Search by keywords, then use filters to narrow down results by type, year, topic, or ecosystem.
Displaying 121 - 140 of 568
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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-…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
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…
Year Published:
Restoration and rehabilitation treatments that manipulate vegetation can be expensive to implement but are infrequently evaluated to determine whether spending more improves intended outcomes. We assessed commonly implemented vegetation treatments…
Year Published:
Background: Prairie-forest ecotones are ecologically important for biodiversity and ecological processes. While these ecotones cover small areas, their sharp gradients in land cover promote rich ecological interaction and high conservation value.…
Year Published:
Sagebrush (Artemisia species) habitat, an intricate, species-rich mosaic of different sagebrush species and a remarkably diverse assemblage of grasses, forbs, and other shrubs, once covered about 170 million acres (69 million ha) across the Western…
Year Published:
Background: Wildfires in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana, USA) have been immense in recent years, capturing the attention of resource managers, fire scientists, and the general public. This paper synthesizes…
Year Published:
Boreal peatlands represent a significant global store of soil carbon, which are subject to increasing natural and anthropogenic disturbance. Wildfire is the single largest disturbance to boreal forest and wetlands annually. Critical to the long‐term…
Year Published:
Aim: Climate warming is increasing fire activity in many of Earth’s forested ecosystems. Because fire is a catalyst for change, investigation of post‐fire vegetation response is critical to understanding the potential for future conversions from…
Year Published: