Persistent effects of fire severity on early successional forests in interior Alaska

▶ Variations in fire severity drive stand recovery patterns in Alaskan boreal forests. ▶ Black spruce self replaces in lightly burned stands. ▶ Aspen dominates severely burned stands and persists for at least two decades. ▶ With reduced fire return interval aspen could replace spruce over large extents. ▶ Shift in dominance from coniferous to deciduous will impact climate and wildlife.