A5007441098- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Tree-ring climate responses
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Tree Root and Stability Studies
- Forest ecology and management
- Landslides and related hazards
- Remote Sensing in Agriculture
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Spaceflight effects on biology
University of North Carolina Wilmington
2019-2024
Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy
2017-2024
University of Colorado Boulder
2015-2019
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
2014
Abstract Forest resilience to climate change is a global concern given the potential effects of increased disturbance activity, warming temperatures and moisture stress on plants. We used multi‐regional dataset 1485 sites across 52 wildfires from US Rocky Mountains ask if how changing over last several decades impacted post‐fire tree regeneration, key indicator forest resilience. Results highlight significant decreases in regeneration 21st century. Annual deficits were significantly greater...
Climate change is increasing fire activity in the western United States, which has potential to accelerate climate-induced shifts vegetation communities. Wildfire can catalyze by killing adult trees that could otherwise persist climate conditions no longer suitable for seedling establishment and survival. Recently documented declines postfire conifer recruitment States may be an example of this phenomenon. However, role annual variation its interaction with long-term trends driving these...
Increasing fire severity and warmer, drier postfire conditions are making forests in the western United States (West) vulnerable to ecological transformation. Yet, relative importance of interactions between these drivers forest change remain unresolved, particularly over upcoming decades. Here, we assess how interactive impacts changing climate wildfire activity influenced conifer regeneration after 334 wildfires, using a dataset from 10,230 field plots. Our findings highlight declining...
Abstract In recent years, increased wildfire activity and climate change have raised concern among scientists land managers regarding current future vegetation patterns in post‐burn landscapes. We surveyed conifer regeneration 8–15 years after fire six burn areas the lower montane zone of Colorado Front Range. sampled across a broad range elevations, aspects, severities found that densities ponderosa pine ( Pinus ) Douglas‐fir Pseudotsuga menziesii are generally low, although abundant do...
Abstract Aim Climate warming is increasing fire activity in many of Earth’s forested ecosystems. Because a catalyst for change, investigation post‐fire vegetation response critical to understanding the potential future conversions from forest non‐forest types. We characterized influences climate and terrain on tree regeneration assessed how these biophysical factors might shape vulnerability wildfire‐driven conversion. Location Montane forests, Rocky Mountains, USA. Time period 1981–2099....
Abstract Climate warming is contributing to increases in wildfire activity throughout the western United States, leading potentially long‐lasting shifts vegetation. The response of forest ecosystems thus a crucial indicator future vegetation trajectories, and these responses are contingent upon factors such as seed availability, interannual climate variability, average climate, other components physical environment. To better understand variation resilience across vulnerable dry forests, we...
Abstract Fire regimes in North American forests are diverse and modern fire records often too short to capture important patterns, trends, feedbacks, drivers of variability. Tree‐ring scars provide valuable perspectives on regimes, including centuries‐long year, season, frequency, severity, size. Here, we introduce the newly compiled tree‐ring fire‐scar network (NAFSN), which contains 2562 sites, >37,000 fire‐scarred trees, covers large parts America. We investigate NAFSN terms geography,...
Climate change may inhibit tree regeneration following disturbances such as wildfire, altering post-disturbance vegetation trajectories. We implemented a field experiment to examine the effects of manipulations temperature and water on ponderosa pine (Pinus Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seedlings planted in low-elevation, recently disturbed setting Colorado Front Range. four treatments: warmed only (Wm), watered (Wt), (WmWt), control...
Abstract Increased wildfire activity combined with warm and dry post-fire conditions may undermine the mechanisms maintaining forest resilience to wildfires, potentially causing ecosystem transitions, or fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts. Stand-replacing fire is especially likely catalyze shifts expected from climate change, by killing mature trees that are less sensitive than juveniles. To understand vulnerability of forests it critical identify both where fires will burn stand-replacing...
Abstract Soil disturbance threatens native perennial grasslands and savannas worldwide, including pine of the North American Coastal Plain. Disk harrows are used in region to plow linear features for firebreaks contain prescribed fires, manage game other wildlife, reduce wildfire hazard protect forest resources. However, long‐term response vegetation these disturbances has not been well investigated. Our aim was compare changes over time (0–9 years) following repeated by disking a single...
In recent years, warming climate and increased fire activity have raised concern about post-fire recovery of western U.S. forests. We assessed relationships between variability tree establishment after in dry ponderosa pine forests the Colorado Front Range. harvested aged over 400 juvenile (Pinus ponderosa) Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees using an improved tree-ring based approach that yielded annually-resolved dates then pulses establishment. found was largely concentrated years...
Dendroecology is the science that dates tree rings to their exact calendar year of formation study processes influence forest ecology (e.g., Speer 2010 [1], Amoroso et al., 2017 [2]) [...]
Understanding of historical fire seasonality should facilitate development concepts regarding as an ecological and evolutionary process. In tree-ring based fire-history studies, the scars can be classified on position scar within or between growth rings. Cambial phenology studies are needed to precisely relate a fire-scar months year because timing dormancy, earlywood production, latewood production varies by species location. We examined cambial patterns longleaf pine (Pinus palustris...
Abstract Longleaf pine woodlands of the North American Coastal Plain are proposed to be resilient climate change impacts, but little is known about changes in limiting factors longleaf growth as has changed late 20th century and early 21st century. Moreover, role that neighborhood trees play context remains largely unexplored. We used static moving window tree ring climatic analyses measure effects on at a site southwest Georgia, USA. then performed maximum likelihood analysis examine...
Few tree-ring based fire-history studies have been completed in pine ecosystems of the Southeastern Coastal Plain, part because difficulties finding old fire-scarred material. We propose specialized field methods that improve likelihood locating fire scars dead trees (i.e. stumps, snags, and logs). Classic developed southwestern United States involve targeting only with evidence repeated external scarring, but we found this approach to be less effective our region given without any scarring...
The longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris Mill.) and related ecosystem is an icon of the southeastern United States (US). Once covering estimated 37 million ha from Texas to Florida Virginia, near-extirpation of, subsequent restoration efforts for, species has been well-documented over past ca. 100 years. Although one longest-lived tree in US—with documented ages 400 years—its use not reviewed field dendrochronology. In this paper, we review utility tree-ring data within applications four primary,...
Land cover changes and conversions are occurring rapidly in response to human activities throughout the world. Woody plant encroachment (WPE) is a type of land conversion that involves proliferation and/or densification woody plants an ecosystem. WPE especially prevalent drylands, where subtle precipitation disturbance regimes can have dramatic effects on vegetation structure degrade ecosystem functions services. Accurately determining distribution drylands critical for protecting natural...
Abstract Background Longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems were historically widespread in the North American Coastal Plain and some southeastern piedmont montane settings. The naval stores industry, deforestation, other human activities resulted an extensive loss (c. 97% loss) of original woodlands savannas. are maintained by frequent surface fire which promotes successful regeneration maintains open canopy conditions a largely herbaceous understory. Fire regimes (including...