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Environmental, Structural, and Disturbance Influences over Forest Floor Components in Interior Douglas-Fir Forests of the Intermountain West, USA
Downed woody material (DWM) is a key component in forest ecosystems with age, structure, and disturbance described as primary factors that influence DWM dynamics. In particular, much emphasis is placed on large coarse woody debris (CWD). Fine woody…
Author(s): Andrew D. Giunta, John D. Shaw
Year Published:

Detection of Annual Spruce Budworm Defoliation and Severity Classification Using Landsat Imagery
Spruce budworm (SBW) is the most destructive forest pest in eastern forests of North America. Mapping annual current-year SBW defoliation is challenging because of the large landscape scale of infestations, high temporal/spatial variability, and the…
Author(s): Parinaz Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran, Aaron R. Weiskittel, Daniel Kneeshaw, David A. MacLean
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Ten Years of Monitoring Illustrates a Cascade of Effects of White Pine Blister Rust and Focuses Whitebark Pine Restoration in the Canadian Rocky and Columbia Mountains
Whitebark pine forests are declining due to infection by white pine blister rust and mountain pine beetle, combined with the effects of climate change and fire suppression. The Canadian Rocky and Columbia Mountains represent a large portion of the…
Author(s): Brenda Shepherd, Brad Jones, Robert Sissons, Jed Cochrane, Jane Park, Cyndi M. Smith, Natalie Stafl
Year Published:

Simulation of net ecosystem productivity of a lodgepole pine forest after mountain pine beetle attack using a modified version of 3-PG
The most recent mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak in British Columbia (BC), which began in the late 1990s, killed ∼54% of the mature merchantable lodgepole pine and was expected to impact gross primary productivity (GPP…
Author(s): Gesa Meyer, T. Andrew Black, Rachhpal S. Jassal, Zoran Nesic, Nicholas C. Coops, Andreas Christen, Arthur L. Fredeen, David L. Spittlehouse, Nicholas J. Grant, Vanessa N. Foord, Rebecca Bowler
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Interactions of landscape disturbances and climate change dictate ecological pattern and process: spatial modeling of wildfire, insect, and disease dynamics under future climates
Context: Interactions among disturbances, climate, and vegetation influence landscape patterns and ecosystem processes. Climate changes, exotic invasions, beetle outbreaks, altered fire regimes, and human activities may interact to produce…
Author(s): Rachel A. Loehman, Robert E. Keane, Lisa M. Holsinger, Zhiwei Wu
Year Published:

Evidence of compounded disturbance effects on vegetation recovery following high-severity wildfire and spruce beetle outbreak
Spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) outbreaks are rapidly spreading throughout subalpine forests of the Rocky Mountains, raising concerns that altered fuel structures may increase the ecological severity of wildfires. Although many recent…
Author(s): Amanda R. Carlson, Jason S. Sibold, Timothy J. Assal, Jose F. Negron
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Landscape-scale quantification of fire-induced change in canopy cover following mountain pine beetle outbreak and timber harvest
Across the western United States, the three primary drivers of tree mortality and carbon balance are bark beetles, timber harvest, and wildfire. While these agents of forest change frequently overlap, uncertainty remains regarding their interactions…
Author(s): T. Ryan McCarley, Crystal A. Kolden, Nicole M. Vaillant, Andrew T. Hudak, Alistair M. S. Smith, Jason Kreitler
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A multicentury dendrochronological reconstruction of western spruce budworm outbreaks in the Okanogan Highlands, northeastern Washington
The western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis occidentalis Freeman) is recognized as the most ecologically and economically damaging defoliator in western North America. Synchronous western spruce budworm outbreaks can occur over much of a…
Author(s): Todd M. Ellis, Aquila Flower
Year Published:

The Influence of Western Spruce Budworm on Fire in Spruce-Fir Forests
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…
Author(s): Eric Vane, Kristen M. Waring, Adam Polinko
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Climatic conditions for emergence and flight of mountain pine beetle: implications for long-distance dispersal
A significant shift in the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902) range has been attributed to long-distance dispersal from the observed spatiotemporal patterns of beetle infestations in the recent outbreak in western Canada.…
Author(s): Huapeng Chen, Peter L. Jackson
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Fires following Bark Beetles: Factors Controlling Severity and Disturbance Interactions in Ponderosa Pine
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…
Author(s): Carolyn Hull Sieg, Rodman Linn, F. Pimont, Chad M. Hoffman, Joel D. McMillin, Judith Winterkamp, Scott L. Baggett
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Prescribed fire in grassland butterfly habitat: targeting weather and fuel conditions to reduce soil temperature and burn severity
Prescribed burning is a primary tool for habitat restoration and management in fire-adapted grasslands. Concerns about detrimental effects of burning on butterfly populations, however, can inhibit implementation of treatments. Burning in cool and…
Author(s): Kathryn C. Hill, Jonathan D. Bakker, Peter W. Dunwiddie
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Estimating aboveground tree biomass for beetle-killed lodgepole pine in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado
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…
Author(s): Woodam Chung, Paul Evangelista, Nathaniel Anderson, Anthony Vorster, Hee Han, Krishna Poudel, Robert Sturtevant
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Characterizing interactions between fire and other disturbances and their impacts on tree mortality in western U.S. forests
Increasing evidence that pervasive warming trends are altering disturbance regimes and their interactions with fire has generated substantial interest and debate over the implications of these changes. Previous work has primarily focused on…
Author(s): Jeffrey M. Kane, J. Morgan Varner, Margaret R. Metz, Phillip J. van Mantgem
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Using landscape genetics simulations for planting blister rust resistant whitebark pine in the US northern Rocky Mountains
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…
Author(s): Erin L. Landguth, Zachary A. Holden, M. F. Mahalovich, Samuel A. Cushman
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Fire severity and cumulative disturbance effects in the post-mountain pine beetle lodgepole pine forests of the Pole Creek Fire
Recent large scale mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, MPB) outbreaks have created concern regarding increased fuel loadings and exacerbated fire behavior and have prompted a desire to understand the effects of sequential…
Author(s): Michelle Agne, Travis J. Woolley, Stephen A. Fitzgerald
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A 20-year reassessment of the health and status of whitebark pine forests in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Montana
Whitebark pine plays a prominent role in high elevation ecosystems of the northern Rocky Mountains. It is an important food source for many birds and mammals as well as an essential component of watershed stabilization. Whitebark pine is vanishing…
Author(s): Molly L. Retzlaff, Signe B. Leirfallom, Robert E. Keane
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Do insect outbreaks reduce the severity of subsequent forest fires?
Understanding the causes and consequences of rapid environmental change is an essential scientific frontier, particularly given the threat of climate- and land use-induced changes in disturbance regimes. In western North America, recent widespread…
Author(s): Garrett W. Meigs, Harold S. Zald, John L. Campbell, William S. Keeton, Robert E. Kennedy
Year Published:

Relative importance of climate and mountain pine beetle outbreaks on the occurrence of large wildfires in the western USA
Extensive outbreaks of bark beetles have killed trees across millions of hectares of forests and woodlands in western North America. These outbreaks have led to spirited scientific, public, and policy debates about consequential increases in fire…
Author(s): Dominik Kulakowski, Nathan Mietkiewicz
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Cumulative disturbance on the landscape: lessons from the Pole Creek fire, Oregon
Previous research has focused on quantifying fuel loadings and using operational fire behavior models to understand changes in fire severity following MPB outbreaks. In this study however, researchers used direct field measurements taken from the…
Author(s): Northwest Fire Science Consortium
Year Published:

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