##  [Short-Interval Wildfire and Drought Overwhelm Boreal Forest Resilience](/resource/short-interval-wildfire-and-drought-overwhelm-boreal-forest-resilience) 

Organization

[University of Alberta (UofA)](/organization/university-alberta-uofa)

[Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)](/organization/natural-resources-canada-nrcan)

 

 

Resource Type

[Peer reviewed article](/taxonomy/term/37)

 

 

Author(s)

Ellen Whitman

Marc-André Parisien

Dan Thompson

Mike Flannigan

 

 

Original Authors

Ellen Whitman

Marc-André Parisien

Dan Thompson

Mike Flannigan

 

 

Contacts

[Ellen Whitman](/contact/ellen-whitman)

 

 

Resource Date:

December

2019

 

 

The size and frequency of large wildfires in western North America have increased in recent years, a trend climate change is likely to exacerbate. Due to fuel limitations, recently burned forests resist burning for upwards of 30 years; however, extreme fire-conducive weather enables reburning at shorter fire-free intervals than expected. This research quantifies the outcomes of short-interval reburns in upland and wetland environments of northwestern Canadian boreal forests and identifies an interactive effect of post-fire drought. Despite adaptations to wildfire amongst boreal plants, post-fire forests at paired short- and long-interval sites were significantly different, with short-interval sites having lower stem densities of trees due to reduced conifer recruitment, a higher proportion of broadleaf trees, less residual organic material, and reduced herbaceous vegetation cover. Drought reinforced changes in proportions of tree species and decreases in tree recruitment, reinforcing non-resilient responses to short-interval reburning. Drier and warmer weather will increase the incidence of short-interval reburning and amplify the ecological changes such events cause, as wildfire activity and post-fire drought increase synergistically. These interacting disturbances will accelerate climate-driven changes in boreal forest structure and composition. Our findings identify processes of ongoing and future change in a climate-sensitive biome