Trees in distress: Prefire drought increases postfire mortality

Jay Thomas; Alina Cansler; Sharon M. Hood

Treesearch

Trees in distress: Prefire drought increases postfire mortality

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Jay Thomas, Alina Cansler, Sharon M. Hood

Year:

2025

Type:

Science Bulletins and Newsletters

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Science You Can Use (in 5 Minutes), November 2025. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2 p.

Download (PDF 2.26 MB)

Download (PDF 2.26 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/69632.pdf

Abstract

It’s no secret that wildland fires kill trees, but are more trees killed by fire when they are already stressed from drought? New research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service indicates that prefire drought can increase tree mortality after fire, even with the same level of tree damage.

Keywords

prefire drought, postfire mortality, wildland fires

Citation

Thomas, Jay; Cansler, Alina; Hood, Sharon. 2025. Trees in distress: Prefire drought increases postfire mortality. Science You Can Use (in 5 Minutes), November 2025. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2 p.