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.

Background

Fire frequency in boreal forests has increased via longer burning seasons, drier conditions, and higher temperatures. However, fires have historically self-regulated via fuel limitations, mediating the effects of changes in climate and fire weather.

Forest structural characteristics, the burning environment, and the choice of ignition pattern each influence prescribed fire behaviors and resulting fire effects; however, few studies examine the influences and interactions of these factors.

The climate crisis has exacerbated many ecological and cultural problems including wildfire and drought vulnerability, biodiversity declines, and social justice and equity.

Environmental governance outcomes hinge on the design and implementation of management decisions. Yet, available research methodologies can be limited in their ability to capture the complexity of decision-making and implementation processes and in turn predict and explain environmental governance outcomes.

Recently, terms like social and community resilience have provided new ideas in reducing disaster risks especially in forest fire. However, a comprehensive and in-depth review of community social resilience concerning forest fires is lacking.

Changing climatic conditions are increasing overstory tree mortality in forests globally. This restructuring of the distribution of biomass is making already flammable forests more combustible, posing a major challenge for managing the transition to a lower biomass state.

Smoke from wildland fires contains more diverse, viable microbes than typical ambient air, yet little is known about the sources and sinks of smoke-borne microorganisms.

Fires release large pulses of nitrogen (N), which can be taken up by recovering plants and microbes or exported to streams where it can threaten water quality. The amount of N exported depends on the balance between N mineralisation and rates of N uptake after fire. Burn severity and soil moisture interact to drive these rates, but their effects can be difficult to predict.