Wildfires in Oregon's Blue Mountains to become more severe: Study

A recent study suggests that with the impact of climate change in Oregon's southern Blue Mountains wildfire will become more frequent, extensive and severe. Researchers from PSU, North Carolina State University, University of New Mexico and the US Forest Service looked at how climate-driven changes in forest dynamics and wildfire activity will affect the landscape through the year 2100.They used a forest landscape model, LANDIS-II, to simulate forest and fire dynamics under current management practices and two projected climate scenarios, reported the study published in -- Ecosphere.They found that even if the climate stopped warming now, high-elevation species such as whitebark pine, Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir will be largely replaced by more climate- and fire-resilient species like ponderosa pine and Douglas fir by the end of the century.A growing population of shade-loving grand fir that has been expanding in the understory of the forest was also projected to increase, ...