Bark beetles, fuels and future fire hazard in contrasting conifer forests of Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

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Recent increases in insect and fire activity throughout the western US have presented forest managers with formidable challenges. The extent and severity of bark beetle (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) epidemics have reached unprecedented levels, and the number of large, severe fires continues to increase. These trends are expected to continue because climate change is implicated for both disturbances. Insects and fire have tremendous ecological and economic effects in western forests, yet surprisingly little is known about how fire hazard may change following bark beetle epidemics, and the efficacy of alternative forest management practices (e.g., removal of beetle-killed trees or remaining small trees) designed to reduce future fire hazard is largely unknown. This series of studies will be builds on more than 20 years of research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), and recently initiated studies of bark beetles and fire in lodgepole pine forests. This research will test specific hypotheses as part of addressing three major research questions. (1) How do effects of bark beetle outbreaks on fuel profiles and subsequent fire hazard differ between lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir forests? (2) How was the severity of recent fire in lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir forests affected byprior bark beetle infestation, and does the combination of beetle infestation and fire compromise forest recovery? (3) What post-beetle fuel treatments are likely to change the hazard of subsequent severe fire in lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir forests?

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