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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…
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The spatial overlap of multiple ecological disturbances in close succession has the capacity to alter trajectories of ecosystem recovery. Widespread bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire have affected many forests in western North America in the past…
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Nearly a century of fire suppression in most forested land of the United States has limited researchers’ ability to construct and rigorously test conceptual models of forest structural development in mixed-conifer ecosystems. As a result, land…
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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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Questions: Increased wildfire activity is resulting in plant community‐type conversions worldwide. In some regions, fire‐sensitive forests are being replaced by flammable fire‐resilient communities, increasing the likelihood of reburning due to…
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One of Jonathan Coop's first vivid memories as a child was watching the flames of the 1977 La Mesa Fire in north-central New Mexico. The human-caused fire burned more than 15,000 acres of pine forests in the Bandelier National Monument and areas…
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Fire refugia—locations that burn less severely or less frequently than surrounding areas—support late-successional and old-growth forest structure and function. This study investigates the influence of topography and fuels on the probability of…
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We measured forest-floor accumulation in ponderosa pine forests of central Oregon and asked whether selected ecological functions of the organic layer were altered by thinning and repeated burning. Experimental treatments included three thinning…
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During the End-Permian mass extinction event (EPME) there is extensive evidence for depletion of oxygen in the marine realm. Atmospheric models based upon biogeochemical cycling predict a comparable decline leading up to this event and have been…
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Fire is a necessary ecosystem process in many biomes and is best viewed as a natural disturbance that is beneficial to ecosystem functioning. However, increasingly, we are seeing human interference in fire regimes that alters the historical range of…
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The extent of young postfire conifer forests is growing throughout western North America as the frequency and size of high‐severity fires increase, making it important to understand ecosystem structure and function in early seral forests.…
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Forests store a large amount of terrestrial carbon, but this storage capacity is vulnerable to wildfire. Combustion, and subsequent tree mortality and soil erosion, can lead to increased carbon release and decreased carbon uptake. Previous work has…
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The Inventory & Monitoring Division of the U.S. National Park Service conducts long-term monitoring to provide park managers information on the status and trends in biological and environmental attributes including white pines. White pines are…
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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…
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Background: Wildfire is an important ecological process in mixed conifer forests of the Intermountain West region of the USA. However, researchers and managers are concerned because climate warming has led to increased fire activity in recent…
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Recent shifts in global forest area highlight the importance of understanding the causes and consequences of forest change. To examine the influence of several potential drivers of forest cover change, we used supervised classifications of…
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Encroachment of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) shrublands by pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) conifers (woodland encroachment) induces a shift from biotic‐controlled resource retention to abiotic‐driven loss of soil resources. This shift…
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Disturbance such as wildfire may create opportunities for plant communities to reorganize in response to climate change. The interaction between climate change and distur- bance may be particularly important in forests, where many of the…
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Climate change indirectly affects forest ecosystems through changes in the frequency, size, and/or severity of wildfires. In addition to its direct effects prior to fire, climate also influences immediate postfire recruitment, with consequences for…
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An understanding of how historical fire and structure in dry forests (ponderosa pine, dry mixed conifer) varied across the western USA remains incomplete. Yet, fire strongly affects ecosystem services, and forest restoration programs are underway.…
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