Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WF > WF07148
REVIEW
Contents Vol 17(6)

Ecological effects of large fires on US landscapes: benefit or catastrophe?A

Robert E. Keane A I , James K. Agee B , Peter Fulé C , Jon E. Keeley D , Carl Key E , Stanley G. Kitchen F , Richard Miller G and Lisa A. Schulte H
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, 5775 Highway 10 West, Missoula, MT 59808, USA.

B College of Forest Resources, Box 352100, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Email: jagee@u.washington.edu

C School of Forestry and Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, PO Box 15018, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5018, USA. Email: Fule@nau.edu

D US Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Sequoia-Kings Canyon Field Station, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271, USA. Email: jon_keeley@usgs.gov

E US Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, c/o Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT 59936-0128, USA. Email: carl_key@usgs.gov

F USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Provo, UT 84606-1856, USA. Email: skitchen@fs.fed.us

G Oregon State University, Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, Corvallis, OR 97331-2218, USA. Email: Richard.Miller@oregonstate.edu

H Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3221, USA. Email: lschulte@iastate.edu

I Corresponding author. Email: rkeane@fs.fed.us

International Journal of Wildland Fire 17(6) 696-712 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF07148
Submitted: 15 October 2007  Accepted: 13 May 2008   Published: 12 December 2008

Abstract

The perception is that today’s large fires are an ecological catastrophe because they burn vast areas with high intensities and severities. However, little is known of the ecological impacts of large fires on both historical and contemporary landscapes. The present paper presents a review of the current knowledge of the effects of large fires in the United States by important ecosystems written by regional experts. The ecosystems are (1) ponderosa pine–Douglas-fir, (2) sagebrush–grasslands, (3) piñon–juniper, (4) chaparral, (5) mixed-conifer, and (6) spruce–fir. This review found that large fires were common on most historical western US landscapes and they will continue to be common today with exceptions. Sagebrush ecosystems are currently experiencing larger, more severe, and more frequent large fires compared to historical conditions due to exotic cheatgrass invasions. Historical large fires in south-west ponderosa pine forest created a mixed severity mosaic dominated by non-lethal surface fires while today’s large fires are mostly high severity crown fires. While large fires play an important role in landscape ecology for most regions, their importance is much less in the dry piñon–juniper forests and sagebrush–grasslands. Fire management must address the role of large fires in maintaining the health of many US fire-dominated ecosystems.

Additional keywords: fire effects, fire regimes, megafires.




A The use of trade or firm names in the present paper is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture of any product or service. The current paper was partly written and prepared by US Government employees on official time, and therefore is in the public domain and not subject to copyright.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Eva Karau, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. We also acknowledge support from Joint Fire Science Project 04–1-2–01 for some material in the present paper. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and comments.


References


Agee JK (1991) Fire history of Douglas-fir forests in the Pacific Northwest. In ‘Wildlife and Vegetation of Douglas-fir Forests in the Pacific Northwest’. (Eds L Ruggiero, K Aubry, M Huff) USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Report PNW-GTR-285, pp. 25–33. (Portland, OR)

Agee JK (1993) ‘Fire ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests.’ (Island Press: Washington, DC)

Agee JK (1998) The landscape ecology of western forest fire regimes. Northwest Science  72, 24–34.
Atwater B, Musumi-Rokkaku S, Satake K, Ueda K, Yamaguchi DK (2005) ‘The Orphan Tsunami of 1700.’ (US Geological Survey and University of Washington Press: Seattle, WA)

Baker WL (1992) Effects of settlement and fire suppression on landscape structure. Ecology  73, 1879–1887.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Baker WL (2003) Fires and climate in forested landscapes of the US Rocky Mountains. In ‘Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas’. (Eds TT Veblen, WL Baker, G Montenegro, TW Swetnam) pp. 120–157. (Springer-Verlag: New York)

