Bethany Bradley

Dr. Bradley is interested in what the geographical distributions of species can tell us about their ecology, biology and interactions with anthropogenic changes. Her research focuses on invasion ecology, climate change ecology, and biological conservation using tools from biogeography and spatial ecology. As a co-founder of the Northeast Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change (NE RISCC) Network and co-director of the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NE CASC),Dr. Bradley also focuses on translational science that is management-driven and actionable.

NRC 537- Invasion Ecology
NRC 585- Introduction to Geographic Information Science (GIS)
NRC 555- GIS Problem Solving

Fertakos, M.E., T.W.M. Nuhfer, E.M. Beaury, S. Birch, K. Singh, B.A. Bradley, C. Marschner, and J.Allen, “The-climate smart gardening database: Native and near-native garden plants for the northeastern United States", Ecological Solutions and Evidence

Fertakos, M.E., S. Birch, T. Dearstyne, T. Fehr, J.M. Allen, and B.A. Bradley, “Current nursery offerings highlight the potential to expand native plant sales”, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 24(2):e70027, 2026

Nagy, R.C., E.J. Fusco, A.L. Mahood, D.P. Murphy, J.K. Balch, K. Franklin, and B.A. Bradley,“Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) invasion reduces plant diversity and influences carbon pools in a Sonoran desert ecosystem”, Journal of Arid Environments

Nuhfer, T.W.M. and B.A. Bradley, “Invasive plants are more abundant than native and introduced plants”, Biological Invasions

Putnam, A., Dwyer, A., Weiss, D., Bradley, B.A., Staudinger, M., and Peckol, P. “Hot and Bothered:Native Marine Snails Show Greater Susceptibility to Climate Extremes Than Introduced Snails”,Frontiers in Marine Science 13, 1901557, 2026

Blumenthal, D.M., J. Diez, I.S. Pearse, H.R. Sofaer, C.J.B. Sorte, D.T. Barnett, E.M. Beaury, B.A.Bradley, J.S. Dukes, R. Early, I. Ibáñez, D. Laughlin, L. Petri, M. Vilà, and J.D. Corbin, “Why are non-native plants successful? Consistently fast economic traits and novel origin jointly explain abundance across U.S. ecoregions”, New Phytologist, 248(3), 1192-1204, 2025

Bradley, B.A., A.E. Evans, H.R. Sofaer, M. Vilà, D.T. Barnett, E.M. Beaury, D.M. Blumenthal, J.D.Corbin, J.S. Dukes, R. Early, I. Ibáñez, I.S. Pearse, L. Petri, and C.J.B. Sorte, “A quantitative classification of the geography of non-native flora in the U.S.”, Global Ecology & Biogeography,34(4):e70041, 2025

Buonaiuto, D.M. Barnett, D., Blumenthal, D., Nebhut, A., Pearse, I., Sofaer, H., Sorte, C., Corbin, J.,Early, R; Garbowski, M., Ibáñez, I., Laughlin, D., Petri, L., Vilà, M., and B.A. Bradley, “Using plant invasions to compare occurrence- and abundance-based calculations of biotic homogenization: are results complementary or contradictory?”, Global Ecology & Biogeography, 34(3):e70022, 2025

Guinan A., A.E. Evans, A. Barker-Plotkin, and B.A. Bradley, “Identifying candidate plants for climate-informed restoration”, Restoration Ecology, e70030, 2025

Marjadi, M., R.A. Smith, H.F. Tu, A. Ajmani, A.R. Holland, B.E. Lopez, T.L. Morelli, and B.A. Bradley, “Centering voices of scientists from marginalized backgrounds to understand experiences in climate adaptation science”, PLoS ONE, 20(2): e0318438, 2025

Nuhfer, T. and B.A. Bradley “Balancing risk and resilience: which plant traits should inform managed relocation species selection?”, Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.70145, 2025

Pfadenhauer, W.G., B. Kesler, J. Salva, L. Pillidge, T. Smith, C. Chimera, and B.A. Bradley, “A global census of weed risk assessment standards”, Invasive Plant Science & Management, 18(e28), 2025

Weiss, M., Holland A.R., D'Amato A.W., Deegan L.A., Farmer W.H., Hoving C., Karmalkar A.V., Latzka A., Magee M., McIntyre P.B., Morelli T.L., Notaro M., Olmstead N., Palmer R.N., Pau N., Renfrew R., Ribic C.A., Sheppard J., Staudinger M.D., Zuckerberg B., and B.A. Bradley, “Relationship-centered engagement bridges the divide between science and management, and enhances climate adaptation”, BioScience, biaf087, 2025

Bradley, B.A., E.M. Beaury, B. Gallardo, I. Ibáñez, C. Jarnevich, T.L. Morelli, H.R. Sofaer, C.J.B. Sorte,and M. Vilà, “Observed and Potential Range Shifts of Native and Non-Native Species with Climate Change”, Annual Reviews in Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 55: 23-40, 2024

