Full Citation: Roccaforte, John P.; Fulé, Peter Z.; Chancellor, W. Walker; Laughlin, Daniel C. 2012. Woody debris and tree regeneration dynamics following severe wildfires in Arizona ponderosa pine forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 42(3):593-604.
External Identifier(s): 10.1139/X2012-010 Digital Object Identifier
Location: National Forests in Arizona, U.S.; Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, U.S.
Ecosystem types: Ponderosa pine forest
Southwest FireCLIME Keywords: None
FRAMES Keywords: catastrophic fires, crown fires, fire frequency, fire intensity, fire injuries (plants), fire size, fuel loading, heavy fuels, post fire recovery, surface fuels, wildfires, age classes, litter, mortality, national forests, national parks, overstory, population density, regeneration, snags, sprouting, Abies concolor, white fir, Juniperus deppeana, alligator juniper, Juniperus osteosperma, Utah juniper, Picea engelmannii, Engelmann spruce, Pinus edulis, twoneedle pinyon, Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine, Populus tremuloides, quaking aspen, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas-fir, Quercus arizonica, Arizona white oak, Quercus chrysolepis, canyon live oak, Quercus gambelii, Gambel oak, Quercus grisea, gray oak, Quercus hypoleucoides, silverleaf oak, Quercus rugosa, netleaf oak, Robinia neomexicana, New Mexico locust, Arizona, ecosystem dynamics, fire management, forest management, fuel management, coniferous forests, deciduous forests, pine hardwood forests, CWD - coarse woody debris, tree regeneration, post-fire succession

Woody debris and tree regeneration dynamics following severe wildfires in Arizona ponderosa pine forests

John Paul Roccaforte, Peter Z. Fulé, W. Walker Chancellor, Daniel C. Laughlin


Summary - what did the authors do and why?

The authors sampled post-fire surface fuels, woody debris and regeneration along a chronosequence of eighteen years within ponderosa pine stands that burned at high severity to understand how surface fuels change with time since fire.


Publication findings:

The authors found that snag density rapidly declined as time since fire increased as snags fell rapidly in the first few years post-fire and transitioned to other snag condition classes soon after. Course woody debris loading increased with time since fire and peaked between 6-12 years post-fire, but was still within recommended management values, until it turned into rotten wood at approximately 16 years post-fire. The authors also found that after severe fires, over half of the sites lacked any ponderosa pine regeneration and was more likely to be dominated by sprouting species, although one site did have hyperdense pine regeneration. The authors suggest that these sites may go decades as shrublands or grasslands, and it remains to be seen if they return to a forested state.

Fire and Ecosystem Effects Linkages

The authors also found that after severe fires, over half of the sites lacked any ponderosa pine regeneration and was more likely to be dominated by sprouting species, although one site did have hyperdense pine regeneration. The authors suggest that these sites may go decades as shrublands or grasslands, and it remains to be seen if they return to a forested state.

The authors found that snag density rapidly declined as time since fire increased as snags fell rapidly in the first few years post-fire and transitioned to other snag condition classes soon after. Course woody debris loading increased with time since fire and peaked between 6-12 years post-fire, but was still within recommended management values, until it turned into rotten wood at approximately 16 years post-fire.

The authors also found that after severe fires, over half of the sites lacked any ponderosa pine regeneration and was more likely to be dominated by sprouting species, although one site did have hyperdense pine regeneration. The authors suggest that these sites may go decades as shrublands or grasslands, and it remains to be seen if they return to a forested state.