Baker WL (2006) Fire and restoration of sagebrush ecosystems. Wildlife Society Bulletin  34, 177–185.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Barrett SW, Arno SF, Menakis JP (1997) Fire episodes in the inland northwest (1540–1940) based on fire history data. USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-370. (Ogden, UT)

Barton AM (2002) Intense wildfire in south-eastern Arizona: transformation of a Madrean oak–pine forest to oak woodland. Forest Ecology and Management  165, 205–212.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Beetle AA (1960) A study of sagebrush. The section Tridentatae of Artemisia. University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 368. (Laramie, WY)

Bessie WC , Johnson EA (1995) The relative importance of fuels and weather on fire behaviour in subalpine forests. Ecology  76, 747–762.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Betancourt JL, Pierson EA, Aasen-Rylander K, Fairchild-Parks JA, Dean JS (1993) Influence of history and climate on New Mexico pinyon–juniper woodlands. In ‘Managing Pinyon–Juniper Ecosystems for Sustainability and Social Needs: Proceedings of the Symposium’, 26–30 April, Santa Fe, NM. (Eds EF Aldron, DW Shaw) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RM-236, pp. 42–62. (Fort Collins, CO)

Bridge SRJ, Miyanishi K , Johnson EA (2005) A critical evaluation of fire suppression effects in the boreal forest of Ontario. Forest Science  51, 41–50.
Brown JK (1985) The ‘unnatural fuel buildup’ issue. In ‘Symposium and Workshop on Wilderness Fire’, June 1984, Missoula, MT. (Eds JE Lotan, BM Kilgore, WC Fischer, RW Mutch) USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-182, pp. 127–128. (Missoula, MN)

Burkhardt JW , Tisdale EW (1969) Nature and successional status of western juniper vegetation in Idaho. Journal of Range Management  22, 264–270.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Burns RM, Honkala BH (1990) Silvics of North America. Volumes 1 and 2, USDA Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook 654. (Washington, DC)

Burwell T (1998) Successional patterns of the lower montane treeline, eastern California. Madrono  45, 12–16.
Cohen S, Miller D (1978) ‘The Big Burn – The Northwest’s Forest Fire of 1910.’ (Pictorial Histories Publishing Co.: Missoula, MT)

Cooper CF (1961) Changes in vegetation, structure, and growth of south-western pine forests since white settlement. Ecology  42, 493–499.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Cui W, Perera A (2006) Forest fire size distribution in North American boreal forests. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Forest Research Institute, Forest Research Information Paper No. 163. (Sault Ste. Marie, ON)

Daniel TC, Carroll MS, Moseley C, Raish C (Eds) (2007) ‘People, Fire, and Forests: a Synthesis of Wildfire Social Science.’ (Oregon State University Press: Corvallis, OR)

Davis KM (1980) Fire history of a western larch/Douglas-fir forest type in north-western Montana. In ‘Proceedings of the Fire History Workshop’, Tucson, AZ. (Eds MA Stokes, JH Dietrich) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, General Technical Report GTR-RM-81, pp. 69–74. (Fort Collins, CO)

DeBano LF, Neary DG, Ffolliott PF (1998) ‘Fire’s Effect on Ecosystems.’ (Wiley: New York)

Eberhart KE , Woodward PM (1987) Distribution of residual vegetation associated with large fires in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Forest Research  17, 1207–1212.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Eisenhart KS (2004) Historic range of variability and stand development in piñon–juniper woodlands of western Colorado. PhD dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder.

Erdman JA (1970) Pinyon–juniper succession after natural fires on residual soils of Mesa Verde, Colorado. Brigham Young University Science Bulletin, Biological Series  11, 1–26.
FEMAT (Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team) (1993) Forest ecosystem: an ecological, economic, and social assessment. US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Interior, and Pacific Northwest Region. (Portland, OR)

Ferry GW, Clark RG, Montgomery RE, Mutch RW, Leenhouts WP, Zimmerman GT (1995) Altered fire regimes within fire-adapted ecosystems. In ‘Our Living Resources: a Report to the Nation on the Distribution, Abundance, and Health of US Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems’. US Department of the Interior, National Biological Service. (Washington, DC)

Fiedler CE, Keegan CEIII, Robertson SH, Morgan TA, Woodall CW, Chmelik JT (2002) A strategic assessment of fire hazard in New Mexico. Final report to the Joint Fire Science Program. (Boise, ID)

Finney MA, McHugh CW , Grenfell IC (2005) Stand- and landscape-level effects of prescribed burning on two Arizona wildfires. Canadian Journal of Forest Research  35, 1714–1722.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Floyd L, Colyer M, Hanna DD, Romme WH (2003) Gnarly old trees: canopy characteristics of old-growth piñon–juniper woodlands. In ‘Ancient Piñon–Juniper Woodlands’. (Ed. L Floyd) pp. 11–30. (University Press of Colorado: Boulder, CO)

Floyd ML, Hanna DD , Romme WH (2004) Historical and recent fire regimes in piñon–juniper woodlands on Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA. Forest Ecology and Management  198, 269–289.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Franklin JF, Dyrness CT (1973) Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report PNW-8. (Portland, OR)

Franklin JF, Hemstrom M (1981) Aspects of succession in the coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest. In ‘Forest Succession: Concepts and Application’. (Eds DC West, HH Shugart, DB Botkin) pp. 222–229. (Springer-Verlag: New York)

Franklin AB, Anderson DR, Gutierrez RJ , Burnham KP (2000) Climate, habitat quality, and fitness in northern spotted owl populations in north-western California. Ecological Monographs  70, 539–590.
Fuchs EH (2002) ‘Historic Increases in Woody Vegetation in Lincoln County, New Mexico.’ (VanGuard Printing Company: Albuquerque, NM)

Fulé PZ, Waltz AEM, Covington WW , Heinlein TA (2001) Measuring forest restoration effectiveness in hazardous fuels reduction. Journal of Forestry  99(11), 24–29.
GAO (2002) Severe wildland fires: leadership and accountability needed to reduce risks to communities and resources. US General Accounting Office, Report to Congressional Requesters, GAO-02–259. (Washington, DC)

Gardner R, Hargrove WR, Turner MG (1997) Effects of scale-dependent processes on predicting patterns of forest fires. In ‘Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems’. (Eds BH Walker, WL Steffen) pp. 111–134. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

Gedney DR, Azuma DL, Bolsinger CL, McKay N (1999) Western juniper in eastern Oregon. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report PNW-GTR-464. (Portland, OR)

Gruell GE (1983) Fires and vegetative trends in the northern Rockies: interpretations from 1871–1982 photographs. USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, General Technical Report GTR-INT-158. (Ogden, UT)

Habeck JR , Mutch RW (1973) Fire-dependent forests in the northern Rocky Mountains. Quaternary Research  3, 408–424.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Haines DA, Sando RW (1969) Climatic conditions preceding historically great fires in the North Central region. USDA Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station, Research Paper NC-34. (St Paul, MN)

Haines DA, Johnson VJ, Main WA (1975) Wildfire atlas of the north-eastern and north-central states. USDA Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station, General Technical Report NC-16. (St Paul, MN)

Harniss RO , Murray RB (1973) 30 years of vegetal change following burning of sagebrush–grass range. Journal of Range Management  26, 322–325.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Henderson JA, Peter DH, Lesher RD, Shaw DC (1989) Forested plant associations of the Olympic National Forest. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, ECOL Technical Paper 001–88. (Portland, OR)

Heyerdahl EK, Brubaker LB , Agee JK (2001) Spatial controls of historical fire regimes: a multiscale example from the Interior West, USA. Ecology  82, 660–678.
Holmes RL, Adams RK, Fritts HC (1986) ‘Tree Ring Chronologies of Western North America: California, eastern Oregon and northern Great Basin.’ Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, Chronology Series VI. (University of Arizona: Tucson, AZ)

Houston DB (1973) Wildfires in northern Yellowstone National Park. Ecology  54, 1111–1117.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Keane RE, Veblen T, Ryan KC, Logan J, Allen C, Hawkes B (2002) The cascading effects of fire exclusion in the Rocky Mountains. In ‘Rocky Mountain Futures: an Ecological Perspective’. (Ed. JS Baron) pp. 133–153. (Island Press: Washington, DC)

Keeley JE (2002) Fire management of California shrubland landscapes. Environmental Management  29, 395–408.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Keeley JE, Fotheringham CJ (2006) Wildfire management on a human-dominated landscape: California chaparral wildfires. In ‘Wildfire – A Century of Failed Forest Policy’. (Ed. G Wuerthner) pp. 69–75. (Island Press: Covelo, CA)

Keeley JE, Fotheringham CJ , Baer-Keeley M (2005) Determinants of post-fire recovery and succession in Mediterranean-climate shrublands of California. Ecological Applications  15, 1515–1534.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Key CH, Benson NC (2005) Landscape assessment: ground measure of severity, the Composite Burn Index; and remote sensing of severity, the Normalized Burn Ratio. In ‘FIREMON: Fire Effects Monitoring and Inventory System’. (Eds DC Lutes, RE Keane, JF Caratti, CH Key, NC Benson, S Sutherland, LJ Gangi) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-164-CD: LA1–51. (Fort Collins, CO)

Kitzberger T, Brown PM, Heyerdahl EK, Swetnam TW , Veblen TT (2007) Contingent Pacific-Atlantic Ocean influence on multicentury wildfire synchrony over western North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America  104, 543–548.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Koch E (1942) History of the 1910 forest fires – Idaho and western Montana. In ‘When the Mountains Roared: Stories of the 1910 Fire’. USDA Forest Service, Idaho Panhandle National Forest, General Publication 64. (Coeur d’Alene, ID)

Kolb PF, Adams DL , McDonald GI (1998) Impacts of fire exclusion on forest dynamics and processes in central Idaho. Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference  20, 911–923.
Laverty L, Williams J (2000) Protecting people and sustaining resources in fire-adapted ecosystems – a cohesive strategy. USDA Forest Service response to GAO Report GAO/RCED 99-65. (Washington, DC)

Lentile LB, Morgan P, Hudak AT, Bobbitt MJ, Lewis SA, Smith AM , Robichaud PR (2007) Post-fire burn severity and vegetation response following eight large wildfires across the western United States. Fire Ecology  3, 91–101.
Martin RE, Sapsis DB (1991) Fires as agents of biodiversity: pyrodiversity promotes biodiversity. In ‘Proceedings of the Symposium on Biodiversity of Northwestern California’, Santa Rosa, CA. (Eds RR Harris, DC Erman, HM Kerner) pp. 150–157. (Wildland Resource Center, University of California: Berkeley, CA)

McArthur ED, Stevens R (2004) Composite shrubs. In ‘Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands’. (Eds SB Monsen, R Stevens, NL Shaw) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-136-vol-2, pp. 493–537. (Fort Collins, CO)

McDonough WT , Harniss RO (1974) Seed dormancy in Artemisia tridentata Nutt. vaseyana Rydb. Northwest Science  48, 17–20.
McGarigal K, Marks BJ (1995) FRAGSTATS: spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report PNW-GTR-351. (Portland, OR)

McNabb DH, Swanson FJ (1990) Effects of fire on soil erosion. In ‘Natural and Prescribed Fire in Pacific Northwest Forests’. (Eds JD Walstad, SR Radosevich, DV Sandberg) pp. 159–176. (Oregon State University Press: Corvallis, OR)

