In 1988, fires killed extensive lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.
ex. Loud) in Yellowstone National Park. This species bears both seroti
nous and non-serotinous cones, with the former most common in fire-ori
gin stands of an even-aged character. Reconnaissance of burned stands
indicated that former even-aged communities regenerated effectively. O
thers did not. The larger and;more uniformly-sized seedling under form
erly even-aged communities suggests primarily a single wave of regener
ation there. Seedlings appeared to initiate to some degree over multip
le years under other stands, but not sufficiently to make them well st
ocked. Four different regeneration pathways seem to characterize the n
atural reforestation of lodgepole pine following the 1988 fires. These
include: (1) a dense, uniformly distributed cohort that will develop
as a single-storied stand; (2) lodgepole pine islands that form over l
ong periods around isolated seedlings; (3) a moderate to low density c
ohort that will gradually fill with multiple age classes over a protra
cted period; and (4) a cohort of only widely scattered single seedling
s that initially form as small nearby tree islands, and may eventually
converge into a more continuous stand with multiple age classes. (C)
1998 Elsevier Science B.V.