Mega-disturbances & declining mature forest habitat

In this paper, the authors quantify change in the extent of mature conifer forests in the southern Sierra Nevada of California during 2011-2020, a decade and ecoregion characterized by compounding severe wildfires and drought follow prolonged fire exclusion.

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Steel, Zachary L.; Jones, Gavin M.; Collins, Brandon M.; Green, Rebecca; Koltunov, Alexander; Purcell, Kathryn L.; Sawyer, Sarah C.; Slaton, Michele R.; Stephens, Scott L.; Stine, Peter; Thompson, Craig. 2022. Mega-disturbances cause rapid decline of mature conifer forest habitat in California. Ecological Applications 33(2):e2763.

https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2763'

Map of all conifer and mature conifer forest habitat transitions due to drought and wildfire mortality between 2011 and 2020.