Mensing SA, Michaelsen J , Byrne R (1999) A 560-year record of Santa Ana fires reconstructed from charcoal deposited in the Santa Barbara Basin, California. Quaternary Research  51, 295–305.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Miller RF, Tausch RJ (2001) The role of fire in pinyon and juniper woodlands: a descriptive analysis. In ‘Proceedings of the Invasive Species Workshop: The Role of Fire in the Control and Spread of Invasive Species. Held at Fire Conference 2000: The First National Congress on Fire Ecology, Prevention, and Management’. (Eds KEM Galley, TP Wilson) Tall Timbers Research Station, MISC11, pp. 15–30. (Tallahassee, FL)

Miller RF, Svejcar T , Rose JA (2000) Impacts of western juniper on plant community composition and structure. Journal of Range Management  53, 574–585.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Miller RF, Bates JD, Svejcar TJ, Pierson FB, Eddleman LE (2005) Biology, ecology, and management of western juniper. Oregon State University, Agricultural Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin 152. (Corvallis, OR)

Miller RF, Tausch RJ, McArthur ED, Johnson DD, Sanderson S (2008). Age structure and expansion of piñon–juniper woodlands: a regional perspective in the Intermountain West. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Research Paper RMRS-RP-69. (Fort Collins, CO)

Minnich RA, Dezzani RJ (1991) Suppression, fire behavior, and fire magnitudes in Californian chaparral at the urban/wildland interface. In ‘California Watersheds at the Urban Interface, Proceedings of the Third Biennial Watershed Conference’, April 1997, Davis, CA. (Ed. JJ DeVries) pp. 67–83. (University of California: Davis, CA)

Mitchell JA, Robson D (1950) Forest fires and forest fire control in Michigan. Michigan Department of Conservation and USDA Forest Service, Lake States Forest Experimental Station. (St Paul, MN)

Moreno JM (Ed.) (1998) ‘Large Forest Fires.’ (Backhuys Publishers: Leiden, the Netherlands)

Moritz MA, Keeley JE, Johnson EA , Schaffner AA (2004) Testing a basic assumption of shrubland fire management: does the hazard of burning increase with the age of fuels? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment  2, 67–72.
Morrison PH, Swanson FJ (1990) Fire history and pattern in a Cascade Range landscape. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report PNW-GTR-254. (Portland, OR)

Mutch RW, Arno SF, Brown JK, Carlson CE, Ottmar RD, Peterson JL (1993) Forest health in the Blue Mountains: a management strategy for fire-adapted ecosystems. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report PNW-GTR-310. (Portland, OR)

Nowacki GJ , Abrams MD (2008) The demise of fire and ‘mesophication’ of forests in the eastern United States. Bioscience  58, 123–138.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Peters EF, Bunting SC (1994) Fire conditions pre- and post-occurrence of annual grasses on the Snake River Plain. In ‘Proceedings – Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands’, 18–21 May 1992, Boise, ID. (Eds SB Monsen, SG Kitchen) USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-313, pp. 31–36. (Ogden, UT)

Philpot CW (1974) The changing role of fire on chaparral lands. In ‘Symposium on Living with the Chaparral, Proceedings’, September 1972, San Franciso, CA. (Ed. M Rosenthal) pp. 131–150. (Sierra Club: San Francisco, CA)

Philpot CW (1990) The wildfires in the northern Rocky Mountains and greater Yellowstone area – 1988. In ‘Transactions of the Fifty-fifth North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference’, Denver, CO. (Ed. RE McCabe) pp. 185–187. (Wildlife Management Institute: Washington, DC)

Pinol JK, Beven J , Viegas DX (2005) Modelling the effect of fire exclusion and prescribed fire on wildfire size in Mediterranean ecosystems. Ecological Modelling  183, 397–409.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Pratt SD, Holsinger L, Keane RE (2006) Modeling historical reference conditions for vegetation and fire regimes using simulation modelling. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-175. (Fort Collins, CO)

Pregitzer KS, Saunders SC (1999) Jack pine barrens of the northern Great Lakes region. In ‘Savannas, Barrens, and Rock Outcrop Plant Communities of North America’. (Eds RC Anderson, JS Fralish, JM Baskin) pp. 343–361. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

