About

Matt Turner is a Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley, earned in 1992. His research interests encompass environmental governance, political ecology, the politics of conservation and conservation science, savanna and steppe ecology, critical development studies, pastoralism, common property theory, climate change vulnerability, and food security. Turner’s current research areas include the trans-Saharan migration experience and its driving factors in the Sudano-Sahelian region, the social and ecological impacts of dryland afforestation, climate change, resource-related conflict and insurgency in Mali, West Africa, and transborder pastoral movements and conservation zoning in Niger/Benin and Chad/Central Africa Republic. He teaches courses on global poverty, environmental conservation, African geography, and geographical inquiry. Turner has contributed significantly to the understanding of environmental and social issues in West Africa and beyond, with numerous publications and recognition such as the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorship and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Research topics

• Environmental science
• Biology
• Ecology
• Environmental resource management
• Geology
• Climatology
• Atmospheric sciences
• Geography

Selected publications

• Stand age and fire return interval shape soil microbial communities in young, postfire lodgepole pine stands

  Soil Biology and Biochemistry · 2026-01-28

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Forest Reorganisation After Natural Disturbance: A Synthesis

  Global Ecology and Biogeography · 2026-03-01

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Aim Natural disturbances are intensifying under global change, yet a global synthesis of their effects on forest structure and composition remains lacking. We aimed to assess the prevalence of structural versus compositional changes and to identify common post‐disturbance reorganisation pathways across forest biomes. Time Period 1980–2023. Location Global. Taxa Studied Forest tree species. Methods We conducted a systematic literature review of 159 studies reporting pre‐ and post‐disturbance forest structure and composition (i.e., mainly from fires, insect outbreaks and windthrow). We quantified structural and compositional changes by disturbance agent, biome, severity, study method and time since disturbance. We subsequently classified post‐disturbance trajectories into four pathways: self‐replacement, relay succession, novelty, and delayed regeneration. Results Most studies on post‐disturbance forest development focused on temperate forests and fire, with structural change being more common than compositional change. Knowledge of post‐disturbance trajectories is largely dominated by short‐term studies, revealing a critical gap in understanding long‐term post‐disturbance trajectories. Self‐replacement is common across biomes, suggesting that disturbances act as catalysts of change only under specific conditions. Relay succession is a prevalent post‐disturbance development pathway in boreal forests, delayed regeneration in temperate broadleaved and mixed forests, and post‐disturbance novelty occurs in temperate, Mediterranean and tropical regions. Main Conclusions As disturbances continue to change, the emerging novel disturbance regimes could alter prevailing reorganisation pathways. Understanding post‐disturbance forest reorganisation is thus critical for forest management and conservation in an era of global change.

  PublisherDOI

• Forest Reorganization Sustains Carbon Sequestration Under Climate Change

  Global Biogeochemical Cycles · 2026-02-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Forests currently mitigate anthropogenic climate change by sequestering substantial amounts of carbon, but future carbon dynamics are expected to vary across the temperate forest biome. Previously cold‐limited ecosystems with low disturbance activity could increase their carbon uptake, while water‐limited ecosystems with high disturbance activity could become a carbon source to the atmosphere. However, forests dynamically adapt to changing climate and disturbance regimes by reorganizing their composition and structure, with unclear consequences for future carbon dynamics. We asked how the carbon dynamics of reorganizing forests differ from those of resilient forests, that is, forests that conserve their composition and structure under climate change, and how shifts in composition and structure drive future forest carbon. We simulated long‐term forest and carbon dynamics under current and future climate conditions for three contrasting temperate forest national parks, spanning a gradient from low disturbance activity in Shiretoko, Japan, to intermediate disturbance activity in Berchtesgaden, Germany, and high disturbance activity in Grand Teton, Japan. Under climate change, carbon stores increased in Shiretoko, remained close to current levels in Berchtesgaden, and decreased in Grand Teton. Forests that reorganized, that is, exhibited compositional and/or structural changes, generally took up more carbon than resilient forests. Changes in forest carbon cycling were consistently associated with changes in forest structure across systems, whereas the effects of tree species composition change were less consistent. We conclude that resilience in composition and structure does not guarantee continuity in ecosystem functioning, suggesting that reorganization is necessary to maintain forest carbon stocks in a changing climate.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Reburning Before Recovery: Effects of Short-Interval Fire on Subalpine Forest Nitrogen Stocks and Fluxes

  Ecosystems · 2025-01-21 · 3 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Some Areas Burned in the 1988 Yellowstone Fires May Remain Treeless for the Foreseeable Future

  Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America · 2025-02-12

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Simulated postfire tree regeneration suggests reorganization of Greater Yellowstone forests during the 21st century

