However, the predominant late development successional classes and the successional pathways to

these classes vary amongst biophysical settings and may require repeated disturbances. The map zones with the highest proportion of overall disturbance needs (Oregon Southwest and Washington Northeast) also had the highest successional restoration needs (Fig. 4 and Fig. 5). In most locations, restoration programs must focus on both the application of mechanical treatments and fire while also conserving and promoting old trees and late development forest structures (Franklin and Johnson, 2012, Franklin et al., 2013 and Stine et al., in press). The historical dynamics and present day management http://www.selleckchem.com/products/frax597.html of historical mixed severity Trichostatin A molecular weight fire regime forests has received particular attention recently by the science and management communities (e.g., Halofsky et al., 2011, Perry et al., 2011 and Stine et al., in press). The complex nature of mixed severity fire regimes and long history of management for many of these forests were reflected in the variety of specific

restoration transitions needs that we identified for FRG III biophysical settings (Table 3). Stine et al. (in press) argue that due to greater productivity, restoration needs within historical mixed severity fire regime forests may be even greater than historical low severity fire regime forests. While we identified a greater proportion find more of total forested area in need of restoration within historical FRG I forests, FRG III forests may certainly be prioritized in local restoration programs due to higher site productivity and concurrent higher fuel levels, and greater risk of high severity fire and insect/disease mortality (see Section 4.2). Similarly, the historic role of high severity fire and the importance of complex early seral

habitats in western forested landscapes have also received significant recent attention by the science and management communities (Hutto, 2008 and Swanson et al., 2011). As a proportion of overall restoration needs, the opening/high severity fire transition was most common in historically mixed and high severity fire regime forests (e.g., FRG III, IV, & V biophysical settings). All disturbance restoration need transitions in this paper, and particularly the opening/high severity fire transition, should be interpreted with respect to historical spatial patterns at patch and landscape scales. Stand level reconstructions of frequent fire forests in western North America emphasize high levels of fine scale spatial heterogeneity in the form of individual trees, tree clumps, and openings within forest stands (Churchill et al., 2013 and Larson and Churchill, 2012).