Pyne SJ (1997) ‘Fire in America: a Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire.’ (University of Washington Press: Seattle, WA)

Raymond CL , Peterson DL (2005) Fuel treatments alter the effects of wildfire in a mixed-evergreen forest, Oregon, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research  35, 2981–2995.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Romme WH, Floyd-Hanna L, Hanna D (2003) Ancient pinyon–juniper forests of Mesa Verde and the West: a cautionary note for forest restoration programs. In ‘Fire, Fuel Treatments, and Ecological Restoration: Conference Proceedings’, 16–19 April 2002, Fort Collins, CO. (Eds P Omi, L Joyce) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Proceedings RMRS-P-O-29. (Fort Collins, CO)

Romme WH, Allen C, Bailey J, Baker W, Bestelmeyer B, Brown PM, Eisenhart K, Floyd-Hanna L, Huffman D, Jacobs B, Miller R, Muldavin E, Swetnam TW, Tausch R, Weisberg P (2007) Historical and modern disturbance regimes of piñon–juniper vegetation in the western US. Report by the Nature Conservancy, Fire Learning Network, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. (Fort Collins, CO)

Ryan KC (2002) Dynamic interactions between forest structure and fire behavior in boreal ecosystems. Silva Fennica  36, 13–39.
Sallach BK (1986) Vegetation changes in New Mexico documented by repeat photography. MSc thesis, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.

Savage M , Mast JN (2005) How resilient are south-western ponderosa pine forests after crown fire? Canadian Journal of Forest Research  35(4), 967–977.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Schmidt WC, Shearer RC, Roe AL (1976) Ecology and silviculture of western larch forests. USDA Forest Service, Technical Bulletin No. 1520. (Washington, DC)

Schmoldt DL, Peterson DL, Keane RE, Lenihan JM, McKenzie D, Weise D, Sandberg DV (1999) Assessing the effects of fire disturbance on ecosystems: a scientific agenda for research and management. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report GTR-PNW-455. (Portland, OR)

Schoenberg FP, Peng R , Woods J (2003a) On the distribution of wildfire sizes. Environmetrics  14, 583–597.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | State of Oregon (1997) ‘Tillamook burn to Tillamook State Forest.’ (Oregon Department of Forestry: Salem, OR)

Stephens SL (2005) Forest fire causes and extent on United States Forest Service lands. International Journal of Wildland Fire  14, 213–222.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Strom BA (2005) Pre-fire treatment effects and post-fire forest dynamics on the Rodeo–Chediski burn area, Arizona. MS thesis, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff.

Strom BA , Fulé PZ (2007) Pre-wildfire fuel treatments affect long-term ponderosa pine forest dynamics. International Journal of Wildland Fire  16, 128–138.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Swetnam TW, Baisan CH (2003) Tree-ring reconstructions of fire and climate history in the Sierra Nevada and south-western United States. In ‘Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas’. (Eds TT Veblen, WL Baker, G Montenegro, TW Swetnam) pp. 158–195. (Springer-Verlag: New York)

Swetnam TW , Betancourt JL (1998) Mesoscale disturbance and ecological response to decadal climatic variability in the American Southwest. Journal of Climate  11, 3128–3147.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Tausch RJ (1999a) Historic woodland development. I. In ‘Proceedings: Ecology and Management of Pinyon–Juniper Communities within the Interior West’, June 1998, Ogden, UT. (Eds SB Monsen, R Stevens, RJ Tausch, R Miller, S Goodrich) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Proceedings RMRS-P-9, pp. 12–19. (Ogden, UT)

Tausch RJ (1999b) Transitions and threshold: influences and implications for management in pinyon and Utah juniper woodlands. In ‘Proceedings: Ecology and Management of Pinyon–Juniper Communities within the Interior West’, June 1998, Ogden, UT. (Eds SB Monsen, R Stevens, RJ Tausch, R Miller, S Goodrich) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Proceedings RMRS-P-9, pp. 61–65. (Ogden, UT)

Tausch RJ , Nowak CL (2000) Influences of Holocene climate and vegetation changes on present and future community dynamics. Journal of Arid Land Studies  10S, 5–8.
Teensma PDA (1987) Fire history and fire regimes of the central western Cascades of Oregon. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oregon, Eugene.

