Changing growth response to wildfire in old-growth ponderosa pine trees in montane forests of north central Idaho

North American fire-adapted forests are experiencing changes in fire frequency and climate. These novel conditions may alter postwildfire responses of fire-adapted trees that survive fires, a topic that has received little attention. Historical, frequent, low-intensity wildfire in many fire-adapted forests is generally thought to have a positive effect on the growth and vigor of trees that survive fires. Whether such positive effects can persist under current and future climate conditions is not known. Here, we evaluate long-term responses to recurrent 20th-century fires in ponderosa pine, a fire-adapted tree species, in unlogged forests in north central Idaho. We also examine short-term responses to individual 20th-century fires and evaluate whether these responses have changed over time and whether potential variability relates to climate variables and time since last fire. Growth responses were assessed by comparing tree-ring measurements from trees in stands burned repeatedly during the 20th century at roughly the historical fire frequency with trees in paired control stands that had not burned for at least 70 years. Contrary to expectations, only one site showed significant increases in long-term growth responses in burned stands compared with control stands. Short-term responses showed a trend of increasing negative effects of wildfire (reduced diameter growth in the burned stand compared with the control stand) in recent years that had drier winters and springs. There was no effect of time since the previous fire on growth responses to fire. The possible relationships of novel climate conditions with negative tree growth responses in trees that survive fire are discussed. A trend of negative growth responses to wildfire in old-growth forests could have important ramifications for forest productivity and carbon balance under future climate scenarios.