Research and Publications
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Postfire regeneration is sensitive to high-severity fire, which limits seed availability, and postfire climate, which influences seedling establishment. In the near-term, projected differences in recruitment probability between low- and high-severity fire scenarios were larger than projected climate change impacts for most species, suggesting that reductions in fire severity, and resultant impacts on seed availability, could partially offset expected climate-driven declines in postfire regeneration. Across 40 to 42% of the study area, we project postfire conifer regeneration to be likely following low-severity but not high-severity fire under future climate scenarios (2031 to
2050). However, increasingly warm, dry climate conditions are projected to eventually outweigh the influence of fire severity and seed availability. The percent of the study area considered unlikely to experience conifer regeneration, regardless of fire severity, increased from 5% in 1981 to 2000 to 26 to 31% by mid-century, highlighting a limited time window over which management actions that reduce fire severity may effectively support
postfire conifer regeneration.
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This study presents the results of thematic analysis from 46 semi-structured interviews with employees in the US Forest Service Southwestern Region with a WFDSS user account. Users indicated that the program is viewed as efficient for sharing information about wildfires and documenting management decision rationale. They identified emerging gaps in technical proficiency and the need for specialized training that creates high-level users to help guide teams using the program.
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Based on the existing literature, significant policy, regulatory, physical, and social barriers impede the use of managed wildfire. For fire managers, use of this strategy requires a complex decision-making process that includes consideration of institutional influences, operational considerations, fire outcomes, fire environment, perceived risk, and sociopolitical context. Some new treatment and response planning tools, such as Potential Operational Delineations (PODs), may facilitate greater use by easing some of these barriers and concerns. The scale of the wildfire challenge across the country suggests that, in the future, managed wildfire will play an essential role in managing fuels, reducing burn severity, enhancing suppression effectiveness, fostering forest resilience, and improving human’s ability to coexist with fire.
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This study investigated survival of transplanted herbaceous seedlings at different distances from Wyoming big sagebrush canopies. We planted two native perennial forb species, Munro’s globemallow and common yarrow, and two native perennial grass species, bluebunch wheatgrass and bottlebrush squirreltail, at four distances from sagebrush canopies at six sites across the Intermountain West, repeated across 2 years. Under above-normal precipitation, proximity to sagebrush influenced first-year survival of the forb, but not grass, species. Globemallow and yarrow survival were highest mid-way between the canopy dripline and maximum interspace distance between neighboring sagebrush plants. Ground cover characteristics and globemallow survival covaried with respect to distance from shrub, suggesting ground cover characteristics as indicators of suitable planting microsites. Under drier conditions, survival of all species was low and unaffected by distance from canopies. Our results demonstrate the value of fine-tuning the canopy-interspace paradigm to more carefully consider how plant performance may differ across zones within the interspace region between plants, especially when the goal is to maximize plant establishment in nondrought years.
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Vegetation and substrate burn severity was characterized as moderate across the study site and did not differ among treatments. Contrasting with higher pre-fire shrub density in the mastication + burning treatment, 2-year post-fire live shrub density did not differ among treatments. Higher pre-fire fine woody fuel loading in the mastication treatment did not correspond to post-fire fuel loading among treatments, while the hand thinned treatment was the only treatment where fine fuel loading was not significantly reduced post-fire. Total plant species richness increased in all treatment types following wildfire, largely driven by an increase in exotic species. Native cover decreased, and exotic cover increased in oak and chaparral types, but greater exotic species cover in the mastication + burning treatment in chaparral was maintained following wildfire.
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Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted, and responses were analyzed using a qualitative method, causal layered analysis, not previously applied in a land management context. In the most superficial (litany) layer, cost and scale were prominent. The next (systemic) layer was framed by policy and bureaucracy limitations as well as technical barriers to implementation. In the third (worldview) layer, lack of a proactive management tradition within agencies represented a principal barrier. In the deepest (myth/metaphor) layer, the central belief is that human intervention should be used to protect ecosystem services only after they are disrupted due to human activity. Based on the different obstacles found at each level, we suggest ways to overcome the barriers detected.
Human population growth and accessibility from cities shape rangeland condition in the American West
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Human population growth contributes to the decline of sagebrush-steppe rangelands. More accessible rangelands from population centers have higher quality. Open space preservation provides opportunities for rangeland conservation in cities. Coordinated conservation strategies are necessary to protect rangeland ecosystems.
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This study focused on alternative perspectives of successful fuel break use and the impact of fuel break configurations and management actions on fire risk across a given landscape. This was accomplished using a variety of methods. We used a survey of wildland fire management personnel to gather information on perceptions of fuel break effectiveness, data on fuel break use, and locations of the fuel breaks in question. Input was sought from
managers for fuel breaks throughout California. Managers who were responsible for a specific fuel break or were familiar with suppression operations on a fuel break were eligible to take this survey.
View the Addendum.
The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy has been officially updated.
New critical emphasis areas include:
-Climate change
-Workforce capacity, health, and wellbeing
-Community resilience
-Diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental justice
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The plant species and functional groups that were associated significantly with occupancy varied considerably among subregions. Twenty-four percent of bird-plant associations that were significant at the Great Basin level were not significant in any subregion. Associations between occupancy and floristics differed the most between the Sierra Nevada and central or western subregions, and the least between the eastern and western subregions. Associations between occupancy and physiognomy differed the most between the Sierra Nevada and western and central subregions, and the least between the northern and western subregions. These differences and similarities may reflect variations in climate or bird communities or differences in sampling effort. In addition, the number and strength of associations between occupancy and floristic or physiognomic covariates varied substantially among bird species and subregions. We recommend that the management of birds across the Great Basin or other large ecoregions evaluate and account for geographic variation in environmental attributes associated with occupancy, and not assume bird-plant relations are consistent across the Great Basin.