This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests" that was published in Forests

This assessment provides input to the reauthorized National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the National Climate Assessment (NCA), and it establishes the scientific foundation needed to manage for drought resilience and adaptation. Focal areas include drought characterization; drought impacts on forest processes and disturbances such as insect outbreaks and wildfire; and consequences for forest and rangeland values. Drought can be a severe natural disaster with substantial social and economic consequences. Drought becomes most obvious when large-scale changes are observed; however, even moderate drought can have long-lasting impacts on the structure and function of forests and rangelands without these obvious large-scale changes. Large, stand-level impacts of drought are already underway in the West, but all U.S. forests are vulnerable to drought. Drought-associated forest disturbances are expected to increase with climatic change. Management actions can either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of drought. A first principal for increasing resilience and adaptation is to avoid management actions that exacerbate the effects of current or future drought. Options to mitigate drought include altering structural or functional components of vegetation, minimizing drought-mediated disturbance such as wildfire or insect outbreaks, and managing for reliable flow of water.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Wildland Fire, Forest Dynamics, and Their Interactions" that was published in Forests

FOREST ECOLOGY Authoritative resource covering traditional plant ecology topics and contemporary components such as climate change, invasive species, ecosystem services, and more Forest Ecology provides comprehensive coverage of the field, focusing on traditional plant ecology topics of tree structure and growth, regeneration, effects of light and temperature on tree physiology, forest communities, succession, and diversity. The work also reviews abiotic factors of light, temperature, physiography (landforms and topography), soil, and disturbance (especially fire), and provides coverage of ecosystem-level topics including carbon storage and balance, nutrient cycling, and forest ecosystem productivity. The 5th edition of Forest Ecology retains the readability and accessibility of the previous editions and includes important additional topical material that has surfaced in the field. All topics are approached with a landscape ecosystem or geo-ecological view, which places biota (organisms and communities) in context as integral parts of whole ecosystems that also include air (atmosphere and climate), topography, soil, and water. As such, the book fills a niche utilized by no other forest ecology text on the market, helping students and researchers consider whole ecosystems at multiple scales. Sample topics covered in Forest Ecology include: Contemporary components of forest ecology, including climate change, invasive species, diversity, ecological forestry, landscape ecology, and ecosystem services. Characteristics of physiography important for forest ecosystems, including its effects on microclimate, disturbance, soil, and vegetation. Genetic diversity of woody plants and genecological differentiation of tree species, including the importance of hybridization, polyploidy, and epigenetics. Site quality estimation using tree height and ground flora, and multiple-factor approaches to forest site and ecosystem classification and mapping. Forest Ecology is a highly accessible text for students, but it also serves as an excellent reference for academics. In addition, practitioners of forest ecology can also harness the information within to gain better insight into the field for practical application of concepts.