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Fire Ecology
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Opening oak forests to woodlands and new ideas

This is a special collection of papers focused on eastern U.S. oak ecosystems. Many of these ecosystems have been influenced by fire for millennia and occurred across gradients from savannas to woodlands to forests. The historical ecology and management of open oak ecosystems continues to be a major line of inquiry. These collected papers represent diverse contributions relating fire to flora, fauna, water, humans, and more. The multiple submission types are the products of the diverse stakeholders and presentations from the 7th Fire in Eastern Oak Forests Conference held in Tyler, Texas, USA on May 16-18, 2023.

Guest Editors:

Lauren Pile-Knapp
USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station        

Michael Stambaugh
University of Missouri         

Morgan Varner
Tall Timber Research Station

Submit your manuscript here. 




  1. In central Texas, re-sprouting oaks (Quercus spp.) co-occur with non-resprouting Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei) in a mosaic of fire-dependent (oak savanna) and fire-sensitive (oak-juniper woodland) habitats. The ...

    Authors: Charlotte M. Reemts, Carla Picinich and Jinelle H. Sperry
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2024 20:73
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  2. Ecosystem management, community restoration, and managing for climate resilience have become major priorities of land management in recent decades. For woodlands and savannas (i.e., “open forests”), this trans...

    Authors: Lauren S. Pile Knapp, Daniel C. Dey, Michael C. Stambaugh, Frank R. Thompson III and J. Morgan Varner
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2024 20:72
    Content type: Review Published on:

  3. Decades of fire suppression caused drastic changes to community structure and composition across ecosystems, including in Ozark woodlands in Missouri, USA. Reintroducing fire can restore ground flora by reduci...

    Authors: Carolyn A. Stephen, Dan G. Drees, Jamie H. Ladner and Lauren L. Sullivan
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2024 20:70
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  4. Following decades of fire exclusion, many open pine and oak forests across the central and eastern US are shifting to closed-canopy forests that are increasingly dominated by shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive spe...

    Authors: Luiza Gonçalves Lazzaro, Heather D. Alexander, Jeffery B. Cannon and Michael J. Aspinwall
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2024 20:63
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  7. Currently, no multiple century fire scar records have been constructed in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, USA, a region where historical vegetation ranged from prairies and oak-dominated woodlands in the sout...

    Authors: Michael C. Stambaugh, Joseph M. Marschall, Erin R. Abadir, Richard P. Guyette and Daniel C. Dey
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2024 20:24
    Content type: Original research Published on:
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Annual Journal Metrics

  • Citation Impact 2023
    Journal Impact Factor: 3.6
    5-year Journal Impact Factor: 4.6
    Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): 1.352
    SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): 1.028

    Speed 2023
    Submission to first editorial decision (median days): 14
    Submission to acceptance (median days): 156

    Usage 2023
    Downloads: 514,573
    Altmetric mentions: 687

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  • ISSN: 1933-9747 (electronic)