. Taylor, Habtemariam Kassa, Samson Leta, Bronwen Powell, 2023, Fire Ecology

Reduced fire severity offers near-term buffer to climate-driven declines in conifer resilience across the western United States

Kimberley T. Davis, Marcos D. Robles, Kerry B. Kemp, Philip E. Higuera, Teresa Chapman, Kerry L. Metlen, Jamie L. Peeler, Kyle C. Rodman, Travis Woolley, Robert N. Addington, Brian J. Buma, C. Alina Cansler, Michael J. Case, Brandon M. Collins, Jonathan D. Coop, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Nathan S. Gill, Collin Haffey, Lucas B. Harris, Brian J. Harvey, Ryan D. Haugo, Matthew D. Hurteau, Dominik Kulakowski, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Lisa A. McCauley, Nicholas Povak, Kristen L. Shive, Edward Smith, Jens T. Stevens, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, Alan H. Taylor, Alan J. Tepley, Derek J.N. Young, Robert A. Andrus, Mike A. Battaglia, Julia K. Berkey, Sebastian U. Busby, Amanda R. Carlson, Marin E. Chambers, Erich Kyle Dodson, Daniel C. Donato, William M. Downing, Paula J. Fornwalt, Joshua S. Halofsky, Ashley Hoffman, Andrés Holz, Jose M. Iniguez, Meg A. Krawchuk, Mark R. Kreider, Andrew J. Larson, Garrett W. Meigs, John Paul Roccaforte, Monica T. Rother, Hugh Safford, Michael Schaedel, Jason S. Sibold, Megan P. Singleton, Monica G. Turner, Alexandra K. Urza, Kyra D. Clark-Wolf, Larissa Yocom, Joseph B. Fontaine, John L. Campbell, 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Species Sensitivity to Hydrologic Whiplash in The Tree-Ring Record of the High Sierra Nevada

Anabel G. Winitsky, David M. Meko, Alan H. Taylor, Franco Biondi, 2023, Environments - MDPI

Vegetation type conversion in the US Southwest: frontline observations and management responses

Christopher H. Guiterman, Rachel M. Gregg, Laura A.E. Marshall, Jill J. Beckmann, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Donald A. Falk, Jon E. Keeley, Anthony C. Caprio, Jonathan D. Coop, Paula J. Fornwalt, Collin Haffey, R. Keala Hagmann, Stephen T. Jackson, Ann M. Lynch, Ellis Q. Margolis, Christopher Marks, Marc D. Meyer, Hugh Safford, Alexandra Dunya Syphard, Alan Taylor, Craig Wilcox, Dennis Carril, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, David Huffman, Jose Iniguez, Nicole A. Molinari, Christina Restaino, Jens T. Stevens, 2022, Fire Ecology

MODIS-based smoke detection shows that daily smoke cover dampens fire severity in initial burns but not reburns in complex terrain

Lucas B. Harris, Alan H. Taylor, 2022, International Journal of Wildland Fire on p. 1002-1013

Public and manager perceptions about prescribed fire in the Mid-Atlantic, United States

Hong Wu, Zachary D. Miller, Rui Wang, Katherine Zipp, Peter Newman, Yau-Huo Shr, Cody L. Dems, Alan Taylor, Margot W. Kaye, Erica A.H. Smithwick, 2022, Journal of Environmental Management on p. 10

Low-Severity Wildfire Shifts Mixed Conifer Forests toward Historical Stand Structure in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, USA

John Sakulich, Helen M. Poulos, Richard G. Gatewood, Kelsey A. Wogan, Christopher Marks, Alan H. Taylor, 2022, Fire

Severity patterns of the 2021 Dixie Fire exemplify the need to increase low-severity fire treatments in California's forests

Alan H. Taylor, Lucas B. Harris, Carl N. Skinner, 2022, Environmental Research Letters

The North American tree-ring fire-scar network

Ellis Q. Margolis, Christopher H. Guiterman, Raphaël D. Chavardès, Jonathan D. Coop, Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, Denyse A. Dawe, Donald A. Falk, James D. Johnston, Evan Larson, Hang Li, Joseph M. Marschall, Cameron E. Naficy, Adam T. Naito, Marc André Parisien, Sean A. Parks, Jeanne Portier, Helen M. Poulos, Kevin M. Robertson, James H. Speer, Michael Stambaugh, Thomas W. Swetnam, Alan J. Tepley, Ichchha Thapa, Craig D. Allen, Yves Bergeron, Lori D. Daniels, Peter Z. Fulé, David Gervais, Martin P. Girardin, Grant L. Harley, Jill E. Harvey, Kira M. Hoffman, Jean M. Huffman, Matthew D. Hurteau, Lane B. Johnson, Charles W. Lafon, Manuel K. Lopez, R. Stockton Maxwell, Jed Meunier, Malcolm North, Monica T. Rother, Micah R. Schmidt, Rosemary L. Sherriff, Lauren A. Stachowiak, Alan Taylor, Erana J. Taylor, Valerie Trouet, Miguel L. Villarreal, Larissa L. Yocom, Karen B. Arabas, Alexis H. Arizpe, Dominique Arseneault, Alicia Azpeleta Tarancón, Christopher Baisan, Erica Bigio, Franco Biondi, Gabriel D. Cahalan, Anthony Caprio, Julián Cerano-Paredes, Brandon M. Collins, Daniel C. Dey, Igor Drobyshev, Calvin Farris, M. Adele Fenwick, William Flatley, M. Lisa Floyd, Ze'ev Gedalof, Andres Holz, Lauren F. Howard, David W. Huffman, Jose Iniguez, Kurt F. Kipfmueller, Stanley G. Kitchen, Keith Lombardo, Donald McKenzie, Andrew G. Merschel, Kerry L. Metlen, Jesse Minor, Christopher D. O'Connor, Laura Platt, William J. Platt, Thomas Saladyga, Amanda B. Stan, Scott Stephens, Colleen Sutheimer, Ramzi Touchan, Peter J. Weisberg, 2022, Ecosphere

