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This document details a fire management strategy for facilitating the restoration of whitebark pine on subalpine landscapes of the Crown of the Continent (COTC). The heart of the management strategy is Table 1 that specifies the most appropriate…
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High temperatures and severe drought contributed to extensive tree mortality from fires and bark beetles during the 2000s in parts of the western continental United States. Several states in this region have greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets and…
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Soon after its inception in the early 1900s the U.S. Forest Service adopted a policy that can be described as “fire exclusion,” based on the view that forest fires were unnecessary and a menace.1 In the late 1970s, however, the agency was compelled…
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Multidecadal trends in areas burned with high severity shape ecological effects of fires, but most assessments are limited to ∼30 years of satellite data. We analysed the proportion of area burned with high severity, the annual area burned with high…
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Sparsely distributed species attract conservation concern, but insufficient information on population trends challenges conservation and funding prioritization. Occupancy-based monitoring is attractive for these species, but appropriate sampling…
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Climate change is increasing the frequency and extent of high-severity disturbance, with potential to alter vegetation community composition and structure in environments sensitive to tipping points between alternative states. Shrub species display…
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An understanding of the long-term vegetation structure, patterns of fuel succession, and potential for reburn in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems is important for managing the landscape at a temporal scale that is appropriate for the ecological…
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Post-fire forest regeneration in a changing climate - Final Report to the Joint Fire Science Program
Severe disturbance such as wildfire may create important opportunities for plant communities to reorganize in response to environmental change, including climate change. Disturbance may be particularly important in forests where the foundational…
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Condition of Live Fire-Scarred Ponderosa Pine Twenty-one Years After Removing Partial Cross-Sections
Concern over the effects of removing fire-scarred partial cross-sections may limit sampling of live ponderosa pine to reconstruct fire history. We report mortality rates for ponderosa pine trees 20 to 21 years after removing fire-scarred partial…
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Accurate prediction of fire-caused tree mortality is critical for making sound land management decisions such as developing burning prescriptions and post-fire management guidelines. To improve efforts to predict post-fire tree mortality, we…
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Western spruce budworm (Choristoneura freemani Razowski; WSBW) is the most significant defoliator of coniferous trees in the western United States. Despite its important influence on Western forests, there are still gaps in our knowledge of WSBW’s…
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Previous studies have suggested that bark beetles and fires can be interacting disturbances, whereby bark beetle–caused tree mortality can alter the risk and severity of subsequent wildland fires. However, there remains considerable uncertainty…
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Current research on interactions between ecological disturbances emphasizes the potential for greatly enhanced ecological effects that may occur when disturbances interact. Much less attention has focused on the possibility of disturbance…
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Ecosystem resilience to climate change is contingent on post-disturbance plant regeneration. Sparse gymnosperm regeneration has been documented in subalpine forests following recent wildfires and compounded disturbances, both of which are increasing…
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Numerous studies have documented significant change in conifer forests of the American West following the cessation of recurrent fire at the end of the 19th century. But the successional dynamics that characterize different forested settings in the…
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Aspen ecosystems are valued because they add biodiversity and ecological value to the landscape. They provide rich and productive habitats and increase aesthetic value. Climate change poses the risk of altering and disrupting these ecosystems, and…
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The recent mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) epidemic has affected millions of hectares of conifer forests in the Rocky Mountains. Land managers are interested in using biomass from beetle-killed trees for bioenergy and biobased…
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Recent population declines to the high elevation western North America foundation species whitebark pine, have been driven by the synergistic effects of the invasive blister rust pathogen, mountain pine beetle (MPB), fire exclusion, and climate…
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Conservation of imperiled species often demands addressing a complex suite of threats that undermine species viability. Regulatory approaches, such as the US Endangered Species Act (1973), tend to focus on anthropogenic threats through adoption of…
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Picture a tranquil landscape with undulating topography, idyllic streams, scenic glades, and verdant vegetation. Left to its own devices, this landscape would eventually become dominated by late successional communities that would slowly shift in…
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