UNM scientists study seedling survival in post-wildfire landscape
Posted: October 4, 2022
A team of scientists at The University of New Mexico is experimenting and learning about reforestation and the challenges presented by several environmental factors in the semi-arid southwestern United States where planted conifer seedling survival is typically low after a wildfire. The research examined how post-fire planting success is influenced by climate, topographic, biotic, and microclimate factors.
The paper titled, Planted seedling survival in a post-wildfire landscape: from experimental planting to predictive probabilistic surfaces, was published recently in Forest Ecology and Management. The research used seedlings planted following wildfire to determine various topographical indices affecting seedling survival and used the findings to develop a model of seedling survival applicable to the wider landscape. The resulting model will be used in future seedling plantings and should help to increase seedling survival in post-wildfire landscapes.
The number of wildfires that are burning hotter and causing large areas of tree mortality and removal has been increasing in the southwestern U.S. The live tree seed sources required for the natural regeneration of these formerly conifer-dominated landscapes are now too far for seeds to reach much of the severely burned area, requiring tree planting to overcome this limitation. Yet, planted seedling survival rates are low following wildfire in the southwest.
“Across the southwest, and particularly here in New Mexico, in recent years we have experienced several high-severity wildfires, and they are they're getting larger, as we saw with the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires earlier this year,” said Christopher Marsh, a research assistant professor in UNM’s Department of Biology. “The really big areas of high-severity heat will not have seeds for trees to regenerate.”
Read the full story at UNM Newsroom.
