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post fire lodgepole seedlingPost-fire vegetation recovery is a growing field of concern as larger wildfires impact more of the landscape and climate has the potential to influence how these ecosystems respond. In forested ecosystems, a primary topic of vegetation recovery is tree regeneration. Numerous researchers have examined where natural tree regeneration is prolific and where there is little or no tree regeneration, as well as the causes of these observed patterns. Understanding the patterns of natural tree regeneration can have large impacts on how and where managers prioritize post-fire management actions.

The resources contained here represent the most recent and applicable publications and media on this topic.

This hot topic was developed in partnership with the University of Idaho.

Syntheses

Technical Reports/White Papers

Publications

2025

Long-term soil nutrient and understory plant responses to post-fire rehabilitation in a lodgepole pine forest
Sophia Kaiser et al.
Reburning pyrogenic organic matter: a laboratory method for dosing dynamic heat fluxes from above
Mengmeng Lou et al.
Sparse subalpine forest recovery pathways, plant communities, and carbon stocks 34 years after stand-replacing fire
Nathan G. Kiel et al.
Long-term soil nutrient and understory plant responses to post-fire rehabilitation in a lodgepole pine forest
Sophia Kaiser et al.
Tree planting outcomes after severe wildfire depend on climate, competition, and priority
Quinn M. Sorenson et al.

2024

Green is the New Black: Outcomes of post-fire tree planting across the US Interior West
Kyle Rodman et al.
Long-term sensitivity of ponderosa pine axial resin ducts to harvesting and prescribed burning
Lena Vilà-Vilardell et al.
Fire intensity effects on serotinous seed survival
Chika K. Tada et al.
Centering socioecological connections to collaboratively manage post-fire vegetation shifts
Kimberly T. Davis et al.
Snow-cover remote sensing of conifer tree recovery in high-severity burn patches
Casey Menick et al.
Prefire Drought Intensity Drives Postfire Recovery and Mortality in Pinus monticola and Pseudotsuga menziesii Saplings
Aaron M. Sparks et al.

2023

Model-assisted domain estimation of postfire tree regeneration in the western US using nearest neighbor techniques
David L.R. Affleck et al.
Refuge-yeah or refuge-nah? Predicting locations of forest resistance and recruitment in a fiery world
Kyle Rodman et al.
The century-long shadow of fire exclusion: Historical data reveal early and lasting effects of fire regime change on contemporary forest composition
Emily G. Brodie et al.
Effects of Pre-Fire Vegetation on the Post-Fire Plant Community Response to Wildfire along a Successional Gradient in Western Juniper Woodlands
Eva K. Strand et al.
Ponderosa pine introduction methods following a high-severity stand-replacing fire to promote forest regeneration
Stephanie M. Winters et al.

2022

Ancient trees and modern wildfires: Declining resilience to wildfire in the highly fire-adapted giant sequoia
Kristen L. Shive et al.
Microenvironment characteristics and early regeneration after the 2018 Spring Creek Wildfire and post-fire logging in Colorado, USA
Jesse T. Wooten et al.

2021

Tracking rates of postfire conifer regeneration vs. deciduous vegetation recovery across the western United States
Melanie K. Vanderhoof et al.

2020

Rethinking fire‐adapted species in an altered fire regime
Carmen L. Tubbesing et al.
A climatic dipole drives short- and long-term patterns of postfire forest recovery in the western United States
Caitlin E. Littlefield et al.
Long-Term Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery
Andrew T. Hudak et al.
Fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts in ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests of the western United States
Kimberley T. Davis et al.

2019

Wildfires and climate change push low-elevation forests across a critical climate threshold for tree regeneration
Kimberley T. Davis et al.
Tree regeneration following wildfires in the western US: a review
Camille Stevens-Rumann et al.
Climate will increasingly determine post-fire tree regeneration success in low-elevation forests, Northern Rockies, USA.
Kerry Kemp et al.
Origins of abrupt change? Postfire subalpine conifer regeneration declines nonlinearly with warming and drying
Winslow D. Hansen et al.
Short-interval severe fire erodes the resilience of subalpine lodgepole pine forests
Monica G. Turner et al.
Impacts of growing-season climate on tree growth and post-fire regeneration in ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests
Lacey Hankin et al.
Tamm Review: Reforestation for resilience in dry western US forests
Malcolm P. North et al.
Post-fire wood mulch for reducing erosion potential increases tree seedlings with few impacts on understory plants and soil nitrogen
Jayne L. Jonas et al.
Climate will increasingly determine post‐fire tree regeneration success in low‐elevation forests, Northern Rockies, USA
Kerry Kemp et al.
Ponderosa pine regeneration, wildland fuels management, and habitat conservation: identifying trade-offs following wildfire
Victoria M. Donovan et al.

2018

It takes a few to tango: changing climate and fire regimes can cause regeneration failure of two subalpine conifers
Winslow D. Hansen et al.
It matters when you measure it: using snow-cover Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to isolate post-fire conifer regeneration
Melanie K. Vanderhoof et al.
Mixed-severity fire fosters heterogeneous spatial patterns of conifer regeneration in a dry conifer forest
Sparkle L. Malone et al.
Limits to Ponderosa Pine Regeneration Following Large High-Severity Forest Fires in the United States Southwest
Collin M. Haffey et al.
Salvage logging effects on regulating and supporting ecosystem services — a systematic map
Alexandro B. Leverkus et al.
Anticipating fire‐mediated impacts of climate change using a demographic framework
Kimberley T. Davis et al.
Fire regimes approaching historic norms reduce wildfire‐facilitated conversion from forest to non‐forest
Ryan B. Walker et al.
Evidence for declining forest resilience to wildfires under climate change
Camille Stevens-Rumann et al.
Overlapping bark beetle outbreaks, salvage logging and wildfire restructure a lodgepole pine ecosystem
Charles C. Rhoades et al.
Severity of Overstory Mortality Influences Conifer Recruitment and Growth in Mountain Pine Beetle-Affected Forests
Kristen Pelz et al.

2017

Tamm Review: Shifting global fire regimes: Lessons from reburns and research needs
Susan J. Prichard et al.
Tree regeneration, understory development, and biomass dynamics following wildfire in a mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) forest
Jane A. Kertis et al.
Tree regeneration spatial patterns in ponderosa pine forests following stand-replacing fire: Influence of topography and neighbors
Justin P. Ziegler et al.
Spatial patterns of ponderosa pine regeneration in high-severity burn patches
Suzanne M. Owen et al.
Climate and seed availability initiate alternate post-fire trajectories in a lower subalpine forest
Alexandra K. Urza et al.
Long-term effects of burn season and frequency on ponderosa pine forest fuels and seedlings
Douglas J. Westlind et al.
Do Post-Fire Mulching Treatments Affect Regeneration in Serotinous Lodgepole Pine?
Micah Wright et al.

2016

Burn me twice, shame on who? Interactions between successive forest fires across a temperate mountain region
Brian J. Harvey et al.
Repeated wildfires alter forest recovery of mixed-conifer ecosystems
Camille Stevens-Rumann et al.
Fire legacies impact conifer regeneration across environmental gradients in U.S. northern Rockies
Kerry Kemp et al.
Spatial variability in tree regeneration after wildfire delays and dampens future bark beetle outbreaks
Rupert Seidl et al.
Landscape variation in tree regeneration and snag fall drive fuel loads in 24-year old post-fire lodgepole pine forests
Kellen N. Nelson et al.
Landscape variation in tree regeneration and snag fall drive fuel loads in 24‐year old post‐fire lodgepole pine forests
Kellen N. Nelson et al.

2015

Fire legacies impact conifer regeneration across environmental gradients in the U.S. northern Rockies
Kerry Kemp et al.

2014

Fire severity and tree regeneration following bark beetle outbreaks: the role of outbreak stage and burning conditions
Brian J. Harvey et al.
Recent mountain pine beetle outbreaks, wildfire severity, and postfire tree regeneration in the US northern Rockies
Brian J. Harvey et al.

2013

Conifer regeneration following stand-replacing wildfire varies along an elevation gradient in a ponderosa pine forest, Oregon, USA
Erich K. Dodson et al.
Influence of recent bark beetle outbreak on fire severity and postfire tree regeneration in montane Douglas-fir forests
Brian J. Harvey et al.

2010

Restoration treatment effects on stand structure, tree growth, and fire hazard in a ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forest in Montana
Carl E. Fiedler et al.

2007

Fire, fuels and restoration of ponderosa pine-Douglas fir forests in the Rocky Mountains, USA
William L. Baker et al.

2006

Post-wildfire logging hinders regeneration and increases fire risk
Daniel C. Donato et al.