Research Database

Displaying 1 - 3 of 3

Budworms, beetles and wildfire: Disturbance interactions influence the likelihood of insect-caused disturbances at a subcontinental scale

Year: 2024

Irruptive forest insects are a leading biotic disturbance across temperate and boreal forests. Outbreaks of forest insects are becoming more frequent and extensive due to anthropogenic drivers (e.g. climate and land-use), perhaps increasing the likelihood that forests will experience multiple insect-caused disturbances. Across the fire-prone Douglas-fir forests of western North America, recent outbreaks of the western spruce budworm and Douglas-fir beetle have impacted large expanses of forests, with a higher degree of overlap than expected in some ecoregions. Outbreaks of both insects are…

Insects and Fire

Douglas fir, disturbance interactions, insect outbreak

Publication Type: Journal Article

Montane springs provide regeneration refugia after high-severity wildfire

Year: 2024

In the mountainous regions of the Western United States, increasing wildfire activity and climate change are putting forests at risk of regeneration failure and conversion to non-forests. During periods with unfavorable climatic conditions, locations that are suitable for post-fire tree regeneration (regeneration refugia) may be essential for forest recovery. These refugia could provide scattered islands of recovering forest from which broader forest recovery may be facilitated. Spring ecosystems provide cool and wet microsites relative to the surrounding landscape and may act as regeneration…

Fire Effects and Fire Ecology, Mixed-Conifer Management

disturbance refugia, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, regeneration, high-severity wildfire

Publication Type: Journal Article

Changing fire regimes and nuanced impacts on a critically imperiled species

Year: 2024

Wildfire activity throughout western North America is increasing which can have important consequences for species persistence. Native species have evolved disturbance-adapted traits that confer resilience to natural disturbance provided disturbances operate within their historical range of variability. This resilience can erode as disturbance regimes change and begin operating outside this range. We assessed wildfire impacts during 1987–2018 on the northern spotted owl, an imperiled species with complex relationships with late and early seral forest in the Pacific Northwest, USA. We analyzed…

Fire Effects and Fire Ecology, Fire History, Fish and Wildlife Habitat

northern spotted owl, wildlife habitat, disturbance regime

Publication Type: Journal Article