Erika Geiger
Researcher
Biology
The U.S. Geological Survey
United States Virgin Islands
Biography
Erika Geiger is a Supervisory Biologist at the USGS Canyonlands Research Station (CRS) in Moab, UT. She received her BA in Biology from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1997 and her Masters in Range Management (2002) and PhD in Natural Resources (2006) from the University of Arizona. She has worked in primarily arid or seasonally water-stressed systems including mesquite savannas in southern Arizona and savannas in the central highlands of Brazil investigating the role of invasive species, fire, and disturbance on native vegetation in these systems. After returning to the U.S. from a postdoc in Brazil she switched from research to management and is currently the Station Manager at CRS.
Research Interest
biodiversity ecological competition ecological processes ecosystem diversity ecosystem functions
Publications
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Geiger, E.L., Gotsch, S. G., Vale, G.D., Haridasan, M., and Franco, A.C., and Hoffmann, W.A. 2011. Distinct roles of savanna and forest tree species in regeneration following fire suppression in a Brazilian savanna. Journal of Vegetation Science 22:312-321
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Hoffmann, W.A., S.Y. Jaconis, K. McKinley, E.L. Geiger, S.G. Gotsch, and A.C. Franco. 2012. Fuels or microclimate? Understanding the drivers of fire feedbacks at savanna-forest boundaries. Austral Ecology 37:634-643.
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Hoffmann, W.A., Geiger, E.L., Gotsch, S., Rossatto, D.R., Silva, L.C.R., Lau, O.L., Haridasan, M., & Franco, A.C. (2012) Ecological thresholds at the savanna-forest boundary: How plant traits, resources and fire govern the distribution of tropical biomes. Ecology Letters 15:759-768.
