overview
Spatial and temporal patterns of disturbances, including fires, ice storms, insect outbreaks, hurricanes, and mammalian herbivory
Influences of disturbances and environmental gradients on vegetation patterns
Vegetation history and succession
Eastern North American forests and Scandinavian treeline
education and training
- Ph.D. in Geography, University of Tennessee at Knoxville - (Knoxville, Tennessee, United States) 2010
- M.S. in Geography, University of Tennessee at Knoxville - (Knoxville, Tennessee, United States) 1995
- B.A. in Geography, Emory and Henry College - (Emory, Virginia, United States) 1992
selected publications
Academic Articles25
- Lafon, C. W., DeWeese, G. G., Flatley, W. T., Aldrich, S. R., & Naito, A. T (2022). Historical Fire Regimes and Stand Dynamics of Xerophytic Pine–Oak Stands in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, Virginia, USA. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 112(2), 387-409.
- Deshpande, A. G., Boutton, T. W., Hyodo, A., Lafon, C. W., & Moore, G. W. (2020). Bottomland hardwood forest growth and stress response to hydroclimatic variation: evidence from dendrochronology and tree ring Δ13C values. Biogeosciences. 17(22), 5639-5653.
- Kim, D., Millington, A. C., & Lafon, C. W (2020). Disturbance after Disturbance: Combined Effects of Two Successive Hurricanes on Forest Community Structure. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 110(3), 571-585.
- Harley, G., Baisan, C., Brown, P., Falk, D., Flatley, W., Grissino-Mayer, H., ... Taylor, A (2018). Advancing Dendrochronological Studies of Fire in the United States. Fire. 1(1), 11-11.
- Johnson, J. S., Gaddis, K. D., Cairns, D. M., Lafon, C. W., & Krutovsky, K. V. (2016). Plant responses to global change: next generation biogeography. Physical Geography. 37(2), 93-119.
Chapters2
- Lafon, C. W. (2016). Ice Storms in Central Hardwood Forests: The Disturbance Regime, Spatial Patterns, and Vegetation Influences. Greenberg, C. H., & Collins, B. S. (Eds.), Natural Disturbances and Historic Range of Variation. 147-166. Springer International Publishing.
- Xi, W., Waldron, J. D., Cairns, D. M., Lafon, C. W., Birt, A. G., Tchakerian, M. D., Klepzig, K. D., & Coulson, R. N. (2012). Restoration of Southern Pine Forests After the Southern Pine Beetle. Stanturf, J., Madsen, P., & Lamb, D. (Eds.), A Goal-Oriented Approach to Forest Landscape Restoration. 321-354. Springer Netherlands.
Conference Papers2
- Xi, W., Chen, S., Birt, A. G., Waldron, J. D., Lafon, C. W., Cairns, D. M., ... Coulson, R. N. (2010). SIMULATING THE INTERACTIONS OF FOREST STRUCTURE, FIRE REGIME, AND PLANT INVASION IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS USING LANDIS. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 21ST U S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE INTERAGENCY RESEARCH FORUM ON INVASIVE SPECIES. 75, 143-143.
- Lafon, C. W. (2004). Stand dynamics of a yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) forest in the Appalachian Mountains, Virginia, USA. Dendrochronologia. 22(1), 43-52.
researcher on
Principal Investigator1
awards and honors
recent teaching activities
- GEOG203 Planet Earth Instructor
- GEOG335 Pattern & Proc Biogeog Instructor
- GEOG435 Plant Geography Instructor
- GEOG450 Field Geography Instructor
- GEOG485 Directed Studies Instructor
chaired theses and dissertations
- Vaughan, Matthew Christopher (2017-08). American Chestnut and Fire: Implications for Restoration. (Master's Thesis)
- Hanson, Alison Anne (2017-05). Distribution Patterns in Appalachian Table Mountain Pine and Pitch Pine Stands. (Master's Thesis)
- McConaghy, Scott Carlton (2016-08). Influence of Productivity and Disturbance on Plant Species Diversity Across the Grasslands of the Great Plains. (Master's Thesis)
- Denman II, Michael Paul (2016-08). Lightning-Ignited Fires in the Grandfather Ranger District, North Carolina. (Master's Thesis)
- Young, Shelby Lynn (2015-08). Dendroclimatic Response along a Moisture Gradient in the Southern Rocky Mountains. (Master's Thesis)
Email
clafon@tamu.edu
First Name
Charles
Last Name
Lafon
mailing address
Texas A&M University; Geography; 3147 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3147
USA