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Natural resource managers need to know how past wildfires influence the severity and ecological effects of subsequent wildfires fires in order to make informed decisions during and after wildfire events, and to effectively plan for the future. The…
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Extensive high‐severity wildfires have driven major losses of ponderosa pine and mixed‐conifer forests in the southwestern United States, in some settings catalyzing enduring conversions to non‐forested vegetation types. Management interventions to…
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We used data collected from >1400 plots by a national forest inventory to quantify population-level indicators for a tree species of concern. Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) has recently experienced high mortality throughout its US range, where…
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Locations within forest fires that remain unburned or burn at low severity—known as fire refugia—are important components of contemporary burn mosaics, but their composition and structure at regional scales are poorly understood. Focusing on recent…
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Fire refugia are landscape elements that remain unburned or minimally affected by fire, thereby supporting postfire ecosystem function, biodiversity, and resilience to disturbances. Although fire refugia have been studied across continents, scales,…
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Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) has been disappearing from high mountain landscapes due to mountain pine beetle outbreaks, white pine blister rust, human intrusions, and fire exclusion. It is currently a candidate species for listing under the…
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Background: Fuel reduction treatments have been widely implemented across the western US in recent decades for both fire protection and restoration. Although research has demonstrated that combined thinning and burning effectively reduces crown fire…
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Historical pre-settlement conditions in ponderosa pine ecosystems ranged from savannas (< 30% canopy cover) with contiguous grasslands and scattered tree groups, to forests with isolated mosaic-meadows surrounded by trees. We use the term mosaic-…
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Fire creates challenges and opportunities for wildlife through rapid destruction, modification and creation of habitat. Fire has spatially variable effects on landscapes; however, for species that benefit from the ephemeral resource patches created…
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Interactions between fire and nonnative, annual plant species (that is, “the grass/fire cycle”) represent one of the greatest threats to sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems and associated wildlife, including the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus…
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New fire disturbance regimes under accelerating global environmental change can have unprecedented consequences for ecosystem resilience, lessening ecosystem natural regeneration. In the Mediterranean Basin, firedependent obligate seeder forests…
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The development of frameworks for better-understanding ecological syndromes and putative evolutionary strategies of plant adaptation to fire has recently received a flurry of attention, including a new model hypothesizing that plants have diverged…
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Changing climate and increasing area burned pose a challenge to forest carbon (C) storage, which is compounded by an elevated risk of high‐severity wildfire due to long‐term fire suppression in the western US. Restoration treatments that reduce tree…
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Over the past 15 years, 3 million hectares of forests have been converted into shrublands or grasslands in the Mediterranean countries of the European Union. Fire and drought are the main drivers underlying this deforestation. Here we present a…
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Abrupt ecological changes occur rapidly relative to typical rates of ecosystem change and are increasingly observed in ecosystems worldwide, thereby challenging adaptive capacities. Abrupt ecological changes can arise from many processes, only some…
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Wildfires have become larger and more severe over the past several decades on Colorado’s Front Range, catalyzing greater investments in forest management intended to mitigate wildfire risks. The complex ecological, social, and political context of…
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In this issue of the GSD Update, we feature selected studies of the RMRS Grassland, Shrubland and Desert Ecosystems Science Program (GSD) that focus on the theme of fire. Significant results of recent research and science delivery by GSD scientists…
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Natural resource managers sow grass, forb, and shrub seeds across millions of hectares of public lands in the western United States to restore sagebrush‐steppe ecosystems burned by wildfire. The effects of post‐fire vegetation treatments on insect…
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The proposed research will help managers understand how early soil ecosystem responses to fuel reduction treatments with prescribed fire may or may not be indicative of longer term responses. This research is necessary for better establishing, in…
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Wildfire is a common occurrence in the Northern Rockies and many tree species have adaptations to survive and regenerate after fire. The following information provides a general understanding of fire resistance and regeneration traits and strategies…
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