Wildfires are becoming more frequent and more severe in the Western U.S. due to climate change. In forests that experience severe fire, where the majority or even all adult trees burn and die, there is little to no seed production following fire. Without seed sources, forests are unlikely to regenerate. Human assistance via planting tree seedlings (“reforestation”) can help forests to recover, but even these planted seedlings are stressed. Without the forest canopy overhead, forest soils can be over 40 °F warmer and the air near the forest floor can be over 35% drier.

Reforested seedlings must cope with these hotter, drier conditions to survive. This project examines the role that stored carbohydrates play in helping trees tolerate and survive these conditions. Together with The Nature Conservancy and the Montana Bureau of Land Management, the research team will develop protocols to increase carbohydrate storage in 1-year old conifer seedlings and examine whether more stored carbohydrates before planting significantly influences growth and survival of conifer seedlings in these hotter, drier post-fire landscapes. With this knowledge, forest land managers can more effectively and efficiently reforest burned lands by changing reforestation protocols before planting to elevate carbohydrate levels. Their results will be shared in a research brief and webinar through the Northern Rockies Fire Science Network and published in a management-focused scientific journal.