Boreal forest vegetation and fuel conditions 12 years after the 2004 Taylor Complex fires in Alaska, USA

Abstract

Fire has historically been a primary control on succession and vegetation dynamics in boreal systems, although modern changing climate is potentially increasing fire size and frequency. Large, often remote fires necessitate large-scale estimates of fire effects and consequences, often using Landsat satellite-derived dNBR (differenced Normalized Burn Ratio) to estimate burn severity. However, few studies have examined long-term field measures of ecosystem condition in relation to dNBR severity classes in boreal Alaska, USA. The goals of this study were: 1) assess changes in dominant vegetation at plots resampled one and 12 years post fire; 2) use dNBR classes to characterize vegetation and downed woody fuels 12 years post fire; and 3) characterize the relationship between biophysical, topographic, and remotely sensed characteristics (e.g., moss and duff depth, canopy cover, elevation, aspect, dNBR) and understory species assemblages 12 years post fire.

Citation

Hammond, Darcy H.; Strand, Eva K.; Hudak, Andrew T.; Newingham, Beth A. 2019. Boreal forest vegetation and fuel conditions 12 years after the 2004 Taylor Complex fires in Alaska, USA. Fire Ecology. 15: 32.