What Do Burned Forests Need to Recover in a Warming World? A Boston University Team Is Finding Out

Researchers at Boston University are studying how wildfire, urbanization and ecological restoration shape forest recovery in northern California, work that began after biologist Jennifer Bhatnagar visited fire-scarred hillsides in Napa Valley invited by landowners Frank Naeymi-Rad and Theresa Kepic. The project, supported by the pair's Ecotechnology and Landscape Restoration Research Fund, aims to make forests more resilient as severe wildfires become more common.

Bhatnagar, director of Boston University's Biogeoscience Graduate Program, studies soil microbiomes — communities of bacteria and fungi that recycle nutrients and support plant health. Walking through the burned hillsides in 2023, she found some areas recovering quickly while others were not: bay and maple trees were regrowing in places, while oaks and redwoods were absent, and one burned area had filled instead with non-native grass.

Bhatnagar's team is now pursuing two lines of research: how urban development affects post-fire recovery, since roads, neighborhoods and infrastructure tend to leave forests hotter, drier and more polluted; and how active restoration, partly inspired by the Miyawaki method of forestry developed in Japan, can help landscapes recover. Before designing the restoration work, Bhatnagar spent months consulting fire officials, land managers, landscape architects and residents, who favored native oaks and redwoods that were both fire-resistant and culturally meaningful over faster-growing pines or firs.

"We're interested to know how land recovers from wildfire when there are houses and streets and population," Bhatnagar said, adding that her hypothesis is that urban areas have less soil water, higher soil temperatures and higher pollution, making recovery harder.