Xanthe Walker’s research focuses on understanding the impacts of environmental change and disturbance on the structure and function of northern terrestrial ecosystems. She has experience in disturbance ecology, dendrochronology, statistics, and the application of stable and radioactive carbon isotopes. Her current work focuses on how wildfire intensification impacts the long-term carbon balance of boreal forests and tundra ecosystems. She is also studying how vegetation change could moderate climate-induced intensification of boreal wildfire regimes and is working to optimize fuel reduction treatments and management practices to enhance the resilience of forests and communities to wildfire.
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Selected Publications:
Walker XJ, Baltzer JL, Day NJ, Ebert C, Goetz SJ, Johnstone JF, Potter S, Rogers BM, Schuur EAG, Turetsky MR, Mack MC (2019) Increasing wildfires threaten historic carbon sink of boreal forest soils. Nature. 572, 520–523. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1474-y
Walker XJ, Roger BM, Veraverbeke S, Johnstone JF, Baltzer JL, Barrett K, Bourgeau-Chavez L, Day NJ, de Groot WJ, Dieleman CM, Goetz S, Hoy E, Jenkins LK, Kane ES, Parisien MA, Potter S, Schuur EAG, Turetsky M, Whitman E, Mack MC (2020) Fuel availability not fire weather controls boreal wildfire severity and carbon emissions. Nature Climate Change. 1–7. doi:10.1038/s41558-020-00920-8.
Walker XJ, Rogers BM, Baltzer JL, Cumming SG, Day NJ, Goetz S, Johnstone JF, Schuur EAG, Turetsky MR, Mack MC (2018) Cross-scale controls on carbon emissions from boreal forest mega-fires. Global Change Biology, 24, 4251– 4265. doi:10.1111/gcb.14287
Walker XJ, Mack MC, Johnstone JF (2015) Stable carbon isotope analysis reveals widespread drought stress in boreal black spruce forests. Global Change Biology 21, 3102–3113. doi:10.1111/gcb.12893.
Walker XJ, Alexander HD, Berner L, Boyd M, Loranty MM, Natali S, Mack MC (2021) Positive response of tree productivity to warming is reversed by increased tree density at the Arctic tundra-taiga ecotone. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. doi:10.1139/cjfr-2020-0466
Walker XJ, Black E, Berner LT, Dean J, Kemper L, Mack MC, Potter S, Rogers BM, Truettner C (2025). Short-interval fires decrease long-term carbon storage and lead to regeneration failure in boreal forest ecosystems. Fire Ecology. 21 (1), 57
Walker XJ, Hart S, Hansen WD, Jean M, Brown C, Chapin FS, Hewitt R, Hollingsworth T, Mack MC, Johnstone J (2024). Factors limiting the potential range expansion of lodgepole pine in Interior Alaska. Ecological Applications.
Walker XJ, Okono K, Berner LT, Johnstone JF, Massey R, Goetz S, Mack MC (2023) Shifts in ecological legacies support hysteresis of stand type conversions in boreal forests. Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00866-w
Walker XJ, Alexander HD, Berner L, Boyd M, Loranty MM, Natali S, Mack MC (2021) Positive response of tree productivity to warming is reversed by increased tree density at the Arctic tundra-taiga ecotone. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. doi:10.1139/cjfr-2020-0466
Walker XJ, Howard BK, Jean M, Johnstone JF, Roland C, Rogers BM, Schuur EAG, Solvik KK, Mack MC (2021) Impacts of pre-fire conifer density and wildfire severity on ecosystem structure and function at the forest-tundra ecotone. PLOS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258558
Walker XJ, Rogers BM, Veraverbeke S, Johnstone JF, Baltzer JL, Barrett K, Bourgeau-Chavez L, Day NJ, de Groot WJ, Dieleman CM, Goetz S, Hoy E, Jenkins LK, Kane ES, Parisien MA, Potter S, Schuur EAG, Turetsky M, Whitman E, Mack MC (2020) Fuel availability not fire weather controls boreal wildfire severity and carbon emissions. Nature Climate Change. 1–7. doi:10.1038/s41558-020-00920-8.
Walker XJ, Baltzer JL, Day NJ, Ebert C, Goetz SJ, Johnstone JF, Potter S, Rogers BM, Schuur EAG, Turetsky MR, Mack MC (2019) Increasing wildfires threaten historic carbon sink of boreal forest soils. Nature. 572, 520–523. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1474-y
Walker XJ, Rogers BM, Baltzer JL, Cumming SG, Day NJ, Goetz S, Johnstone JF, Schuur EAG, Turetsky MR, Mack MC (2018) Cross-scale controls on carbon emissions from boreal forest mega-fires. Global Change Biology, 24, 4251– 4265. doi:10.1111/gcb.14287
