Scott L. Stephens

23.9k total citations · 9 hit papers
244 papers, 16.9k citations indexed

About

Scott L. Stephens is a scholar working on Global and Planetary Change, Ecology and Nature and Landscape Conservation. According to data from OpenAlex, Scott L. Stephens has authored 244 papers receiving a total of 16.9k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 229 papers in Global and Planetary Change, 136 papers in Ecology and 103 papers in Nature and Landscape Conservation. Recurrent topics in Scott L. Stephens's work include Fire effects on ecosystems (225 papers), Rangeland and Wildlife Management (126 papers) and Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies (73 papers). Scott L. Stephens is often cited by papers focused on Fire effects on ecosystems (225 papers), Rangeland and Wildlife Management (126 papers) and Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies (73 papers). Scott L. Stephens collaborates with scholars based in United States, Australia and Mexico. Scott L. Stephens's co-authors include Brandon M. Collins, Constance I. Millar, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jason J. Moghaddas, Malcolm P. North, Danny L. Fry, Carl N. Skinner, Peter Z. Fulé, A. Malcolm Gill and Mark A. Finney and has published in prestigious journals such as Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature Communications.

In The Last Decade

Scott L. Stephens

239 papers receiving 16.1k citations

Hit Papers

CLIMATE CHANGE AND FORESTS OF THE FUTURE: MANAGING IN THE... 2002 2026 2010 2018 2007 2002 2021 2015 2015 400 800 1.2k
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. CLIMATE CHANGE AND FORESTS OF THE FUTURE: MANAGING IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY
    2007 1.5k citations Scott L. Stephens et al. Ecological Applications profile →
  2. THE DROUGHT MONITOR
    2002 965 citations Scott L. Stephens et al. profile →
  3. How biochar works, and when it doesn't: A review of mechanisms controlling soil and plant responses to biochar
    2021 619 citations Scott L. Stephens et al. profile →
  4. REVIEW: Searching for resilience: addressing the impacts of changing disturbance regimes on forest ecosystem services
    2015 378 citations Scott L. Stephens et al. profile →
  5. Reform forest fire management
    2015 371 citations Malcolm P. North, Scott L. Stephens et al. profile →
  6. Managing Forests and Fire in Changing Climates
    2013 361 citations Scott L. Stephens, Malcolm P. North et al. profile →
  7. Drought, Tree Mortality, and Wildfire in Forests Adapted to Frequent Fire
    2017 259 citations Scott L. Stephens, Brandon M. Collins et al. profile →
  8. Global patterns and climatic controls of forest structural complexity
    2021 210 citations Scott L. Stephens et al. profile →
  9. Abrupt, climate-induced increase in wildfires in British Columbia since the mid-2000s
    2023 75 citations Scott L. Stephens et al. profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name h Career Trend Papers Cites
Scott L. Stephens United States 66 14.8k 7.6k 6.0k 1.9k 1.6k 244 16.9k
Ross A. Bradstock Australia 63 12.5k 0.8× 5.9k 0.8× 5.7k 1.0× 2.0k 1.0× 1.2k 0.7× 200 14.8k
Jon E. Keeley United States 81 18.1k 1.2× 10.8k 1.4× 11.4k 1.9× 2.4k 1.2× 2.3k 1.4× 287 25.4k
Peter Z. Fulé United States 56 10.3k 0.7× 5.5k 0.7× 5.8k 1.0× 1.3k 0.7× 2.3k 1.4× 239 12.1k
Mark A. Cochrane United States 50 10.1k 0.7× 5.0k 0.7× 3.3k 0.5× 1.3k 0.7× 1.5k 0.9× 136 12.9k
Penelope Morgan United States 44 7.7k 0.5× 4.6k 0.6× 2.9k 0.5× 1.4k 0.7× 966 0.6× 112 8.9k
Thomas W. Swetnam United States 53 15.5k 1.1× 6.5k 0.8× 5.3k 0.9× 2.9k 1.5× 6.7k 4.2× 146 18.2k
Mike Flannigan Canada 81 20.6k 1.4× 7.3k 1.0× 4.5k 0.8× 3.7k 1.9× 7.2k 4.5× 232 24.5k
John T. Abatzoglou United States 75 19.4k 1.3× 6.8k 0.9× 4.0k 0.7× 2.9k 1.5× 6.8k 4.2× 294 25.8k
B. J. Stocks Canada 54 11.6k 0.8× 3.9k 0.5× 2.3k 0.4× 1.4k 0.7× 5.3k 3.3× 100 14.0k
Robert E. Keane United States 46 6.4k 0.4× 4.0k 0.5× 3.8k 0.6× 888 0.5× 932 0.6× 162 9.9k

