Long-term post-fire ecosystem recovery
Mixed severity wildfires burn large areas in western North America ecosystems in most years and this is expected to continue or increase with climate change. Little is understood about vegetation recovery and changing fuel conditions more than a decade post-fire because it exceeds the duration of most studies of fire effects. Additionally, there has been no multi-ecosystem comparison on long-term recovery after fire.
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Our GoalWe seek to understand how various ecosystems respond to burn severity gradients. We predicted that 1) drier ecosystems would take longer to recover and 2) areas of high burn severity would recovery more slowly. We tested this by sampling the following fires:
2013-15: Montana (2003): Black Mountain 2, Cooney Ridge, Robert and Wedge Canyon 2015: California (2003): Simi, Old/Grand Prix 2015: Colorado (2002): Hayman 2015: South Dakota (2000): Jasper 2015: Washington (2005): School 2016: Oregon (2007): Egley 2016: Idaho (2007): Cascade, East Zone 2016: Alaska (2004): Porcupine, Chicken, Wall Street |
Theoretical response curves of fuel loads and
species diversity along burn severity gradients. |
The Research
We measured plant species composition, conifer seedling regeneration, fuel loads, and ground cover at 15 wildfires that burned 9-15 years previous in five western U.S. vegetation types distributed across eight states, including Alaska. The 15 fires were selected for having been previously sampled immediately post-fire and re-sampled one year later, thus providing a re-measurement opportunity for a more powerful analysis of long-term vegetation recovery. Additionally, we used novel time series analysis techniques (LandTrendr) to examine long-term ecosystem trajectories using Landsat imagery.
We have completed data collection for these sites and have published several papers related to post-fire recovery in relation to climate and fuel treatments. We continue to analyze data and write up manuscripts on this long-term dataset.
We have completed data collection for these sites and have published several papers related to post-fire recovery in relation to climate and fuel treatments. We continue to analyze data and write up manuscripts on this long-term dataset.