Turner MG, Baker WL, Peterson CJ , Peet RK (1998) Factors influencing succession: lessons from large, infrequent natural disturbances. Ecosystems  1, 511–523.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | van Wagtendonk JW (1995) Large fires in wilderness areas. In ‘Proceedings: Symposium on Fire in Wilderness and Park Management’, 30 March–1 April 1993, Missoula, MT. USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-320, pp. 113–116. (Ogden, UT)

Wadleigh L , Jenkins MJ (1996) Fire frequency and the vegetative mosaic of a spruce–fir forest in northern Utah. The Great Basin Naturalist  56, 28–37.
Wambolt CL, Hoffman TL, Mehus CA (1999) Response of shrubs in big sagebrush habitats to fire on the Yellowstone winter range. In ‘Proceedings: Shrubland Ecotones’, 12–14 August 1998, Ephraim, UT. (Eds ED McArthur, WK Ostler, CL Wambolt) USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Proceedings RMRS-P-11, pp. 238–242. (Ogden, UT)

Wambolt CL, Walhof KS , Frisina MR (2001) Recovery of big sagebrush communities after burning in south-western Montana. Journal of Environmental Management  61, 243–252.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Welch BL (2005) Big sagebrush: a sea fragmented into lakes, ponds, and puddles. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-144. (Fort Collins, CO)

Wellner CA (1970) Fire history in the northern Rocky Mountains. In ‘Role of Fire in the Intermountain West, Symposium Proceedings’, 27–29 October 1970, Missoula, MT. pp. 42–64. (Intermountain Fire Research Council and University of Montana, School of Forestry: Missoula, MT)

West NE (1999) Juniper–pinyon savannas and woodland of western North America. In ‘Savannas, Barrens, and Rock Outcrop Plant Communities of North America’. (Eds RC Anderson, JS Fralish, JM Baskin) pp. 288–308. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

West NE , Yorks TP (2002) Vegetation responses following wildfire on grazed and ungrazed sagebrush semi-desert. Journal of Range Management  55, 171–181.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Whisenant SG (1990) Changing fire frequencies on Idaho’s Snake River Plains: ecological and management implications. In ‘Proceedings – Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Die-Off, and other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management’, 5–7 April 1989, Las Vegas, NV. (Eds ED McArthur, EM Romney, SD Smith, PT Tueller) USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INNT-276, pp. 4–10. (Ogden, UT)

White MA , Vankat JK (1993) Middle and high elevation coniferous forest communities of the North Rim region of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. Vegetatio  109, 161–174.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Will-Wolf S, Stearns F (1999) Dry soil oak savanna in the Great Lakes region. In ‘Savannas, Barrens, and Rock Outcrop Plant Communities of North America’. (Eds RC Anderson, JS Fralish, JM Baskin) pp. 135–153. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

Wimberly MC, Spies TA, Long CJ , Whitlock C (2000) Simulating historical variability in the amount of old forests in the Oregon Coast Range. Conservation Biology  14, 167–180.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Wright HA, Bailey AW (1982) ‘Fire Ecology, United States and Southern Canada.’ (Wiley: New York)

Wright HA, Neuenschwander LF, Britton CM (1979) The role and use of fire in sagebrush–grass and pinyon–juniper plant communities. A state-of-the-art review. USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, General Technical Report INT-58. (Ogden, UT)

Young JA , Evans RA (1989) Dispersal and germination of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) seeds. Weed Science  37, 201–206.