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Type: Report
Author(s): Matthew D. Hurteau; Daniel J. Krofcheck; Craig D. Allen
Publication Date: 2020

Fire-exclusion and changing climatic conditions are increasing the area burned and the size of high-severity burn patches in historically frequent-fire forests. In the southwestern US, distance to seed source and hot, dry conditions in high-severity patches is limiting tree regeneration. While post-fire tree planting can overcome dispersal limitations, high planted seedling mortality rates are common in the southwest. Microclimatic conditions are influential on tree seedling survival and can vary as a function of topography and vegetation cover type. We sought to determine how planted seedling survival and growth would vary as a function of aspect and vegetation cover type in the footprint of the 2011 Las Conchas Fire in northern New Mexico. We also sought to determine how the probability of fire would influence landscape successional development. To quantify the effects of aspect and cover type on seedling survival and growth, we planted ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir seedlings by aspect (north vs south) and cover type (open, under shrub) in a full factorial design. To quantify the effects of fire probability on landscape successional development, we used a simulation model to test the sensitivity of the system to increasing fire probability. We found that topographic wetness index and topographic roughness index were good predictors of both survival and growth. We also found that increasing fire probability can prevent the establishment of tree seedlings following high-severity wildfire, causing the transition from forest to non-forest to be reinforced.

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Link to this document (1.5 MB; pdf)
Citation: Hurteau, Matthew D.; Krofcheck, Dan J.; Allen, Craig D. 2020. Quantifying the effects of post-fire decision-making on forest recovery in a severely burned southwestern landscape - Final Report to the Joint Fire Science Program. JFSP Project No. 16-1-05-8. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico. 23 p.

Cataloging Information

Regions:
Keywords:
  • Douglas-fir
  • high-severity fires
  • Las Conchas Fire
  • management
  • Pinus ponderosa
  • ponderosa pine
  • post-fire
  • Pseudotsuga menziesii
  • regeneration
  • seedlings
JFSP Project Number(s):
  • 16-1-05-8
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 62676