Global climate change is expected to result in more frequent drought and fire activity in the Pacific Northwest and there is already evidence of these trends in some areas.  Although forests in the region are adapted to fire, it is unclear how increased fire frequency and post-fire drought will impact tree species’ ability to re-establish following fire.  This is of specific concern for tree species that rely on fire to release their seeds, and that also need enough time between fires and favorable climate conditions for seedlings to establish after fire. Decreasing time between fires and increasing post-fire droughts may threaten these species’ ability to persist, which may lead to conversions to non-forest.

This project aims to understand the combined effects of fire interval and post-fire climate conditions on the post-fire regeneration of two serotinous (dependent on an environmental trigger, such as fire, to release seeds) tree species, lodgepole pine and knobcone pine, which serve as foundation species in forests in the Pacific Northwest.  Through collection of field data from forests that burned on a range of intervals and in various microclimates, this project will provide an understanding of serotinous forests’ capacity to regenerate following fire under various environmental conditions. Findings from this research will support forest management decisions by identifying when and where forests are most vulnerable to non-forest conversion.