Utah Science Magazine

Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism researchers provide data, information, and knowledge that leads to a better understanding of how to best provide outdoor recreation opportunities.

Wildfires were once an important driver of ecosystem health in western U.S forests, but decades of fire suppression, natural and human-caused disturbances and environmental change have combined to create conditions that favor wildfires

Wildfires on public rangeland have altered the plant communities on which wildlife and grazing animals feed. Annual grasses top the list of invaders that thrive shortly after a fire including non-native cheatgrass that crowds out native grasses and other ...

Building structures in areas that historically burned is just one of the ways people have failed to recognize that frequent wildfires were part of local ecosystems for millennia. Decades of wildfire suppression have left plentiful fuel for fires

When bison were introduced into one of Utah’s deserts in the 1940s, they migrated to the Henry Mountains in south-central Utah where cattle graze on permits. USU Professor Johan du Toit, a wildland resources researcher, has tackled similar conflicts on mu...

Beavers are ecosystem engineers, and important to many arid western ecosystems. Beavers are considered a keystone species, meaning they have an outsized effect on their environment even when their physical size and numbers are not large.

Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras capture images that allow the team to monitor changes where soils were “pocked” by a trackhoe to produce thousands of micro-watersheds and support new vegetation.

Utah Biomass Resources Group have demonstrated a practical method for producing biochar using simple metal kilns. Why is that useful now? McAvoy says making biochar can mitigate the impact of hazardous fuels for wildfires.

More species of bees live in the Grand Staircase region of Utah than there are total bee species living in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. This extraordinary diversity makes Utah an ideal place to study bees and other pollinators.

The Berryman Institute’s focus is on reducing wildlife damage and resolving human/wildlife conflicts. Among the institute’s activities is a feral and invasive species initiative supported by the Utah Public Lands Initiative.

In Utah, many of the big questions about natural resource and land management involve public lands because they comprise about 75% of the state. That places Utah third behind Alaska (95.8%) and Nevada (87.7%)

The world produced 348 million metric tons of plastic in 2017. These same properties lead to progressive fragmentation instead of degradation in the environment. These “microplastics” are known to accumulate in wastewaters, rivers, and ultimately the worl...