Article
Entomology
Eileen M. Brantley, Arden G. Jones, Alicia M. Hodson, John W. Brown, Michael G. Pogue, Martina M. Suazo, Robert R. Parmenter
Summary: Forest fires in North America are increasing in size and severity due to climate change and land management practices. These fires can have a major impact on forest insect communities, potentially leading to the extinction of many species. A study conducted in New Mexico after a forest fire in 2011 found that moth communities were significantly affected, with lower numbers of individuals, species richness, and diversity in the burned forests compared to unburned forests. The reduction in moth populations was linked to the loss of larval host plants.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
M. C. Odland, M. J. Goodwin, B. Smithers, M. D. Hurteau, M. P. North
Summary: The study investigated the effects of thinning and prescribed burning on understory plant diversity over a two-decade period in the Teakettle Experimental Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada. Results showed that while initial treatments of thinning combined with prescribed fire increased local understory richness and diversity, they did not achieve conditions similar to nearby reference forests over the long term. A second burn treatment following vigorous shrub growth also did not alter understory evenness and beta diversity, highlighting the importance of creating heterogeneity in burn effects to limit shrub cover and foster diverse understory communities.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Melissa R. Jaffe, Mark R. Kreider, David L. R. Affleck, Philip E. Higuera, Carl A. Seielstad, Sean A. Parks, Andrew J. Larson
Summary: High-severity fires and short-interval reburns have significant impacts on forest structure and composition, potentially leading to non-forest conditions. Understanding the long-term effects of these fires is crucial, especially with the recent increase in burned area and severity in the western US. By studying fire history and conducting field sampling in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, we investigated the influence of fire frequency on forest structure, conifer regeneration, and fuel loading.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Zachary Wenderott, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Micah C. Wright, Calvin A. Farris, Rosemary L. Sherriff
Summary: Prescribed fire treatments can reduce fire hazards, but their impact on large, old trees is an important consideration. This study analyzed the effects of prescribed fire treatments on forest structure and individual tree growth in mixed-conifer forests of Lassen Volcanic National Park using long-term plot records and dendrochronological samples.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Julia K. Berkey, R. Travis Belote, Colin T. Maher, Andrew J. Larson
Summary: The suppression of fires in U.S. forests for nearly a century has hindered researchers' ability to study forest structural development in mixed-conifer ecosystems. By studying the impact of fire history and biophysical variables, researchers found that time since fire, frequency of fires, and biophysical factors play important roles in shaping forest structure and diversity in active fire regimes.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Charles B. Halpern, Joseph A. Antos
Summary: Wildfire size and frequency are increasing in the western U.S., affecting young second-growth forests. This study examines how these young stands respond to fire using pre- and post-fire data from a forest in western Oregon.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Justin P. Ziegler, Chad M. Hoffman, Brandon M. Collins, Eric E. Knapp, William (Ruddy) Mell
Summary: Research on simulated fires in a mixed-conifer forest in the Sierra Nevada region of the western United States suggests that modern forests have more homogeneous tree spatial patterns compared to historical forests. This is due to a lack of significant disturbances in modern forests, leading to a shift in tree mortality patterns and a decrease in tree group diversity.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jesse E. D. Miller, Alexandra M. Weill, John Villella
Summary: Global fire regimes are shifting due to climate change, land management practices, and population growth, putting species at risk. After high-severity fires, lichen richness increases with time but begins to level off after 20-30 years, and many chaparral lichen taxa may be lost where fire intervals shorten to <20 years.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Rita Quinones de Magalhaes, Dylan W. Schwilk
Summary: Moisture content is a significant factor affecting forest fuel flammability. This study examined how litter fuels from multiple tree species retain moisture differently over time, and how nonadditive effects can influence flame spread rate and fuel consumption in mixed species litter beds. Different tree species exhibit varying moisture dynamics, leading to differing flammability responses to time since wetting.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Asha Paudel, Michelle Coppoletta, Kyle Merriam, Scott H. Markwith
Summary: Mixed conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, California, face threats from frequent high-severity reburns caused by fuel accumulation and climate change. This study found that successive fires with severities less than high-severity significantly reduced tree densities within the natural range of variation, but did not shift species composition towards fire tolerant species dominance.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Matthew Jaquette, Andrew J. Sanchez Meador, David W. Huffman, Matthew A. Bowker
Summary: The structure and composition of southwestern dry mixed-conifer forests have changed significantly, leading to decreased forest resiliency and threatening ecosystem services. Historical forests differ from contemporary forests, with environmental factors playing a key role in contemporary forest conditions. Managers can use this understanding to tailor silvicultural prescriptions to environmental templates.
Article
Microbiology
Monika S. Fischer, Neem J. Patel, Phillip J. de Lorimier, Matthew F. Traxler
Summary: Prescribed fire is an important strategy for mitigating catastrophic wildfires, but little is known about its impact on soil microorganisms. Through high temporal resolution sampling over 17 months in a mixed conifer forest in California, we found that prescribed fire significantly changed the structure of both fungal and bacterial communities. Most differentially abundant fungal taxa showed a positive response, while differentially abundant bacterial taxa generally showed a negative response. Our results suggest that both neutral and deterministic processes play a role in microbial community assembly after prescribed fire.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Kate Wilkin, Lauren Ponisio, Danny L. Fry, Brandon M. Collins, Tadashi Moody, Scott L. Stephens
Summary: The study found that understory plant communities were influenced by a combination of environmental factors, recent fire history at the plot scale, and pyrodiversity within 50 meters. Canopy cover was inversely related to understory plant cover, Simpson's diversity, and evenness. Species richness was strongly influenced by the interaction of plot-based fire experience and plot-neighborhood pyrodiversity within 50 meters.
Article
Forestry
Mojgan Mahdizadeh, Will Russell
Summary: The study found that coast redwood exhibited the highest survival and recovery rates following the wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains, while the recovery of understory plant species was modest. The decline of Douglas-fir is of concern, suggesting that repeated high severity fires driven by climate change could eventually lead to vegetation type conversion.
Article
Forestry
Alexandre F. Souza, Angela Luciana de Avila, Maristela M. Araujo, Solon Jonas Longhi
Summary: Understanding the effects of disturbance on seed rain is crucial for predicting changes in forest species composition and diversity. Logging in a mixed conifer-hardwood forest complex in southern Brazil was found to significantly impact the quantity, size, and functional groups of seeds in the seed rain, leading to differences between old-growth and logged stands 55 years after logging activities. The seed rain of logged forests reflects arrested succession and reduced functional diversity, with the intensive logging of Araucaria angustifolia playing a major role in the differences observed.
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH
(2021)