Countries citing papers authored by Scott L. Stephens

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Scott L. Stephens's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Scott L. Stephens with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Scott L. Stephens more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Scott L. Stephens

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Scott L. Stephens. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Scott L. Stephens. The network helps show where Scott L. Stephens may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Scott L. Stephens

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Scott L. Stephens. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Scott L. Stephens based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Scott L. Stephens. Scott L. Stephens is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Steel, Zachary L., Kate Wilkin, Brandon M. Collins, et al.. (2025). Finding floral and faunal species richness optima among active fire regimes. Conservation Biology. 39(6). e70079–e70079. 1 indexed citations
2.
Stephens, Scott L., et al.. (2024). Early impacts of fire suppression in Jeffrey pine – Mixed conifer forests in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management. 564. 122003–122003. 4 indexed citations
3.
Stephens, Scott L., et al.. (2024). Realignment of federal environmental policies to recognize fire’s role. Fire Ecology. 20(1). 7 indexed citations
4.
North, Malcolm P., Sarah M. Bisbing, Paul F. Hessburg, et al.. (2024). Strategic fire zones are essential to wildfire risk reduction in the Western United States. Fire Ecology. 20(1). 15 indexed citations
5.
Collins, Brandon M., et al.. (2023). Vegetation type change in California’s Northern Bay Area: A comparison of contemporary and historical aerial imagery. Forest Ecology and Management. 542. 121102–121102. 2 indexed citations
6.
7.
Stephens, Scott L., Zachary L. Steel, Brandon M. Collins, et al.. (2023). Climate and fire impacts on tree recruitment in mixed conifer forests in northwestern Mexico and California. Ecological Applications. 33(4). e2844–e2844. 4 indexed citations
8.
Battles, John J., et al.. (2023). Shaded fuel breaks create wildfire-resilient forest stands: lessons from a long-term study in the Sierra Nevada. Fire Ecology. 19(1). 4 indexed citations
9.
Vitali, Alessandro, et al.. (2022). Burn Severity Drivers in Italian Large Wildfires. Fire. 5(6). 180–180. 9 indexed citations
10.
Steel, Zachary L., Michelle Coppoletta, Jamie M. Lydersen, et al.. (2021). Ecological resilience and vegetation transition in the face of two successive large wildfires. Journal of Ecology. 109(9). 3340–3355. 54 indexed citations
11.
Dudney, Joan, et al.. (2021). Overstory removal and biological legacies influence long-term forest management outcomes on introduced species and native shrubs. Forest Ecology and Management. 491. 119149–119149. 10 indexed citations
12.
North, Malcolm P., R.A. York, Brandon M. Collins, et al.. (2021). Pyrosilviculture Needed for Landscape Resilience of Dry Western United States Forests. Journal of Forestry. 119(5). 520–544. 112 indexed citations
13.
Collins, Brandon M., Alexis A. Bernal, John E. Sanders, et al.. (2020). Longer-term impacts of fuel reduction treatments on forest structure, fuels, and drought resistance in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Forest Ecology and Management. 479. 118609–118609. 18 indexed citations
14.
Boisramé, Gabrielle, Sally Thompson, C. Tague, & Scott L. Stephens. (2019). Restoring a Natural Fire Regime Alters the Water Balance of a Sierra Nevada Catchment. Water Resources Research. 55(7). 5751–5769. 52 indexed citations
15.
Taylor, Alan H., Valérie Trouet, Carl N. Skinner, & Scott L. Stephens. (2016). Socioecological transitions trigger fire regime shifts and modulate fire–climate interactions in the Sierra Nevada, USA, 1600–2015 CE. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113(48). 13684–13689. 169 indexed citations
16.
Guo, Qinghua, et al.. (2013). Predicting surface fuel models and fuel metrics using lidar and CIR imagery in a dense mixed conifer forest. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing. 79(1). 49. 3 indexed citations
17.
Stephens, Scott L.. (2007). Iraq's Asia Cup Victory Hides Reality of Ungovernable Society. Eureka street. 17(15). 22. 2 indexed citations
18.
Fried, Jeremy S., J. Keith Gilless, W. J. Riley, et al.. (2006). Predicting the Effect of Climate Change on Wildfire Severity and Outcomes in California: Preliminary Analysis. eScholarship (California Digital Library). 3 indexed citations
19.
Stephens, Scott L., et al.. (2005). Mixed Conifer Forest Duff Consumption during Prescribed Fires: Tree Crown Impacts. Forest Science. 51(5). 417–424. 58 indexed citations
20.
Stephens, Scott L., et al.. (2004). Prescribed fire, soils, and stream water chemistry in a watershed in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 13(1). 27–35. 63 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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