Removing dead trees will not save us from fast-moving wildfires by Dominick DellaSala, et al., PNAS, 2025
“There is little evidence that removing dead trees en masse is an effective strategy to contain fast fires. In fact, a substantial body of evidence shows that such large-scale tree removals will have cumulative and mostly negative ecosystem and climate consequences, reducing the ability for ecosystems to regenerate after severe natural disturbances, emitting vast quantities of carbon from commercial logging activities, and increasing the risk of fires and floods. Put simply, the wholesale removal of dead trees will make the fast-fire situation worse.”
Following megafires fishes thrive and amphibians persist even in severely burned watersheds by Allison G. Swartz, et al., Communications Earth and Environment, 2025
“Greater total taxa, total fish, and adult trout densities were associated with streams draining more severely burned watersheds, whereas sculpin, amphibian and crayfish densities appeared uninfluenced by burn severity.”
“Our findings indicate fishes thrive, and amphibians and crayfish persist despite experiencing high-severity megafires in the western Cascades of Oregon.”
“Greater extent of post-fire watershed salvage practices was negatively associated with frog densities and positively with young-of-year trout and crayfish densities.
“Ten Years of Vegetation Assembly After a North American Mega Fire” by Scott R. Abella, Paula J. Fornwalt, Global Change Biology, 2014
“[W]e examined 10 years of understory vegetation assembly after the 2002 Hayman Fire. This fire was the largest wildfire in recorded history in Colorado, USA… ‘[L]egacy’ species of the prefire community constituted >75% of total plant cover within 3 years even in severely burned areas.”
“Post-Wildfire Logging Hinders Regeneration and Increases Fire Risk” by D.C. Donato et al., Science, 2006
“Postfire logging reduced median regeneration density by 71%, significantly increased downed woody fuels, and thus increased short-term fire risk.”
“In terms of short-term fire risk, a reburn in [postfire] logged stands would likely exhibit elevated rates of fire spread, fireline intensity, and soil heating impacts…Postfire logging alone was notably incongruent with fuel reduction goals.”
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