This tool can help scientists rebuild forests after wildfires

This tool can help scientists rebuild forests after wildfires

The Post-fire Spatial Conifer Regeneration Prediction Tool (POSCRPT) helps forest managers identify where artificial reseeding is needed after wildfires.

Some areas of forest grow back quickly but some struggle due to factors like weather and elevation.

The tool uses data to create spatial models of seed availability and regeneration probability.



A new tool can help forest managers know which areas will most benefit from replanting efforts after megafires and which will regenerate on their own.

"Huge fires are converting forested areas to landscapes devoid of living trees,“ says lead author Joseph Stewart, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, and with the United States Geological Survey. "Managers need timely and accurate information on where reforestation efforts are needed most.“

The tool, known as the Post-fire Spatial Conifer Regeneration Prediction Tool (POSCRPT), helps forest managers identify within weeks after a fire where sufficient natural tree regeneration is likely and where artificial planting of seedlings may be necessary to restore the most vulnerable areas of the forest.



Conifers, or plants with cones such as pine trees, dominate many forests in western North America. The study found that conifers are less likely to regenerate after fires when seedlings face drier climate