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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Methods of Soil Resampling to Monitor Changes in the Chemical Concentrations of Forest Soils

Methods of Soil Resampling to Monitor Changes in the Chemical Concentrations of Forest Soils

Published on: November 25, 2016

Fire legacies in eastern ponderosa pine forests.

Caleb P Roberts^1,2, Victoria M Donovan¹, Carissa L Wonkka¹

¹Department of Agronomy & Horticulture University of Nebraska Lincoln Nebraska.

Ecology and Evolution

|March 9, 2019

Summary

Material legacies from fire persist for decades in ponderosa pine forests, influencing distinct plant and bird communities. Fire severity shapes forest structure and species richness long after the event.

Keywords:

birds burn severity disturbance legacies ecological memory fire legacies material legacies ponderosa pine stand structure

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Last Updated: Jan 28, 2026

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Processing the Loblolly Pine PtGen2 cDNA Microarray

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Published on: March 20, 2009

Area of Science:

Forest Ecology
Fire Ecology
Community Ecology

Background:

Disturbance legacies shape ecological memory and community structure.
Changing disturbance regimes complicate the assessment of legacy persistence.
Material legacies, such as biotic residuals, are key components of disturbance legacies.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify the characteristics and persistence of material legacies from fire severity variations.
To compare forest stand structure, understory woody plants, and bird communities across different burn severities.
To determine how long fire legacies persist in an eastern ponderosa pine forest.

Main Methods:

Compared forest stand structure and community composition across unburned, low-, moderate-, and high-severity burn patches.
Analyzed tree densities and coarse woody debris cover.
Assessed understory woody plant and bird community composition and species richness.

Main Results:

Distinct differences in tree densities and coarse woody debris cover were observed across burn severities.
Understory woody plant and bird communities significantly differed among burn severities and unburned patches.
Bird species richness was highest in low-severity patches, while understory woody plant richness was highest in unburned and high-severity patches.

Conclusions:

Material fire legacies persist for decades in eastern ponderosa pine forests.
Fire severity significantly influences post-fire forest structure, community composition, and species richness.
Responses of ponderosa pine ecosystems to mixed-severity fires are consistent at the patch scale.