The Fire and Tree Mortality Database, for Empirical Modeling of Individual Tree Mortality After Fire
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Scientific Data
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Publication Date
6-22-2020
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
First Page
1
Last Page
14
Abstract
Wildland fires have a multitude of ecological effects in forests, woodlands, and savannas across the globe. A major focus of past research has been on tree mortality from fire, as trees provide a vast range of biological services. We assembled a database of individual-tree records from prescribed fires and wildfires in the United States. The Fire and Tree Mortality (FTM) database includes records from 164,293 individual trees with records of fire injury (crown scorch, bole char, etc.), tree diameter, and either mortality or top-kill up to ten years post-fire. Data span 142 species and 62 genera, from 409 fires occurring from 1981-2016. Additional variables such as insect attack are included when available. The FTM database can be used to evaluate individual fire-caused mortality models for pre-fire planning and post-fire decision support, to develop improved models, and to explore general patterns of individual fire-induced tree death. The database can also be used to identify knowledge gaps that could be addressed in future research.
Recommended Citation
Cansler, C.A., Hood, S.M., Varner, J.M. et al. The Fire and Tree Mortality Database, for empirical modeling of individual tree mortality after fire. Sci Data 7, 194 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0522-7
