Research Database
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Perspectives: Six opportunities to improve understanding of fuel treatment longevity in historically frequent-fire forests
Year: 2025
Fuel-reduction and restoration treatments (“treatments”) are conducted extensively in dry and historically frequent-fire forests of interior western North America (“dry forests”) to reduce potential for uncharacteristically severe wildfire. However, limited understanding of treatment longevity and long-term treatment effects creates potential for inefficient treatment maintenance and inaccurate forecasting of wildfire behavior. In this perspectives paper, we briefly summarize current understanding of long-term effects of three common treatment types (burn-only, thin-only, and thin-plus-burn)…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Trees in Fire-Maintained Forests Have Similar Growth Responses to Drought, but Greater Stomatal Conductance Than Trees in Fire-Excluded Forests
Year: 2025
In the western US, increased tree density in dry conifer forests from fire exclusion has caused tree growth declines, which is being compounded by hotter multi-year droughts. The reintroduction of frequent, low-severity wildfire reduces forest density by removing fire-intolerant trees, which can reduce competition for water and improve tree growth response to drought. We assessed how lower forest density following frequent, low-severity wildfire affected tree stomatal conductance and growth response to drought by coring and measuring competition surrounding ponderosa pines (Pinus…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Combining ecophysiology and combustion traits to predict conifer live fuel moisture content: a pyro-ecophysiological approach
Year: 2025
Background Fuel moisture content is a key driver of fuel flammability and subsequent fire activity and behavior worldwide. Dead fuels passively exchange moisture with the atmosphere while live fuel moisture is confounded by a mixture of seasonal carbon and water cycle dynamics. Despite the significance of live fuel moisture content (LFMC) on wildland fire potential, attempts to model its variations seasonally and between species are often inconclusive or unsuccessful.ResultsHere we present a mechanistic LFMC model that uses easily measured live fuel…
Publication Type: Journal Article