  Ecosphere · 2025-10-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Tree regeneration underpins forest resilience, but how pathways of postfire tree regeneration will unfold with future climate and fire regimes is difficult to anticipate. We conducted a simulation study in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE; United States) using a process‐based model, iLand, to ask how rates, composition, and spatial patterns of postfire tree regeneration vary with 21st‐century climate. Subalpine forest and fire dynamics were simulated through 2100 under four climate scenarios, 2 × 2 factorial of aridity (wet and dry) and temperature (warm and hot), in five GYE landscapes. We tallied postfire tree seedling density by species in simulated fires (>400 ha) at five years postfire. To assess changes in regeneration rates (total and by species) to 2100 in each landscape × climate scenario combination, we fit generalized linear models of regeneration versus time and estimated slope coefficients. To analyze spatial patterns of recovery, we compared regeneration to prefire forest state. Postfire regeneration rates were maintained through 2100 in wet scenarios but declined in the hot‐dry scenario. Seedling composition was generally consistent throughout the simulations across wet scenarios, except for declines of Engelmann spruce ( Picea engelmannii ). Regeneration of fire‐sensitive species declined in the hot‐dry scenario, with Engelmann spruce experiencing the steepest declines (−20% to −71%) and failing by late century. Lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia ) and subalpine fir ( Abies lasiocarpa ) declined in the hot‐dry scenario, but regeneration never failed. Regeneration of fire‐tolerant Douglas‐fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) and aspen ( Populus tremuloides ) was sustained or increased in dry scenarios (+4% to +6%). The proportion of burned area where regeneration failed increased in all dry scenarios but never exceeded 20%. Declining tree regeneration and shifts in dominant tree species revealed that changes in forest structure and composition—and not a conversion to non‐forest—are the dominant response to future climate across broad swaths of the simulation landscapes. Our results suggest that postfire reorganization may be widespread during the 21st century and enable forests to persist in a warming climate with more fire.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sparse subalpine forest recovery pathways, plant communities, and carbon stocks 34 years after stand‐replacing fire

  Ecological Monographs · 2025-01-27 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Changing global climate and wildfire regimes are threatening forest resilience (i.e., the ability to recover from disturbance). Yet distinguishing areas of “no” versus “slow” postfire forest recovery is challenging, and consequences of sparse tree regeneration for plant communities and carbon dynamics are uncertain. We studied previously forested areas where tree regeneration remained sparse 34 years after the large, stand‐replacing 1988 Yellowstone fires (Wyoming, USA) to ask the following questions: (1) What are the recovery pathways in areas of sparse and reduced forest recovery and how are they distributed across the landscape? (2) What explains variation in postfire tree regeneration density (total and by species) among sparse recovery pathways? (3) What are the implications of sparse recovery for understory plant communities? (4) How diminished are aboveground carbon stocks in areas of sparse postfire forest recovery? Tree densities and species‐specific age distributions, understory plant communities, and carbon stocks were sampled in 55 plots during summer 2022. We detected three qualitatively distinct sparse recovery pathways (persistent sparse or non‐forest, continuous tree infilling, and recent seedling and sapling establishment). Nearly half of the plots appeared “locked in” as persistently sparse or non‐forest, while the remaining may be on a slow path to forest recovery. Plots with nearby upwind seed sources as well as in situ seed pressure from young postfire trees appear likely to recover to forest. Where trees were sparse or absent, plant communities resembled those found in meadows, capturing compositional changes expected to become more common with continued forest loss. However, forest‐affinity species persisted in mesic locations, indicating mismatches between some plant communities and future forest change. Aboveground carbon stocks were low owing to minimal tree reestablishment. Almost all (96%) carbon was stored in coarse wood, a sharp departure from C storage patterns where forests are recovering. If not offset by future tree regeneration, decomposition of dead biomass will protract postfire aboveground carbon stock recovery. As global disturbance regimes and climate continue to change, determining the drivers of ecosystem reorganization and understanding how such changes will cascade to influence ecosystem structure and function will be increasingly important.

