Zombie Forests
This project identifies regions of conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada mountains that are at risk of loss due to climate change, that we’ve been referring to as ‘zombie forests.’ We think that these forests have a number of distinct properties related to vulnerability, wildfire behavior, and management. Unlike most studies of vegetation change that are either historical or future oriented, our maps show us where transitions are happening and continue to happen today. These forests effectively serve as real-time case studies of how to protect and regenerate conifer forests and all the species and processes that depend on them.
Our continued work now builds on these maps, and uses them as case studies to:
- Investigate fire behavior in these forests to inform fire risk and management
- Identify high-resolution indicator species of zombie forests through iNaturalist and community science campaigns
- Develop effective and ethical management options for the expected transition of zombie forests to chaparral or mixed hardwood forests.