Colberg, E., T.L. Morelli, B.A. Bradley, and C.J. Brown-Lima, “Climate-Smart Invasive Species Management for 21st Century Global Change Challenges”, Global Change Biology 30(10): e17531,2024

Evans, A.E. , E. Colberg, J. Allen, E.M. Beaury, C.J. Brown-Lima, T.L. Morelli, and B.A. Bradley, “Boundary spanning increases knowledge and action on climate adaptation” Ecological Solutions and Evidence 5(4): e12387, 2024

Evans, A.E., C. Jarnevich, E.M Beaury, P. Engelstad, N. Teich, J. Laroe, and B.A. Bradley, “Shifting hotspots: Climate change projected to drive contractions and expansions of invasive plant abundance habitat”, Diversity & Distributions 30(1): 41-54, 2024

Fertakos, M.E. and B.A. Bradley “Propagule pressure from historic U.S. plant sales explains establishment but not invasion”, Ecology Letters 27: e14494, 2024

O’Uhuru, A.C., T.L. Morelli, A.E. Evans, J.D. Salva, and B.A. Bradley, “Identifying new invasives in the face of climate change: A focus on sleeper species”, Biological Invasions 26:2989-3001, 2024

Pfadenhauer, W.G. and B.A. Bradley, “Quantifying vulnerability to plant invasion across global ecosystems”, Ecological Applications e3031, 2024

Pfadenhauer, W.G., G. DiRenzo, and B.A. Bradley, “Human activity drives establishment, but not invasion, of non-native plants on islands”, Ecography e07379, 2024

Beaury, E.M., J.M. Allen, A.E. Evans, M.E. Fertakos, W.G. Pfadenhauer, M. Nelson, and B.A. Bradley,“Horticulture could facilitate invasive plant range infilling and range expansion with climatechange”, BioScience 73(9):635-642, 2023

Beaury, E.M., Sofaer, H, Early, R., Pearse, I, Blumenthal, D., Corbin, J., Diez, J., Dukes, J., Barnett, D.,Petri, L., Ibanez, I., Vilà, M., and Bradley, B.A., “Macroscale associations between non-native cover and native diversity suggest invasive impacts depend more on invading plants than environmental context”, Global Ecology & Biogeography, 32:1964-1976, 2023

Beaury, E.M., C. Jarnevich, I. Pearse, A. Evans, N. Teich, P. Engelstad, J. Laroe, and B.A. Bradley, “Modeling habitat suitability across different levels of invasive plant abundance”, Biological Invasions, 25:3471-3483, 2023

Bradley, B.A., E.M. Beaury, E.J. Fusco, and B.E. Lopez, “Invasive species policy must embrace a changing climate”, BioScience, 73(2):124-133, 2023

Buonaiuto, D., Evans, A.E., Fertakos, M.E., Pfadenhauer, W.G., Salva, J.D., and B.A. Bradley, “Phylogenetic relationships of invasive plants are useful criteria for weed risk assessments”,Conservation Letters, https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12979, 2023

Fertakos, M.E., E.M. Beaury, N.R. Ford, N.L. Kinlock, D.W. Adams, and B.A. Bradley, “Historical plant sales (HPS) database: Documenting the spatiotemporal history of plant sales in the conterminousU.S.”, Ecology, 10.1002/ecy.4106, 2023

Fusco, E.J., E.M. Beaury, B.A. Bradley, M. Cox, C.S. Jarnevich, A.L. Mahood, R.C. Nagy, T. Nietupski,and J.E. Halofsky “The invasive plant data landscape: a synthesis of spatial data and applications for research and management in the United States.” Landscape Ecology, 38(12), 2023

Ibáñez, I., L. Petri, D.T. Barnett, E.M. Beaury, D.M. Blumenthal, J.D. Corbin, J. Diez, J.S. Dukes, R.Early, I.S. Pearse, C.J. Sorte, M. Vilà, and B.A. Bradley, “Combining local, landscape, and regional geographies to assess plant community vulnerability to invasion impact” Ecological Applications,10.1002/eap.2821, 2023

Munro, L., B. Griffin, B. Laginhas, and B.A. Bradley, “Does invasion science encompass the invaded range?  A comparison of the geographies of invasion science versus management in the U.S.”,Biological Invasions, doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03208-y, 2023

Salva, J.D. , and B.A. Bradley, “High-impact invasive plants expanding into Mid-Atlantic states -Identifying priority range-shifting species for monitoring in light of climate change”, Invasive Plant Science & Management 16: 197–206, 2023

Bradley, B.A., E.M. Beaury, E.J. Fusco, L. Munro, C. Brown-Lima, W. Coville, B. Kesler, N. Olmstead,and J. Parker, “Breaking down barriers to consistent, climate-smart regulation of invasive plants: a case study of US Northeast states” Ecosphere, 10.1002/ecs2.4014, 2022

