Fire severity and tree regeneration following bark beetle outbreaks: the role of outbreak stage and burning conditions

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1608-1625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Harvey ◽  
Daniel C. Donato ◽  
William H. Romme ◽  
Monica G. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Tree Regeneration

Influence of recent bark beetle outbreak on fire severity and postfire tree regeneration in montane Douglas-fir forests

Ecology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 94 (11) ◽  
pp. 2475-2486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Harvey ◽  
Daniel C. Donato ◽  
William H. Romme ◽  
Monica G. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Tree Regeneration

scholarly journals Effects of Soil Abiotic and Biotic Factors on Tree Seedling Regeneration Following a Boreal Forest Wildfire

Ecosystems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa S. Ibáñez ◽  
David A. Wardle ◽  
Michael J. Gundale ◽  
Marie-Charlotte Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Betula Pendula ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Soil Biota ◽  
Fire Disturbance ◽  
Burn Severity ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Tree Seedling ◽  
Seedling Regeneration

AbstractWildfire disturbance is important for tree regeneration in boreal ecosystems. A considerable amount of literature has been published on how wildfires affect boreal forest regeneration. However, we lack understanding about how soil-mediated effects of fire disturbance on seedlings occur via soil abiotic properties versus soil biota. We collected soil from stands with three different severities of burning (high, low and unburned) and conducted two greenhouse experiments to explore how seedlings of tree species (Betula pendula, Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies) performed in live soils and in sterilized soil inoculated by live soil from each of the three burning severities. Seedlings grown in live soil grew best in unburned soil. When sterilized soils were reinoculated with live soil, seedlings of P. abies and P. sylvestris grew better in soil from low burn severity stands than soil from either high severity or unburned stands, demonstrating that fire disturbance may favor post-fire regeneration of conifers in part due to the presence of soil biota that persists when fire severity is low or recovers quickly post-fire. Betula pendula did not respond to soil biota and was instead driven by changes in abiotic soil properties following fire. Our study provides strong evidence that high fire severity creates soil conditions that are adverse for seedling regeneration, but that low burn severity promotes soil biota that stimulates growth and potential regeneration of conifers. It also shows that species-specific responses to abiotic and biotic soil characteristics are altered by variation in fire severity. This has important implications for tree regeneration because it points to the role of plant–soil–microbial feedbacks in promoting successful establishment, and potentially successional trajectories and species dominance in boreal forests in the future as fire regimes become increasingly severe through climate change.

scholarly journals Huftiere und Verjüngung im Gebirgswald: eine Geschichte mit vielen Variablen und noch mehr Interaktionen | Ungulates and Tree Regeneration in Mountain Forests: an Issue with many Variables and even more Interactions

2000 ◽  
Vol 151 (4) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Senn
Keyword(s):  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Mountain Forests ◽  
Wild Ungulates ◽  
Site Factors ◽  
The Past

After excessive cutting in Swiss mountain forests and extirpation of most of the wildlife during the past centuries, efficient forestry and hunting laws allowed a wide regeneration of the forests and a rapid increase of ungulate populations in the present century. As a consequence, the impacts of ungulates on the vegetation became obvious. Regeneration of forest trees, however, is influenced not only by ungulates, but by a number of physical site factors and biotic impacts. As these impacts and their interactions vary extensively, regeneration is neither spatially nor temporally constant. Most of the presently used tree-regeneration methods, however, assume constant conditions, which renders a proper evaluation of tree regeneration in mountain forests and the role of ungulates impossible. Furthermore, the effect of this variation on forest development and forest functions is unknown with regard to the long term. While society requires a multipurpose mountain forest, structured at a small scale, wild ungulates use their habitat at a larger scale. This often leads to conflicts. Consequently,solutions including different scales are necessary. A lack of knowledge will, therefore, have to be met by research making data available to the practice as well as through coordinated investigations and experiments.

scholarly journals Contrasting vulnerability of monospecific and species‐diverse forests to wind and bark beetle disturbance: The role of management

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 12233-12245
Author(s):  
Laura Dobor ◽  
Tomáš Hlásny ◽  
Soňa Zimová
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetle

scholarly journals How climate change might affect tree regeneration following fire at northern latitudes: a review

New Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Boucher ◽  
Sylvie Gauthier ◽  
Nelson Thiffault ◽  
William Marchand ◽  
Martin Girardin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Water Deficits ◽  
Climate Conditions

Abstract Climate change is projected to increase fire severity and frequency in the boreal forest, but it could also directly affect post-fire recruitment processes by impacting seed production, germination, and seedling growth and survival. We reviewed current knowledge regarding the effects of high temperatures and water deficits on post-fire recruitment processes of four major tree species (Picea mariana, Pinus banksiana, Populus tremuloides and Betula papyrifera) in order to anticipate the effects of climate change on forest recovery following fire in the boreal biome. We also produced maps of future vulnerability of post-fire recruitment by combining tree distributions in Canada with projections of temperature, moisture index and fire regime for the 2041–2070 and 2071–2100 periods. Although our review reveals that information is lacking for some regeneration stages, it highlights the response variability to climate conditions between species. The recruitment process of black spruce is likely to be the most affected by rising temperatures and water deficits, but more tolerant species are also at risk of being impacted by projected climate conditions. Our maps suggest that in eastern Canada, tree species will be vulnerable mainly to projected increases in temperature, while forests will be affected mostly by droughts in western Canada. Conifer-dominated forests are at risk of becoming less productive than they currently are, and eventually, timber supplies from deciduous species-dominated forests could also decrease. Our vulnerability maps are useful for prioritizing areas where regeneration monitoring efforts and adaptive measures could be developed.

Implications of changing climate for global wildland fire

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike D. Flannigan ◽  
Meg A. Krawchuk ◽  
William J. de Groot ◽  
B. Mike Wotton ◽  
Lynn M. Gowman
Keyword(s):  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Global Studies ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
General Increase ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Fire Activity ◽  
Linear Interactions

Wildland fire is a global phenomenon, and a result of interactions between climate–weather, fuels and people. Our climate is changing rapidly primarily through the release of greenhouse gases that may have profound and possibly unexpected impacts on global fire activity. The present paper reviews the current understanding of what the future may bring with respect to wildland fire and discusses future options for research and management. To date, research suggests a general increase in area burned and fire occurrence but there is a lot of spatial variability, with some areas of no change or even decreases in area burned and occurrence. Fire seasons are lengthening for temperate and boreal regions and this trend should continue in a warmer world. Future trends of fire severity and intensity are difficult to determine owing to the complex and non-linear interactions between weather, vegetation and people. Improved fire data are required along with continued global studies that dynamically include weather, vegetation, people, and other disturbances. Lastly, we need more research on the role of policy, practices and human behaviour because most of the global fire activity is directly attributable to people.

scholarly journals Spatial variability in tree regeneration after wildfire delays and dampens future bark beetle outbreaks

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (46) ◽  
pp. 13075-13080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rupert Seidl ◽  
Daniel C. Donato ◽  
Kenneth F. Raffa ◽  
Monica G. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Stand Development ◽  
Dendroctonus Pseudotsugae ◽  
Fire Event ◽  
Landscape Variability ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Climate change is altering the frequency and severity of forest disturbances such as wildfires and bark beetle outbreaks, thereby increasing the potential for sequential disturbances to interact. Interactions can amplify or dampen disturbances, yet the direction and magnitude of future disturbance interactions are difficult to anticipate because underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We tested how variability in postfire forest development affects future susceptibility to bark beetle outbreaks, focusing on mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) and Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae) in forests regenerating from the large high-severity fires that affected Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in 1988. We combined extensive field data on postfire tree regeneration with a well-tested simulation model to assess susceptibility to bark beetle outbreaks over 130 y of stand development. Despite originating from the same fire event, among-stand variation in forest structure was very high and remained considerable for over a century. Thus, simulated emergence of stands susceptible to bark beetles was not temporally synchronized but was protracted by several decades, compared with stand development from spatially homogeneous regeneration. Furthermore, because of fire-mediated variability in forest structure, the habitat connectivity required to support broad-scale outbreaks and amplifying cross-scale feedbacks did not develop until well into the second century after the initial burn. We conclude that variability in tree regeneration after disturbance can dampen and delay future disturbance by breaking spatiotemporal synchrony on the landscape. This highlights the importance of fostering landscape variability in the context of ecosystem management given changing disturbance regimes.

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