Abstract (from International Journal of Wildland Fire): Fire severity in forests is often defined in terms of post-fire tree mortality, yet the influences on tree mortality following fire are not fully understood. Pre-fire growth may serve as an index of vigour, indicating resource availability and the capacity to recover from injury and defend against pests. For trees that are not killed immediately by severe fire injury, tree growth patterns could therefore partially predict post-fire mortality probabilities. Here, we consider the influence of multiple growth patterns on post-fire tree mortality for three common conifer species in the western USA. Using observations from 1 to 9 years following prescribed fires in USA national parks [...]
