Editing Pseudotsuga macrocarpa (section)

===Fire ecology===
{{See also|Fire ecology}}
''Pseudotsuga macrocarpa'' populations are suspected to be declining due to possibly larger and more extreme [[wildfire|wildland fires]] with greater frequencies. Major wildfires within its range, since 2003, have clearly proven a reduced extent when compared to early 1930s extents derived from historical aerial photos. Although historical information has provided the opportunity to detect stand level patch changes, post-fire resprouting of older more mature trees and natural regeneration and recruitment of the species into higher canopy has yet to be adequately quantified.

One tree species in direct competition with bigcone is ''[[Calocedrus decurrens]]'', with preliminary post-fire regeneration of this species exponentially greater than bigcone. One or two years after the Station fire in 2009 on the Angeles National Forest, there was an estimated 20:1 cedar:bigcone seedling density in fixed radius plots on Mount Wilson. It may be more appropriate to perform population stability estimates up to five years or much later (i.e. 20 yrs) after a large conflagration due to the potential for immediate and delayed post-fire sprouting and regeneration and interplant competition, as well as the well-noted strategy of seed germination in shrub understories, which is likely to escape detection by surveyors until much later in its life.

Research related to the role of mycorrhizae and its relationship to seed establishment needs evaluated in these vegetation communities due to the suspected role it has with the relationship with water, especially in water-limited systems such as those in the wildlands of southern California. In addition, an aggressive seed cone collection strategy should be drafted for this species which includes extensive collection during large cone production years such as 2013, and should include a tracking system to determine correlations to climatic conditions in order to develop a foundation from which to perform species viability assessments w/ varying future climate scenarios.

This tree is being considered for more extensive plantings in semiarid locales. Its favorable qualities include resistance to drought, fire, [[insect]]s, decay, and damage from [[ozone]], and its aggressive rooting system and tolerance to variable growing medium. The needles of older trees sometimes fade to yellow, drop, and trees appear dead only to sprout with renewed vigor within two years. The reason is unknown, although drought or insects may be possible causes.