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Climate change effects on wildfire occurrence have been attributed primarily to increases in temperatures causing earlier snowpack ablation and longer fire seasons. Variability in precipitation is also an important control on snowpack accumulation…
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Climate change is likely to alter wildfire regimes, but the magnitude and timing of potential climate-driven changes in regional fire regimes are not well understood. We considered how the occurrence, size, and spatial location of large fires might…
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Biomass burning emission inventories serve as critical input for atmospheric chemical transport models that are used to understand the role of biomass fires in the chemical composition of the atmosphere, air quality, and the climate system.…
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The 1988 Yellowstone fires were among the first in what has proven to be an upsurge in large severe fires in the western USA during the past 20 years. At the time of the fires, little was known about the impacts of such a large severe disturbance…
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Reduced frequency of fire in historically fire-adapted ecosystems may have adverse effects on ecosystem structure, function, and resilience. Lack of fire increases stand density and promotes successional replacement of seral dominant trees by late-…
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Anticipating future forest-fire regimes under changing climate requires that scientists and natural resource managers understand the factors that control fire across space and time. Fire scars-proxy records of fires, formed in the growth rings of…
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Many forests and their associated water resources are at increasing risk from large and severe wildfires due to high fuel accumulations and climate change. Extensive fuel treatments are being proposed, but it is not clear where such treatments…
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Millions of hectares of rangeland in the western United States have been invaded by annual and woody plants that have increased the role of wildland fire. Altered fire regimes pose significant implications for runoff and erosion. In this paper we…
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Wildfire and debris flows are important physical and ecological drivers in headwater streams of western North America. Past research has primarily examined short-term effects of these disturbances; less is known about longer-term impacts. We…
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Anticipated increases in the frequency and severity of wildfire may threaten the persistence of native salmonid populations in headwater streams in western North America. This study used extensive pre- and postfire data to assess whether wildfire…
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The increased frequency and severity of large wildfires in the western United States is an important ecological and management issue with direct relevance to amphibian conservation. Although the knowledge of fire effects on amphibians in the region…
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Plains prickly pear (Opuntia polyacantha Haw.) is common throughout the Great Plains and often becomes detrimental to agricultural production on noncultivated lands. We examined direct fire effects on plains prickly pear and mechanisms of tissue…
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In this study, ash is analyzed as a geological material; in particular, we focus on ash produced by the burning of Ponderosa pine, a conifer that is widespread throughout mountainous landscapes of western North America. One set of ash samples used…
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Fire is an important process in many ecosystems, especially grasslands. However, documentation of plant community and soil environment responses to fire is limited for semiarid grasslands relative to that for mesic grasslands. Replicated summer fire…
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Wildfire is a common natural disturbance that can influence stream ecosystems. Of particular concern are increases in water temperature during and following fires, but studies of these phenomena are uncommon. We examined effects of wildfires in 2000…
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Humans and their ancestors are unique in being a fire-making species, but ‘natural’ (i.e. independent of humans) fires have an ancient, geological history on Earth. Natural fires have influenced biological evolution and global biogeochemical cycles…
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The greater sage-grouse is at the center of a complex challenge to conserve sagebrush ecosystems. The species has declined across much of its range, including 11 western states and 2 Canadian provinces, mostly due to loss of critical sagebrush…
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We describe short-term (< or =10 yrs) and long-term (>10 yrs) responses of prescribed burning to enhance nesting and early brood-rearing habitat for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Our primary objective was to provide a…
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Each year, large areas are burned in wildfires across the Western United States. Assessing the ecological effects of these fires is crucial to effective postfire management. This requires accurate, efficient, and economical methods to assess the…
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Fire is a keystone process in many ecosystems of western North America. Severe fires kill and consume large amounts of above- and belowground biomass and affect soils, resulting in long-lasting consequences for vegetation, aquatic ecosystem…
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