Skip to main content

yellow aspenQuaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is the most widely distributed native Northern American tree species and is abundant in the Intermountain West. Aspen is found across a range of elevations and in a variety of habitats from sagebrush-steppe to mixed-conifer forests and subalpine meadows. Aspen communities support a large number and diversity of understory and overstory plant species and provide habitat for many birds and small mammals. Aspen dieback and mortality is a concern across the western US. Recent studies can be used to inform aspen restoration and the stabilization of existing populations. Resources listed here provide the background necessary to understand causes of site-specific aspen decline and to inform restoration planning in the Northern Rockies.

This hot topic was developed in partnership with Grand Teton National Park.

Syntheses

Conference Proceedings

Technical Reports/White Papers

Publications

2024

Nursery cultural practices influence morphological and physiological aspen seedling traits: implications for post-fire restoration
Aalap Dixit et al.
Pile burning after conifer removal from aspen stands affects tree mortality, regeneration, and understory recovery
John-Pascal Berrill et al.

2023

Tamm review: quaking aspen's influence on fire occurrence, behavior, and severity
Kristin A. Nesbit et al.

2022

Wildfire catalyzes upward range expansion of trembling aspen in southern Rocky Mountain beetle-killed forests
Katherine Nigro et al.
The magnitude, direction, and tempo of forest change in Greater Yellowstone in a warmer world with more fire
Monica G. Turner et al.

2021

Aspen seedling establishment, survival, and growth following a high-severity wildfire
Mark R. Kreider et al.
Topographic, edaphic and climate influences on aspen (Populus tremuloides) drought stress on an intermountain bunchgrass prairie
Andrew Neary et al.
Future dominance by quaking aspen expected following short‐interval, compounded disturbance interaction
Robert A. Andrus et al.

2020

How climate change might affect tree regeneration following fire at northern latitudes: a review
Dominique Boucher et al.
Post-fire aspen (Populus tremuloides) regeneration varies in response to winter precipitation across a regional climate gradient
Susan K. McIlroy et al.
Exploring seedling-based aspen (Populus tremuloides) restoration near range limits in the Intermountain West, USA
Alexander A. Howe et al.

2019

Stable or seral? Fire-driven alternative states in aspen forests of western North America
Jesse L. Morris et al.
Climate and disturbance influence self-sustaining stand dynamics of aspen (Populus tremuloides) near its range margin
Douglas J. Shinneman et al.
Tamm Review: Seedling-based ecology, management, and restoration in aspen (Populus tremuloides)
Simon M. Landhäusser et al.
Hydraulic redistribution and hydrological controls on aspen transpiration and establishment in peatlands following wildfire
Midori Depante et al.
Wildfire alters belowground and surface wood decomposition on two national forests in Montana, USA
Deborah S. Page-Dumroese et al.

2018

Change of clonal frequency in the second root sucker generation of hybrid aspen
Lars-Göran Stener et al.
Trophic cascades at multiple spatial scales shape recovery of young aspen in Yellowstone
Robert L. Beschta et al.
Quaking aspen woodland after conifer control: Tree and shrub dynamics
Jonathan D. Bates et al.
Quaking aspen woodland after conifer control: Herbaceous dynamics
Jonathan D. Bates et al.

2017

Productivity and sustainability of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L.  P. Tremuloides Michx.) root sucker stands with varying management strategies
Lars Rytter et al.
A Tree Species Effect on Soil That Is Consistent Across the Species’ Range: The Case of Aspen and Soil Carbon in North America
Jérôme Laganière et al.
Populus tremuloides seedling establishment: An underexplored vector for forest type conversion after multiple disturbances
Nathan S. Gill et al.

2016

Elevated Rocky Mountain elk numbers prevent positive effects of fire on quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) recruitment
David Solance Smith et al.
High and dry: post-fire tree seedling establishment in subalpine forests decreases with post-fire drought and large stand-replacing burn patches
Brian J. Harvey et al.
Shifting ecological filters mediate postfire expansion of seedling aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Yellowstone
Winslow D. Hansen et al.
Quaking aspen in Utah: integrating recent science with management
Paul C. Rogers et al.

2013

Fire regimes of quaking aspen in the mountain west
Douglas J. Shinneman et al.
Drought seasonality explains patterns in widespread aspen forest mortality across the western United States
Leander Anderegg et al.

2012

Effects of ungulate herbivory on aspen, cottonwood, and willow development under forest fuels treatment regimes
Bryan A. Endress et al.
Fire-induced shifts in overstory tree species composition and associated understory plant composition in Glacier National Park, Montana
David A. McKenzie et al.

2008

Indirect effects of fire severity on avian communities in ponderosa pine and aspen forests in western North America: a review
Kerri T. Vierling et al.
Recoupling fire and aspen recruitment after wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, USA
Joshua S. Halofsky et al.

2007

Do high-density patches of coarse wood and regenerating saplings create browsing refugia for aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Yellowstone National Park (USA)?
James D. Forester et al.

2006

Complex interactions shaping aspen dynamics in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
K. Brown et al.

2005

Establishment, persistence, and growth of aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedlings in Yellowstone National Park
William H. Romme et al.

2004

Temperature-dependent rate models of vascular cambium cell mortality
Matthew B. Dickinson et al.

2003

Vegetation dynamics under fire exclusion and logging in a Rocky Mountain watershed, 1856-1996
Alisa L. Gallant et al.
Postfire aspen seedling recruitment across the Yellowstone (USA) landscape
Monica G. Turner et al.

2001

The role of postfire coarse woody debris in aspen regeneration
William J. Ripple et al.

1999

Fire induces clonal sprouting of riparian cottonwoods
Lori A. Gom et al.

1997

A rare episode of sexual reproduction in aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) following the 1988 Yellowstone fires
William H. Romme et al.

1995

Aspen, elk, and fire in northern Yellowstone Park
William H. Romme et al.