College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences

Department of Natural Resource Sciences

Mark E. Swanson

Assistant Professor

Research Interests
  • Forest carbon at stand and landscape scales.
  • Effects of thinning for creation of structural and compositional complexity.
  • Landscape-scale change in forested landscapes.
Teaching /Professional Interests

Dr. Mark E. Swanson is a forest ecosystem analyst in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University . His research interests include developmental processes of natural forest stands, forest carbon, understory vegetation, and early-successional habitats . Dr. Swanson's current work centers on stand dynamics in maturation-phase Douglas-fir/western hemlock forest, modeling forest carbon in Nothofagus forests, and the ecological value of early-successional habitats.

Representative Publications

Franklin, Jerry F., and Mark E. Swanson. 2007. Forest landscape structure, degradation, and condition: Some commentary and fundamental principles. Chapter 12 (pp. 123-137) in: Lindenmayer, David and Richard Hobbs. 2007. Managing and designing landscapes for conservation: Moving from perspectives to principles. Malden , MA : Blackwell Publishing.

Franklin, Jerry F., and Mark E. Swanson. 2007. Forest landscape structure, degradation, and condition: Some commentary and fundamental principles. Chapter 12 (pp. 123-137) in: Lindenmayer, David and Richard Hobbs. 2007. Managing and designing landscapes for conservation: Moving from perspectives to principles. Malden , MA : Blackwell Publishing.

Swanson, Mark E. 2006. El manejo forestal ecológico en noroeste Norteamerica: una respuesta a un mundo en movimiento. Bosque Nativo (Revista de la Agrupación de Ingenieros por el Bosque Nativo).. Valdivia , Chile . (English title: Ecological forest management in northwestern North America : a response to a changing world.) No. 39: 3-9.

Swanson, Mark E. 2006. An ecological history of the Charles L. Pack Experimental Forest , Eatonville , Washington: Natural history, landscape ecology, and forest management. Paper contracted for the Center for Sustainable Forestry at Charles L. Pack Experimental Forest . Available online at: http://www.packforest.org/research/Pack_ecolhist.pdf

Swanson, Mark E. , David C. Shaw, and Tisha K. Marosi. 2006. Distribution of western hemlock dwarf mistletoe ( Arceuthobium tsugense [Rosendahl] G.N. Jones subsp. tsugense ) in mature and old-growth Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) forests. Northwest Science 80(3): 207-217.

Educational Background
  • Ph.D. Forest Ecosystem Analysis, 2007
    University of Washington - Seattle, WA
  • B.S. Forest Management, 1999
    University of Washington - Seattle, WA

Mark Swanson

Department of
Natural Resource Sciences
Washington State University
177 Johnson Hall
Pullman, WA 99164-6410

(509) 335-1349
markswanson@wsu.edu

Department of Natural Resource Sciences, PO Box 646410, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-6410, 509-335-6166, Contact Us