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Western juniper was often historically restricted to fire refugia such as rocky outcrops but has since Euro-American settlement expanded into areas previously dominated by sagebrush steppe. Wildfires in developed woodlands have been rare. In 2007,…
Author(s): Eva K. Strand, Stephen C. Bunting
Year Published:

Background In July 2012, a lightning strike ignited the Arapaho Fire in the Laramie Mountains of Wyoming and burned approximately 39,700 ha. This high-severity fire resulted in 95% mortality of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson) at…
Author(s): Stephanie M. Winters, Linda T. A. van Diepen
Year Published:

The western U.S. is experiencing increasing wildfire activity and warmer, drier climate conditions, with declining post-fire tree regeneration observed in many areas in recent years. Seedlings of mixed-conifer and subalpine forest species are…
Author(s): Kyra D. Wolf, Kimberley T. Davis, Philip E. Higuera
Year Published:

In fire-prone forests, postfire tree recovery may be limited by climate conditions and fire activity that exceed the range of conditions under which these forests evolved, leading to major shifts in forest structure and composition. Transformations…
Author(s): Tyler J. Hoecker, Monica G. Turner
Year Published:

Background: Wildfires are increasing in size and severity in forests of the western USA, driven by climate change and land management practices during the 20th century. Altered fire regimes have resulted in a greater need for knowl‑ edge on best…
Author(s): Jesse T. Wooten, Camille Stevens-Rumann, Zoe Schapira, Monique E. Rocca
Year Published:

Forests rely on processes like seed dispersal from seed sources (live trees containing mature cones) to jumpstart post-fire tree regeneration. Consequently, managers often estimate the potential for seed dispersal when anticipating whether a burn…
Author(s): Jamie L. Peeler
Year Published:

Wildfires are modifying the structure and composition of forests at rates that far exceed mechanical thinning and prescribed fire treatments. We responded to this by analyzing recent wildfires to understand drivers of fire-severity and post-fire…
Author(s): Andrew J. Larson, C. Alina Cansler, Van R. Kane, Derek J. Churchill, Paul F. Hessburg, James A. Lutz, Nicholas A. Povak
Year Published:

Researchers are increasingly examining patterns and drivers of postfire forest recovery amid growing concern that climate change and intensifying fires will trigger ecosystem transformations. Diminished seed availability and postfire drought have…
Author(s): Caitlin E. Littlefield, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, John T. Abatzoglou, Sean A. Parks, Kimberley T. Davis
Year Published:

This review is focused on tree seedling regeneration for several reasons. First, a high mortality event, like a high- severity wildfire, kills the mature trees needed to maintain forest cover. When fire-caused mortality is minimal, we are less…
Author(s): Camille Stevens-Rumann, Penelope Morgan, Kimberley T. Davis, Kerry Kemp, Jarod Blades
Year Published:

Subalpine forests in the northern Rocky Mountains have been resilient to stand-replacing fires that historically burned at 100- to 300-year intervals. Fire intervals are projected to decline drastically as climate warms, and forests that reburn…
Author(s): Monica G. Turner, Kristin H. Braziunas, Winslow D. Hansen, Brian J. Harvey
Year Published:

Background: Wildfires, like many disturbances, can be catalysts for ecosystem change. Given projected climate change, tree regeneration declines and ecosystem shifts following severe wildfires are predicted. We reviewed scientific literature on post…
Author(s): Camille Stevens-Rumann, Penelope Morgan
Year Published:

Increasing wildfires in western North American conifer forests have led to debates surrounding the application of post-fire management practices. There is a lack of consensus on whether (and to what extent) post-fire management assists or hinders…
Author(s): Victoria M. Donovan, Caleb P. Roberts, Carissa L. Wonkka, David A. Wedin, Dirac Twidwell
Year Published:

Stand changes brought on by fire exclusion have contributed to reduced resilience to wildfire in ponderosa pine forests throughout the western US. Growing recognition of how structural attributes influence resilience has led to interest in restoring…
Author(s): Eric E. Knapp, Alan H. Taylor, Michelle Coppoletta, Natalie Pawlikowski
Year Published:

The increasing frequency and severity of fire and drought events have negatively impacted the capacity and success of reforestation efforts in many dry, western U.S. forests. Challenges to reforestation include the cost and safety concerns of…
Author(s): Malcolm P. North, Jens T. Stevens, David F. Greene, Michelle Coppoletta, Eric E. Knapp, Andrew Latimer, Christina M. Restaino, Ryan Tompkins, Kevin R. Welch, Robert A. York, Derek J. N. Young, Jodi Axelson, Thomas N. Buckley, Becky L. Estes, Rachel N. Hager, Jonathan Long, Marc D. Meyer, Steven M. Ostoja, Hugh Safford, Kristen L. Shive, Carmen L. Tubbesing, Heather Vice, Dana Walsh, Chhaya M. Werner, Peter Wyrsch
Year Published:

Robust tree regeneration following high‐severity wildfire is key to the resilience of subalpine and boreal forests, and 21st century climate could initiate abrupt change in forests if postfire temperature and soil moisture become less suitable for…
Author(s): Winslow D. Hansen, Monica G. Turner
Year Published:

Forest resilience to climate change is a global concern given the potential effects of increased disturbance activity, warming temperatures and increased moisture stress on plants. We used a multi-regional dataset of 1485 sites across 52 wildfires…
Author(s): Camille Stevens-Rumann, Kerry Kemp, Philip E. Higuera, Brian J. Harvey, Monica T. Rother, Daniel C. Donato, Penelope Morgan, Thomas T. Veblen
Year Published:

Environmental change is accelerating in the 21st century, but how multiple drivers may interact to alter forest resilience remains uncertain. In forests affected by large high-severity disturbances, tree regeneration is a resilience linchpin that…
Author(s): Winslow D. Hansen, Kristin H. Braziunas, Werner Rammer, Rupert Seidl, Monica G. Turner
Year Published:

The 2010 Church’s Park Fire burned beetle-killed lodgepole pine stands in Colorado, including recently salvage-logged areas, creating a fortuitous opportunity to compare the effects of salvage logging, wildfire and the combination of logging…
Author(s): Charles C. Rhoades, Kristen Pelz, Paula J. Fornwalt, Brett Wolk, Anthony S. Cheng
Year Published:

Interest in PNW forests is shifting from a focus on old-growth forests alone to include the ecological value and processes of early-seral communities. However, focusing on the alpha and omega states of a linear successional model does not account…
Author(s): Christopher J. Dunn, John D. Bailey
Year Published:

Contemporary wildfires in southwestern US ponderosa pine forests can leave uncharacteristically large patches of tree mortality, raising concerns about the lack of seed-producing trees, which can prevent or significantly delay ponderosa pine…
Author(s): Suzanne M. Owen, Carolyn Hull Sieg, Andrew Sanchez Meador, Peter Z. Fule, Jose M. Iniguez, Scott L. Baggett, Paula J. Fornwalt, Michael A. Battaglia
Year Published: