Marcos Robles

As lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy in Arizona (TNC Arizona), Marcos leads a team of scientists that demonstrates the impact of TNC’s conservation strategies on Arizona’s forests, rivers and grasslands and sets priorities for future conservation strategies that address emerging threats and leverage opportunities. He leads the development and communication of novel partnerships with leading scientists from universities, government agencies and NGOs using the Arizona Science Innovation Fund. Beyond Arizona, he led a team of scientists from TNC, universities and federal agencies to develop a set of foundational science tools for the Western Dry Forest & Fire Program, an initiative to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration with key partners and stakeholders across the Western U.S. He led or co-led a series of studies that evaluated how forest restoration in Northern Arizona could reduce impacts of climate change, wildfire and drought on streamflow, forest mortality and regeneration, and forest carbon. Other projects included grassland and desert program strategic planning; conservation priorities to guide transportation and renewable energy planning and mitigation; drought effects on grassland resilience; forest restoration and human water demand effects on river flow; Southwest Climate Change Assessment; ecoregional conservation geodatabase and map for the western United States and northwestern Mexico.

Trained as an ecosystem ecologist, Marcos has worked in conservation science for 25 years. Prior to joining TNC, he worked on regional to national scale projects as a conservation scientist for NatureServe. Marcos obtained his Master's degree in Ecology from Colorado State University, assessing conservation effects on soils in semi-arid grasslands, and a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Environmental Science from University of California at Berkeley.

Davis, K.T., J. Peeler, J. Fargione, R.D. Haugo, K.M. Metlen, M.D. Robles, T. Woolley. Tamm Review: A meta-analysis of thinning, prescribed fire, and wildfire effects on subsequent wildfire severity in conifer dominated forests of the Western US. Forest Ecology and Management 2024 561, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121885. 

Dwivedi, R., J.A. Biederman, P.D. Broxton, J.K. Pearl, K. Lee, B.M. Svoma, W.J.D van Leeuwen, M.D. Robles. How three-dimensional forest structure regulates the amount and timing of snowmelt across a climatic gradient of snow persistence. Frontiers in Water 2024 6, https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2024.1374961. 

Peeler, J.L., L. McCauley, K.L. Metlen, T. Woolley, K.T. Davis, M.D. Robles, R.D. Haugo, and co-authors. Identifying opportunity hotspots for reducing the risk of wildfire-caused carbon loss in western US conifer forests. Environmental Research Letters 2023 18 094040, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf05a. 

Davis, K.T.; M.D. Robles, K.B. Kemp, P.E. Higuera, T. Chapman, K.L. Metlen, J.L. Peeler, and co-authors. Reduced fire severity offers near-term buffer to climate-driven declines in conifer resilience across the western United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2023 120(11), e2208120120, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208120120. 

Biederman, J.A.; M.D. Robles, R.L. Scott, J.F. Knowles. Streamflow response to wildfire differs with season and elevation in adjacent headwaters of the Lower Colorado River Basin. Water Resources Research 2022 58(3), https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030687. 

McCauley, L.A., J.B. Bradford, M.D. Robles, R.K. Shriver, T. Woolley, C.A. Andrews. Landscape-scale forest restoration decreases drought mortality under climate change in Southwest USA ponderosa forest. Forest Ecology and Management 2022 509, 120088, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120088. 

Bradford, J.B.; R.K. Shriver, M.D. Robles, L.A. McCauley, T.J. Woolley, M. Crimmins, D.M. Bell. Tree mortality response to drought-density interactions suggests opportunities to enhance drought resistance. Journal of Applied Ecology 2021 59(2), 549-559, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14073. 

Robles, M.D., J.C. Hammond, S.K. Kampf, J.A. Biederman, E.M.C. Demaria. Winter Inputs Buffer Streamflow Sensitivity to Snowpack Losses in the Salt River Watershed in the Lower Colorado River Basin. Water 2021, 13, 3, https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13010003.  

Bradford, J.B., C.A. Andrews, M.D. Robles, L.A. McCauley, T.J. Woolley, R.M. Marshall Landscape-scale restoration minimizes tree growth vulnerability to 20th century drought in a dry forest. Ecological Applications 2020, 31(2), e2238, https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2238.

Hunter, M.E., M.D. Robles. Tamm review: The effects of prescribed fire on wildfire regimes and impacts: A framework for comparison. Forest Ecology and Management 2020, 475, 118435, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118435. 

McCauley, L.A., M.D. Robles, T.J. Woolley, R.M. Marshall, A. Kretchun, D.F. Gori. 2019. Large-scale forest restoration stabilizes carbon under climate change in the Southwest United States. Ecological Applications 2019 29(8), e01979, https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1979. 

Robles, M.D., D.S. Turner, J.A. Haney. A century of changing flows: Forest management changed flow magnitudes and warming advanced the timing of flow in a southwestern US river. PLoS ONE 2017, 12(11), e0187875. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187875. 

Demaria, E.M.C., F. Dominguez, H. Hu, G. von Glinski, M.D. Robles, J. Skindlov, and J. Walter Observed hydrologic impacts of landfalling atmospheric rivers in the Salt and Verde river basins of Arizona, United States. Water Resources Research 2017, 53(12), 10025-10042, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR020778. 

Bodner, G.S., M.D. Robles. Enduring a decade of drought: Patterns and drivers of vegetation change in a semi-arid grassland. Journal of Arid Environments 2017, 136, 1-14, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.09.002. 

Robles, M.D., R.M. Marshall, F. O'Donnell, E.B. Smith, J.A. Haney, D.F. Gori. Effects of Climate Variability and Accelerated Forest Thinning on Watershed-Scale Runoff in Southwestern USA Ponderosa Pine Forests. PLoS ONE 2014, 9(10), e111092, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111092. 

Marshall, R.M., M.D. Robles, D.R. Majka, J.A. Haney. Sustainable Water Management in the Southwestern United States: Reality or Rhetoric? PLoS ONE 2010, 5(7): e11687. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011687.  

Robles, M.D., C.H. Flather, S.M. Stein, M.D. Nelson, A. Cutko. The geography of private forests that support at-risk species in the conterminous United States. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2008, 6(6), 301-307, https://doi.org/10.1890/070106. 

Robles, M.D., I.C. Burke. Soil organic matter recovery on Conservation Reserve Program fields in Southeastern Wyoming. Soil Science Society of America Journal 1998, 62(3), 725-730, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1998.03615995006200030026x. 

Robles, M.D., I.C. Burke. Legume, grass, and Conservation Reserve Program effects on soil organic matter recovery. Ecological Applications 1997 7(2), 345-357, https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(1997)007[0345:LGACRP]2.0.CO;2.

Burke I.C., W.K. Lauenroth, M.A. Vinton, R.H. Kelly, H.E. Epstein, M.D. Robles, K.L. Murphy, R.A. Gill. Plant-Soil interactions in grasslands. Biogeochemistry 1997, 42, 121-143, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2691-7_7. 

Robles, M., F.S. Chapin III. Comparison of the influence of two exotic species on ecosystem processes in the Berkeley Hills. Madroño 1995, 42(3), 349-357, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41425082.