  PublisherDOI

• Rates and controls of nitrogen fixation in postfire lodgepole pine forests

  Ecology · 2025-02-01 · 3 citations

  article

  Abstract Severe, stand‐replacing wildfire substantially depletes nitrogen (N) stocks in subalpine conifer forests, potentially exacerbating N limitation of net primary productivity in many forested regions where fire frequency is increasing. In lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia ) forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), long‐term data show surface soil and biomass N stocks are replenished during the first few decades following wildfire, but the source(s) of that N are unclear. We measured acetylene reduction rates in multiple cryptic niches (i.e., lichen, moss, pine litter, dead wood, and mineral soil) in 34‐year‐old lodgepole pine stands in the GYE to explore the rates, temporal patterns, and climate controls on cryptic N fixation. Acetylene reduction rates were highest in late May (0.376 nmol C 2 H 4 g −1 h −1 ) when moisture availability was high compared with early August and mid‐October when moisture was relatively low (0.112 and 0.002 nmol C 2 H 4 g −1 h −1 , respectively). We observed modest rates of nitrogenase activity in a few niches following a mid‐summer rain event, suggesting that moisture is an important factor regulating field‐based N fixation rates. In a laboratory experiment, moss responded more strongly to temperature and moisture variation than all other niches. Acetylene reduction rates in dead wood increased with temperature but not moisture content. No other niches showed clear responses to either moisture or temperature manipulation. Together, the field and laboratory results suggest that frequent asynchrony between favorable temperature and moisture conditions may limit N fixation rates in the field. Overall, total annual cryptic N fixation inputs (mean: 0.26; range: 0.07–2.9 kg N ha −1 year −1 ) represented <10% of the postfire biomass and surface soil N accumulation in the same stands (39.4 kg N ha −1 year −1 ), pointing to a still unknown source of ecosystem N following fire.

  PublisherDOI

• Can fire exclusion zones enhance postfire tree regeneration? A simulation study in subalpine conifer forests

  Ecological Applications · 2025-10-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Climate change and novel fire regimes increasingly challenge stewardship of forests adapted to infrequent, stand-replacing fire. Novel fire regimes may disrupt mechanisms that sustained postfire regeneration historically, and whether fire management can promote forest resilience to future fires is uncertain. We used the individual-based forest simulation model iLand to explore how fire exclusion zones that mimic historical burn mosaics may affect postfire tree regeneration in conifer forests of Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming, USA). We asked: (1) How do the amount and configuration of potential fire exclusion zones influence postfire tree regeneration throughout the 21st century under alternative climate scenarios? (2) How do "operational" fire exclusion zones affect postfire tree regeneration within burned patches and across the landscape by the end of the 21st century? We first conducted a factorial simulation experiment with varying amounts (10%, 30%, 50% of the landscape) and configurations (dispersed vs. clumped) of fire exclusion zones. Informed by this experiment and logistical firefighting considerations, we developed an operational scenario in which we designated mature forests surrounded by defensible fuel breaks as fire exclusion zones. Simulations were conducted under four future climate scenarios (warm-wet, hot-wet, warm-dry, hot-dry), and postfire tree regeneration densities with fire exclusion zones were compared to reference scenarios without fire exclusion zones. Regeneration of fire-avoiding conifers (subalpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa and Engelmann spruce, Picea engelmannii) was consistently greater with fire exclusion zones, especially with ≥30% of the landscape in dispersed configuration. Fire exclusion zones had minimal effects on regeneration of fire embracers (lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia) and fire resisters (Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca). In the operational scenario, postfire regeneration of fire-avoiding species was greater compared to the reference scenario, especially in hot climate scenarios. Although regeneration of fire avoiders declined in operational and reference scenarios throughout the 21st century, regeneration densities were up to 10 times greater in the operational relative to the reference scenario. Our results suggest that mimicking historical burn mosaics by establishing fire exclusion zones could sustain seed sources and afford more time for subalpine conifer forests to adapt to a warmer world with more fire.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Contributors

  Elsevier eBooks · 2024-10-01

  book-chapterOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• RAPID: Collaborative Research: The 2016 Yellowstone Fires: early indicators of ecosystem transitions in a changing fire regime.

  NSF · $143k · 2017–2019

• Collaborative research: Nitrogen recovery in postfire lodgepole pine forests: cryptic sources, uncertain futures

  NSF · $807k · 2020–2027

• Causes and Consequences of Spatial Variation in Initial Post Fire Succession in the Yellowstone Landscape

  NSF · $400k · 1998–2002

Frequent coauthors

• William H. Romme

  Colorado State University

  148 shared

• Scott M. Pearson

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  68 shared

• Daniel B. Tinker

  University of Wyoming

  56 shared

• Robert H. Gardner

  51 shared

• Stephen R. Carpenter

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  40 shared

• Brian J. Harvey

  University of Washington

  40 shared

• Erica A. H. Smithwick

  Pennsylvania State University

  38 shared

• Daniel C. Donato

  35 shared

Labs

• Turner, Matt – Department of Geography – UW–MadisonPI

Education

• PhD, Ecology

  University of Georgia

  1985

• BS, Biology

  Fordham University - Rose Hill Campus

  1980

Awards & honors

• Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor (2014-)
• Abo S. Sher Faculty Fellow (January 2009-December 2013)
• Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, September…
• Vilas Associate, University of Wisconsin, Madison July 2002-…