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Author(s):
Theresa B. Jain, Andrew S. Nelson, Benjamin C. Bright, John C. Byrne, Andrew T. Hudak
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire Ecology
Fire Effects
Recovery after fire
Resilience
Restoration

NRFSN number: 24209
FRAMES RCS number: 64490
Record updated:

Fire suppression and the loss of western white pine (WWP) have made northern Rocky Mountain moist mixed-conifer forests less disturbance resilient. Although managers are installing hundreds of plantations, most of these plantations have not experienced wildfire since establishment. In 2015, wildfires burned through one hundred WWP plantations in this region, providing an opportunity to evaluate the effects of wildfires on sapling survival. A Weibull distribution approach was used to characterize the variation of fire severity pixels, as indicated by the differenced normalized burn ratio. The distribution parameters provided a method to identify the biophysical setting and plantation characteristics influencing fire severity and sapling survival. Plantations located on lower slope positions were more resistant to wildfires than plantations located midslope or close to the ridges. Snow water equivalent was positively correlated with wildfire resistance and resilience. Results will help focus reforestation efforts and identify locations where future plantations can potentially survive wildfires.

Citation

Jain, Theresa B.; Nelson, Andrew S.; Bright, Benjamin C.; Byrne, John C.; Hudak, Andrew T. 2022. Biophysical settings that influenced plantation survival during the 2015 wildfires in northern Rocky Mountain moist mixed-conifer forests. Journal of Forestry 120(1):22-36. https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvab036

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