Topography, Climate and Fire History Regulate Wildfire Activity in the Alaskan Tundra

Arif Masrur, Alan Taylor, Lucas Harris, Jennifer Barnes, Andrey Petrov, 2022, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

Most-Cited Papers

Climate, Environment, and Disturbance History Govern Resilience of Western North American Forests

Paul F. Hessburg, Carol L. Miller, Sean A. Parks, Nicholas A. Povak, Alan H. Taylor, Philip E. Higuera, Susan J. Prichard, Malcolm P. North, Brandon M. Collins, Matthew D. Hurteau, Andrew J. Larson, Craig D. Allen, Scott L. Stephens, Hiram Rivera-Huerta, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, Lori D. Daniels, Ze'ev Gedalof, Robert W. Gray, Van R. Kane, Derek J. Churchill, R. Keala Hagmann, Thomas A. Spies, C. Alina Cansler, R. Travis Belote, Thomas T. Veblen, Mike A. Battaglia, Chad Hoffman, Carl N. Skinner, Hugh D. Safford, R. Brion Salter, 2019, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Evidence for widespread changes in the structure, composition, and fire regimes of western North American forests

R. K. Hagmann, P. F. Hessburg, S. J. Prichard, N. A. Povak, P. M. Brown, P. Z. Fulé, R. E. Keane, E. E. Knapp, J. M. Lydersen, K. L. Metlen, M. J. Reilly, A. J. Sánchez Meador, S. L. Stephens, J. T. Stevens, A. H. Taylor, L. L. Yocom, M. A. Battaglia, D. J. Churchill, L. D. Daniels, D. A. Falk, P. Henson, J. D. Johnston, M. A. Krawchuk, C. R. Levine, G. W. Meigs, A. G. Merschel, M. P. North, H. D. Safford, T. W. Swetnam, A. E.M. Waltz, 2021, Ecological Applications

Tamm Review: Management of mixed-severity fire regime forests in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California

Paul F. Hessburg, Thomas A. Spies, David A. Perry, Carl N. Skinner, Alan H. Taylor, Peter M. Brown, Scott L. Stephens, Andrew J. Larson, Derek J. Churchill, Nicholas A. Povak, Peter H. Singleton, Brenda McComb, William J. Zielinski, Brandon M. Collins, R. Brion Salter, John J. Keane, Jerry F. Franklin, Greg Riegel, 2016, Forest Ecology and Management on p. 221-250

Socioecological transitions trigger fire regime shifts and modulate fire-climate interactions in the Sierra Nevada, USA, 1600-2015 CE

Alan H. Taylor, Valerie Trouet, Carl N. Skinner, Scott Stephens, 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 13684-13689

High severity fire and mixed conifer forest-chaparral dynamics in the southern Cascade Range, USA

Catherine Airey Lauvaux, Carl N. Skinner, Alan H. Taylor, 2016, Forest Ecology and Management on p. 74-85

Topography, Fuels, and Fire Exclusion Drive Fire Severity of the Rim Fire in an Old-Growth Mixed-Conifer Forest, Yosemite National Park, USA

Lucas Harris, Alan H. Taylor, 2015, Ecosystems on p. 1192-1208

Reduced fire severity offers near-term buffer to climate-driven declines in conifer resilience across the western United States

Application of wildfire risk assessment results to wildfire response planning in the Southern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

Matthew P. Thompson, Phil Bowden, April Brough, Joe H. Scott, Julie Gilbertson-Day, Alan Taylor, Jennifer Anderson, Jessica R. Haas, 2016, Forests

Previous burns and topography limit and reinforce fire severity in a large wildfire

Lucas Harris, Alan H. Taylor, 2017, Ecosphere

Average stand age from forest inventory plots does not describe historical fire regimes in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America

Jens T. Stevens, Hugh D. Safford, Malcolm P. North, Jeremy S. Fried, Andrew N. Gray, Peter M. Brown, Christopher R. Dolanc, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Donald A. Falk, Calvin A. Farris, Jerry F. Franklin, Peter Z. Fulé, R. Keala Hagmann, Eric E. Knapp, Jay D. Miller, Douglas F. Smith, Thomas W. Swetnam, Alan H. Taylor, 2016, PLoS One

News Articles Featuring Alan Taylor

Sep 12, 2024

Taylor’s research legacy shines light on California wildfires, forest ecology

Alan Taylor, a recently retired and now professor emeritus of geography, spent decades researching West Coast landscape and fire ecology. He used ecological signals and human history to paint a picture of how forests changed over time.

Full Article

Jan 26, 2023

Smithwick appointed new director of Earth and Environmental Systems Institute

Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography, has been named director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State, effective Jan. 1.

Full Article

Nov 01, 2022

Fighting fire with fire: Study gauges public perception of prescribed burns

Setting planned, controlled fires — or prescribed burns — on landscapes can reduce wildfire risks and support habitat restoration, but to be successful these policies also require public support.

Full Article

Aug 10, 2022

Pennsylvania has so far been able to avoid wildfires. Climate and forestry scientists warn that could change.

As wildfires become increasingly common across the western United States, Pennsylvania and its residents have so far remained insulated from the flames destroying communities worldwide.

Full Article

Aug 13, 2019

Forest carbon still plentiful post-wildfire after century of fire exclusion

Forests in Yosemite National Park hold more carbon today than they did 120 years ago despite burning in a severe wildfire in 2013, according to a Penn State-led team of researchers.

Full Article