tree mortality – Surviving Wildfire

August 27, 2019August 27, 2019

Predicting Mortality in Western Larch After a Wildfire

Article Written by:
Yvonne Barkley, University of Idaho Extension, Moscow, ID and
David C. Powell, USDA Forest Service

Western larch, also called tamarack, is the largest of the American larches and is one of the few deciduous conifers. Occurring only in the Upper Columbia River Basin of North America, western larch can reach heights of 150-175 feet and commonly live to be hundreds of years old.

Long-lived and with few serious natural enemies, western larch is able to persist in …

August 27, 2019August 27, 2019

Predicting the Mortality of Conifers After a Wildfire

Article Written by:
Yvonne Barkley, University of Idaho Extension, Moscow, ID

Predicting the mortality of conifers after a wildfire is important for post-fire planning and management. Fire resistance varies greatly with plant species and factors such as age. In general, young, fast-growing trees on good sites will be better able to withstand damage from fire than over-mature, slow-growing trees on poor sites.

Additional general statements that hold true across species are:

as the percent of crown scorch increases, mortality increases.

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