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The mountainous grassland ecosystem in Golden Gate National Park (South Africa) has post-fire ecological resilience. However, vegetation species composition and structure can alter when the ecosystem continually has uncontrolled fires. This study…
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Legacy effects from one disturbance may influence successional pathways by amplifying or buffering forest regeneration after the next disturbance. We assessed vegetation and tree regeneration in non-serotinous Sierra lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta…
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With the effects of climate change expected to intensify over the coming century, land managers will require more proactive and novel approaches to conserve and restore threatened ecosystems. In the US Intermountain West, quaking aspen (Populus…
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Globally, savanna ecosystems are shifting outside of “safe operating spaces” due to removal of their primary self-reinforcing feedback—fire—and subsequent erosion of disturbance legacies. Restoring savannas will require reinstating fire feedbacks.…
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Wildfires are ecosystem‐level drivers of structure and function in many vegetated biomes. While numerous studies have emphasized the benefits of fire to ecosystems, large wildfires have also been associated with the loss of ecosystem services and…
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Increasingly frequent large wildfires in the western US raise questions about the effects of climate and site-level factors on forest ecosystem resilience. This study presents findings from seedling and sapling surveys conducted across 179 sites 15–…
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Increased wildfire activity combined with warm and dry post-fire conditions may undermine the mechanisms maintaining forest resilience to wildfires, potentially causing ecosystem transitions, or fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts. Stand-replacing fire…
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Fire exclusion since the 1930s across western U.S. landscapes has greatly altered fire regimes and fuel conditions. After a lightning-caused fire swept through the center of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area in 2003, researchers initiated a…
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Large wildfires (>50,000 ha) are becoming increasingly common in semi‐arid landscapes of the western United States. Although fuel reduction treatments are used to mitigate potential wildfire effects, they can be overwhelmed in wind‐driven…
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The destructive wildfires that occurred recently in the western US starkly foreshadow the possible future of forest ecosystems and human communities in the region. With increases in the area burned by severe wildfire in seasonally dry forests…
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To improve access and understanding of postfire resources, scientists with the Rocky Mountain Research Station and its partners have drawn on years of science/management collaboration to compile an online resource called the After Fire Toolkit and…
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Aims: Wildfires in dry forest ecosystems in western North America are producing fire effects that are more severe than historical estimates, raising concerns about the resilience of these landscapes to contemporary disturbances. Despite increasing…
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Prescribed fire is a vital tool for mitigating wildfire hazard and restoring ecosystems in many western North American forest types. However, there can be considerable variability in fuel consumption from prescribed burns, which affects both hazard…
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To better understand the implications of the word resilience for western forest and fire management, this study explores its emerging use in a large body of policy and management documents produced between 1980 and 2016. We performed a computer-…
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Once dominant but now largely excluded from eastern North America, open forests of savannas to woodlands occupy the ecosystem gradient between grasslands and closed forests. These fire-maintained systems differ in structure, processes, and species…
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Novel combinations of fire regime and forest type are emerging in areas affected by climate change, fire exclusion, and other stressors. Species interactions following wildfire in these areas are not well understood. In Sierra Nevada mixed conifer…
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Context: Distance to seed source is often used to estimate seed dispersal—a process needed for post-fire tree recovery. However, distance, especially in mountainous terrain, does not capture pattern or scale-dependent effects controlling seed supply…
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Prescribed burning is an effective method to reduce hazardous fuels and restore ecological conditions across a variety of ecosystems. Twenty-one states have laws or policies that direct state agencies to oversee formal training programs to certify…
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Many large fires have burned in recent decades across western North America, and this trend is projected to continue as conditions become warmer and drier. Recovery processes have been studied more thoroughly 1-2 years post fire than in the longer…
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Exotic grasses are a widespread set of invasive species that are notable for their ability to significantly alter key aspects of ecosystem function. Understanding the role and importance of these invaders in forested landscapes has been limited but…
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