Aspen seedlings in recently burned areas of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

Kay, Charles

Although aspen (Populus tremuloides) produces viable seeds most years, seedling establishment has seldom been reported in the western U. S. . This paper documents the natural establishment of large numbers of aspen seedlings on recently burned areas in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks (USA). Though a few aspen seedlings were widely scattered throughout the 1985 Beaver Creek burn in Grand Teton National Park, the greatest concentrations occurred at the bottom of kettles or other topographic depressions where densities ranged from 925 to 2,708/ha in 1989. In Yellowstone National Park, aspen seedlings were widely distributed over the area burned by the 1988 wildfires on the northern range but the greatest concentrations occurred in riparian zones that had been burned down to bare mineral soil. In those locations aspen seedling densities as high as 11.5 times 10-6/ha were recorded and averaged 142,645/ha on permanent plots established in 1989. On permanent plots in the Beaver Creek Burn, the average aspen seedling density increased by 16% from 1989 to 1991 while on permanent plots in Yellowstone Park, aspen seedling densities declined 78% during the same interval. While an abundance of naturally occurring aspen seedlings has not been reported before, evidence suggests that these seedlings may not lead to the growth of mature trees or the development of aspen clones.

Aspen seedlings in recently burned areas of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

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