Laginhas, B.B., M. Fertakos, and B.A. Bradley, “We don’t know what we’re missing: evidence of a vastly under-identified invasive plant pool”, Ecological Applications, 10.1002/eap.2776, 2022

Lopez, B.E., J.M. Allen, J.S. Dukes, J. Lenoir, M. Vilà, D.M. Blumenthal, E.M. Beaury, E.J. Fusco, B.B. Laginhas, T.L. Morelli, M.W. O’Neill, C.J.B. Sorte, A. Maceda-Veiga, R. Whitlock, and B.A. Bradley, “Global environmental changes more frequently offset than intensify detrimental effects of biological invasions” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119,22: e2117389119, 2022

Petri, L., Beaury, E.M., Corbin, J., Peach, K., Sofaer, H.R., Pearse, I.S., Early, R., Barnett, D.T., Ibáñez, I.,Peet, R., Schafale, M., Wentworth, T.R., Vanderhorst, J., Zaya, D., Spyreas, G., and B.A. Bradley,“SPCIS: Standardized Plant Community with Introduced Status Database”, Ecology, p.e3947, 2022

Pfadenhauer, W.G., M.F. Nelson, B.B. Laginhas, and B.A. Bradley, “Remember your roots:
Biogeographic traits of plants’ native habitats can inform invasive plant risk assessments”, Diversity & Distributions, 10.1111/ddi.13639, 2022

Beaury, E.M., J. Finn, J. Corbin, and B.A. Bradley, “Habitat covariates do not artificially cause a negative correlation between native and non-native species richness”, Ecology Letters, 24:1735-1737, 2021

Beaury, E.M., E.J. Fusco, J.M. Allen, and B.A. Bradley, “Invasive plant regulations in the U.S. are reactive and inconsistent”, Journal of Applied Ecology, 58:1957-1966, 2021

Beaury, E.M., M. Patrick, and B.A. Bradley, “Invaders for sale: the ongoing spread of invasive species by the plant trade industry”, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, doi:10.1002/fee.2392, 2021

Coville, W., B. Griffin, and B.A. Bradley, “Identifying high-impact invasive plants likely to shift into Northern New England with climate change”, Invasive Plant Science & Management, 14(2): 57-63,2021

Fusco, E.J., J.K. Balch, A. Mahood, R.C. Nagy, A.D. Syphard, and B.A. Bradley, “The human-grass-fire cycle: How people and invasives co-occur to drive fire regimes”, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 20(2), 117-126, 2021

Laginhas, B.B. and B.A. Bradley, “Global Plant Invaders: a compendium of invasive plant species documented by the peer-reviewed literature”, Ecology, 103(2), e03569, 2021

Mahood, A., E. Fleishman, J.K. Balch, F. Fogarty, N. Horning, M. Leu, M. Zillig, and B.A. Bradley, “Cover-based allometric estimate of aboveground biomass of a non-native, invasive annual grass (Bromus tectorum L.) in the Great Basin, USA”, Journal of Arid Environments 193, 104582, 2021

Morelli, T.L., C.J. Brown-Lima, J.M. Allen, E.M. Beaury, E.J. Fusco, A. Barker-Plotkin, B.B. Laginhas, B. Quirion, B. Griffin, B. McLaughlin, L. Munro, N. Olmstead, J. Richburg, and B.A. Bradley,“Translational Invasion Ecology: Bridging research and practice to address one of the greatest threats to biodiversity”, Biological Invasions, doi:10.1007/s10530-021-02584-7, 2021

Nagy, R.C., E.J. Fusco, J.K. Balch, J.T. Finn, A. Mahood, J. Allen, and B.A. Bradley. “A synthesis of the effects of cheatgrass invasion on Great Basin carbon storage”, Journal of Applied Ecology 58:327-337, 2021

O’Neill, M.W., J.M. Allen, and B.A. Bradley, “Hotspots of invasive plant abundance are geographically distinct from hotspots of establishment”, Biological Invasions, 23:1249-1261, 2021

Vilà, M., E.M. Beaury, D. Blumenthal, B.A. Bradley, R. Early, B.B. Laginhas, A. Trillo, J.S. Dukes,C.J.B. Sorte, and I. Ibáñez, “Understanding the combined impacts of weeds and climate change on crops”, Environmental Research Letters, 16, 034043, 2021

PhD 2006 – Brown University
MSc 2003 – Brown University
BA 2000 – Pomona College

Interactions between invasive species and global change

Geography of invasive plant abundance and impact

Adapting invasive plant management to improve efficacy

Supporting climate-smart gardening and landscaping

Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (2026)

University of Massachusetts Conti Fellowship for Excellence in Research (2025-2026)

Assoc. Fish & Wildlife Agencies Climate Adaptation Leadership Award (for RISCC; 2021)

Mercer Award for outstanding ecological research paper (2021)