Forest fires in Yellowstone: The science of burning and regrowth

At first, 1988 seemed like any other dry year at Yellowstone National Park. But then came unprecedented drought and wind, and the largest wildland fire ever known within the park. Based on the scale of the burns, Dr. Monica Turner had expected to see large swaths of uniformly burned forest. But her burn severity maps of the park revealed something different: a mosaic landscape pattern, with unburned stands within dispersal distance of barren areas. As we face predictions of warmer, drier conditions in the Western U.S., will Yellowstone’s forests be as resilient in the future as they were in 1988?