Are western U.S. forests threatened so much by failing post-fire tree regeneration that extensive forest loss may occur by mid-century? Increasing temperatures are drying forests, more fires are being ignited, and they are increasingly burning at high severity, killing 70% or more of trees. High-severity fires leave behind post-fire openings that climate change is making hotter and drier; these spaces are often dominated by competitive shrubs and have substantial area that is distant from surviving trees that provide essential seed for tree regeneration.
