Abstract Changing disturbance regimes and climate can overcome forest ecosystem resilience. Following high-severity fire, forest recovery may be compromised by lack of tree seed sources, warmer and drier postfire climate, or short-interval reburning. A potential outcome of the loss of resilience is the conversion of the prefire forest to a different forest type or nonforest vegetation. Conversion implies major, extensive, and enduring changes in dominant species, life forms, or functions, with impacts on ecosystem services. In the present article, we synthesize a growing body of evidence of fire-driven conversion and our understanding of its causes across western North America. We assess our capacity to predict conversion and highlight important uncertainties. Increasing forest vulnerability to changing fire activity and climate compels shifts in management approaches, and we propose key themes for applied research coproduced by scientists and managers to support decision-making in an era when the prefire forest may not return.

中文翻译：

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北美西部景观中野火驱动的森林转变


摘要 改变干扰方式和气候可以克服森林生态系统的恢复力。严重火灾后，森林恢复可能会因缺乏树种来源、火灾后气候变暖和干燥或短时间重新燃烧而受到损害。恢复能力丧失的一个潜在结果是火灾前森林转变为不同的森林类型或非森林植被。转变意味着优势物种、生命形式或功能发生重大、广泛和持久的变化，并对生态系统服务产生影响。在本文中，我们综合了越来越多的火驱动转变的证据以及我们对其整个北美西部其原因的理解。我们评估我们预测转化的能力并强调重要的不确定性。森林对不断变化的火灾活动和气候的脆弱性不断增加，迫使管理方法发生转变，我们提出了由科学家和管理人员共同开展的应用研究的关键主题，以支持火灾前森林可能无法恢复的时代的决策。