verbimat

Here in Colorado, fuel loads regenerate after around 40 years post fire. This is compared to a 2-4 year regeneration cycle in California.

How long does it take for Florida forests regrow after, say, a prescribed burn? What was the historic burn regime out there? How does that inform contemporary management practices?

I can't cite any research, but I can speak anecdotally on this. I'm working with The Nature Conservancy on reforestation projects in Colorado's High Park Fire burn scar.

The burned area is around 10 years old now, and ranges from Sagebrush Steppe to Ponderosa, to Mixed-Conifer, up to Lodgepole. The amount of regen I've witnessed has been almost entirely dictated by the accident of site-specific burn patterns. When there was a nice burn mosiac, regen is good even in Lodgepole forests. However, if there was a high severity burn area we're seeing almost no regen (and way below expected rates) in Ponderosa up to Lodgepole forests.

Hope that helps a bit.