Conservation of an imperiled plant often requires an understanding of its reproductive ecology. Scrub plum (Prunus geniculata) is an endangered Florida shrub endemic to pyrogenic xeric uplands. Although plants are long-lived and may flower profusely, particularly after burning, fruit yield is sparse and seedlings are rare. We investigated potential causes of seedling rarity in scrub plum by stu...

Regular prescribed burning to manage the accumulation of flammable live and dead vegetation (fuel) is a strategy for ameliorating wildfire impacts in fire-prone environments. The interval between prescribed fires needs to be sufficient to manage fuel accumulation but it should also be ecologically acceptable. Time to first flowering after fire (juvenile period) is a biological indicator that ca...

a Rocky Mountain Research Station, United States Forest Service, Moscow, ID, United States b Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States c McCall Outdoor Science School, University of Idaho, McCall, ID, United States d Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States e School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, ...

Fire is often integral to forest ecology and can affect forest disease dynamics. Sudden oak death has spread across a large, fire-prone portion of California, killing large numbers of oaks and tanoaks and infecting most associated woody plants. Building on our earlier study of fire-disease dynamics, we examined spatial patterns of confirmed infections in relation to past fire history for a sing...

The forest, savanna, and grassland biomes, and the transitions between them, are expected to undergo major changes in the future due to global climate change. Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are very useful for understanding vegetation dynamics under the present climate, and for predicting its changes under future conditions. However, several DGVMs display high uncertainty in predictin...

Interest in the use of summer fires to restore southern Great Plains prairie ecosystems infested with woody plants and cactus is increasing, but information regarding effects on target and nontarget plant species is needed before this practice can be recommended. We review effects of summer and winter fires on mortality and growth of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), prickly pear (Opuntia p...

Fire has been used for centuries to generate and manage some of the UK's cultural landscapes. Despite its complex role in the ecology of UK peatlands and moorlands, there has been a trend of simplifying the narrative around burning to present it as an only ecologically damaging practice. That fire modifies peatland characteristics at a range of scales is clearly understood. Whether these change...