Patterns of wildfire are often characterized according to the frequency, severity, and size of fires that burn in an ecosystem, as well as the way fires overlap with other recent disturbances. Subalpine forests of North America have historically burned at long intervals (usually hundreds of years) and at very high severity. Recently, many stand-replacing fires have burned in these forests after only a few decades since the previous severe fire. These recent fires have also overlapped with areas that experienced insect outbreaks, extreme weather events, and anthropogenic disturbances in recent decades.
LEAF Lab scientists and our collaborators have been working in subalpine forests of Colorado to study these types of disturbance interaction for many years. We have been continually monitoring permanent plots spanning a variety of forest stands that were burned, blown down, and/or affected by beetle outbreak in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2020 and 2021, most of these permanent plots burned again--- much earlier than would be expected given the historic fire return interval. This has provided us with an excellent opportunity to examine how increased fire frequency in subalpine forests might influence ecological patterns and processes under a rapidly warming climate, including interactions with other disturbances.
In 2022, we will be adding new components to our permanent plot study to incorporate the effects of recent fires and contemporary questions in fire ecology, forest dynamics, and landscape management. Prospective students applying to our National Needs Fellowship Program might consider graduate research along this theme, among other options.