To increase the understanding between soil seed bank and wildfire relationships, the overarching goal of this project is to assess how wildfire and its different impacts (e.g., severity, soil…

This Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) under the Soil and Water Conservation program (CFDA 10.902) provides $250,000 in funding to the University of Montana to assess how wildfire impacts soil seed bank communities. The overarching goal is to better understand the relationship between wildfire, soil conditions, and plant revegetation to inform the development of post-fire seed mixes that can improve revegetation success. The University will examine fire severity, soil impacts, and their interactions with the soil seed bank to prioritize key plant species for inclusion in post-fire seed mixes. This 5-year project, with a start date of June 12, 2024 and a completion date of September 1, 2029, leverages the University's expertise in environmental studies, forestry, and wildlife biology to deliver research and technical assistance that can enhance wildfire recovery and land management practices.

To increase the understanding between soil seed bank and wildfire relationships, the overarching goal of this project is to assess how wildfire and its different impacts (e.g., severity, soil influence, etc.) can change the soil seed bank community. Examining fire and seed revegetation relationships, and teasing apart their interactions, can better facilitate our prioritization of what species to include and build post fire specific seed mixes to improve revegetation success.