Fire and Tree Mortality Database

We assembled a database of individual-tree records from prescribed fires and wildfires in the United States. The Fire and Tree Mortality (FTM) database includes records from 164,293 individual trees with records of fire injury, tree diameter, and tree mortality up to ten years post-fire. Data span 142 species and 62 genera, from 409 fires occurring from 1981-2016.

Wildland fires have a multitude of ecological effects in forests, woodlands, and savannas across the globe. A major focus of past research has been on tree mortality from fire, as trees provide a vast range of biological services. We assembled a database of individual-tree records from prescribed fires and wildfires in the United States. The Fire and Tree Mortality (FTM) database includes records from 164,293 individual trees with records of fire injury (crown scorch, bole char, etc.), tree diameter, and either mortality or top-kill up to ten years post-fire. Data span 142 species and 62 genera, from 409 fires occurring from 1981-2016. Additional variables such as insect attack are included when available. The FTM database can be used to evaluate individual fire-caused mortality models for pre-fire planning and post-fire decision support, to develop improved models, and to explore general patterns of individual fire-induced tree death. The database can also be used to identify knowledge gaps that could be addressed in future research. The map below shows the locations of each fire in the FTM database.

We hope to add additional tree records to the FTM database periodically. Contact us if you are interested in having your data added.

Have you used the FTM database? Please let us know so we can continue to learn how data of this type is useful.

To date, the FTM database has been used:

To evaluate the predictive accuracy of post-fire tree mortality models in the First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM 6.7; Cansler et al. 2020).
To examine the importance of fire-caused injury in causing tree mortality 1-5 post-fire (Shearman et al. 2023).
To evaluate the role of drought stress in contributing to postfire tree mortality (Cansler et al. In Review).

Images

FTM map

Select Publications & Products

Products:

Download the FTM database to search for specific fires or data.

Understanding Post-fire Tree Mortality: Resources & Research (FTM Database) - This StoryMap compiles information about post-fire tree mortality based on past and current research efforts at the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. It includes an interactive map of data included in the FTM database.

Publication:

Cansler, C. Alina; Hood, Sharon M.; Varner, J. Morgan; van Mantgem, Phillip J.; Agne, Michelle C.; Andrus, Robert A.; Ayres, Matthew P.; Ayres, Bruce D.; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Battaglia, Michael A.; Bentz, Barbara J.; Breece, Carolyn R.; Brown, James K.; Cluck, Daniel R.; Coleman, Tom W.; Corace, R. Gregory; Covington, W. Wallace; Cram, Douglas S.; Cronan, James B.; Crouse, Joseph E.; Das, Adrian J.; Davis, Ryan S.; Dickinson, Darci M.; Fitzgerald, Stephen A.; Ful , Peter Z.; Ganio, Lisa M.; Grayson, Lindsay M.; Halpern, Charles B.; Hanula, Jim L.; Harvey, Brian J.; Kevin Hiers, J.; Huffman, David W.; Keifer, MaryBeth; Keyser, Tara L.; Kobziar, Leda N.; Kolb, Thomas E.; Kolden, Crystal A.; Kopper, Karen E.; Kreitler, Jason R.; Kreye, Jesse K.; Latimer, Andrew M.; Lerch, Andrew P.; Lombardero, Maria J.; McDaniel, Virginia L.; McHugh, Charles W.; McMillin, Joel D.; Moghaddas, Jason J.; O Brien, Joseph J.; Perrakis, Daniel D. B.; Peterson, David W.; Prichard, Susan J.; Progar, Robert A.; Raffa, Kenneth F.; Reinhardt, Elizabeth D.; Restaino, Joseph C.; Roccaforte, John P.; Rogers, Brendan M.; Ryan, Kevin C.; Safford, Hugh D.; Santoro, Alyson E.; Shearman, Timothy M.; Shumate, Alice M.; Sieg, Carolyn H.; Smith, Sheri L.; Smith, Rebecca J.; Stephenson, Nathan L.; Stuever, Mary; Stevens, Jens T.; Stoddard, Michael T.; Thies, Walter G.; Vaillant, Nicole M.; Weiss, Shelby A.; Westlind, Douglas J.; Woolley, Travis J.; Wright, Micah C. 2020. The Fire and Tree Mortality Database, for empirical modeling of individual tree mortality after fire. Scientific Data. 7: 194. https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/60342

Cansler, C. Alina; Hood, Sharon M.; van Mantgem, Phillip J.; Varner, J. Morgan. 2020. A large database supports the use of simple models of post-fire tree mortality for thick-barked conifers, with less support for other species. Fire Ecology. 16: 25.

Shearman, Timothy M.; Varner, J. Morgan; Hood, Sharon M.; van Mantgem, Phillip J.; Cansler, C. Alina; Wright, Micah. 2023. Predictive accuracy of post-fire conifer death declines over time in models based on crown and bole injury. Ecological Applications. 33: e2760.