Landscape Variation in Tree Regeneration and Snag Fall Drive Fuel Loads in 24-year Old Post-fire Lodgepole Pine Forests PDF Download
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Author: Kellen N. Nelson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lodgepole pine
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Escalating wildfire in subalpine forests with stand-replacing fire regimes is increasing the extent of early-seral forests throughout the western USA. Post-fire succession generates the fuel for future fires, but little is known about fuel loads and their variability in young post-fire stands. We sampled fuel profiles in 24-year- old post-fire lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) stands (n = 82) that regenerated from the 1988 Yellowstone Fires to answer three questions. (1) How do canopy and surface fuel loads vary within and among young lodgepole pine stands? (2) How do canopy and surface fuels vary with pre-and post-fire lodgepole pine stand structure and environmental conditions? (3) How have surface fuels changed between eight and 24 years post-fire? Fuel complexes varied tremendously across the landscape despite having regenerated from the same fires. Available canopy fuel loads and canopy bulk density averaged 8.5 Mg/ha (range 0.0?46.6) and 0.24 kg/m3 (range: 0.0?2.3), respectively, meeting or exceeding levels in mature lodgepole pine forests. Total surface-fuel loads averaged 123 Mg/ha (range: 43?207), and 88% was in the 1,000-h fuel class. Litter, 1-h, and 10-h surface fuel loads were lower than reported for mature lodgepole pine forests, and 1,000-h fuel loads were similar or greater. Among-plot variation was greater in canopy fuels than surface fuels, and within-plot variation was greater than among-plot variation for nearlyall fuels. Post-fire lodgepole pine density was the strongest positive predictor of canopy and fine surface fuel loads. Pre-fire successional stage was the best predictor of 100-h and 1,000-h fuel loads in the post-fire stands and strongly influenced the size and proportion of sound logs (greater when late successional stands had burned) and rotten logs (greater when early successional stands had burned). Our data suggest that 76% of the young post-fire lodgepole pine forests have 1,000-h fuel loads that exceed levels associated with high-severity surface fire potential, and 63% exceed levels associated with active crown fire potential. Fire rotations in Yellowstone National Park are predicted to shorten to a few decades and this prediction cannot be ruled out by a lack of fuels to carry repeated fires.
Author: Kellen N. Nelson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lodgepole pine
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Escalating wildfire in subalpine forests with stand-replacing fire regimes is increasing the extent of early-seral forests throughout the western USA. Post-fire succession generates the fuel for future fires, but little is known about fuel loads and their variability in young post-fire stands. We sampled fuel profiles in 24-year- old post-fire lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) stands (n = 82) that regenerated from the 1988 Yellowstone Fires to answer three questions. (1) How do canopy and surface fuel loads vary within and among young lodgepole pine stands? (2) How do canopy and surface fuels vary with pre-and post-fire lodgepole pine stand structure and environmental conditions? (3) How have surface fuels changed between eight and 24 years post-fire? Fuel complexes varied tremendously across the landscape despite having regenerated from the same fires. Available canopy fuel loads and canopy bulk density averaged 8.5 Mg/ha (range 0.0?46.6) and 0.24 kg/m3 (range: 0.0?2.3), respectively, meeting or exceeding levels in mature lodgepole pine forests. Total surface-fuel loads averaged 123 Mg/ha (range: 43?207), and 88% was in the 1,000-h fuel class. Litter, 1-h, and 10-h surface fuel loads were lower than reported for mature lodgepole pine forests, and 1,000-h fuel loads were similar or greater. Among-plot variation was greater in canopy fuels than surface fuels, and within-plot variation was greater than among-plot variation for nearlyall fuels. Post-fire lodgepole pine density was the strongest positive predictor of canopy and fine surface fuel loads. Pre-fire successional stage was the best predictor of 100-h and 1,000-h fuel loads in the post-fire stands and strongly influenced the size and proportion of sound logs (greater when late successional stands had burned) and rotten logs (greater when early successional stands had burned). Our data suggest that 76% of the young post-fire lodgepole pine forests have 1,000-h fuel loads that exceed levels associated with high-severity surface fire potential, and 63% exceed levels associated with active crown fire potential. Fire rotations in Yellowstone National Park are predicted to shorten to a few decades and this prediction cannot be ruled out by a lack of fuels to carry repeated fires.
Author: Patrick J. Baker
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030885550
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 340
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Book Description
Professor Chadwick Dearing Oliver has made major intellectual contributions to forest science and natural resources management. Over the course of his career he has actively sought to bring research and practice together through synthesis, outreach, and capacity-building. A common thread throughout his career has been complexity and how we as a society understand and manage complex systems. His work on forest stand dynamics, landscape management, and sustainability have all focused on the emergent properties of complex ecological and/or social systems. This volume celebrates a remarkable career through a diverse group of former students and colleagues who work on a wide range of subject areas related to the management of complex natural resource systems. Over the past decade there has been considerable discussion about forests as complex adaptive systems. Advances in remote sensing, social methods, and data collection and processing have enabled more detailed characterisations of complex natural systems across spatial and temporal scales than ever before. Making sense of these data, however, requires conceptual frameworks that are robust to the complexity of the systems and their inherent dynamics, particularly in the context of global change. This volume presents a collection of cutting-edge research on natural ecosystems and their dynamics through the lens of complex adaptive systems. It includes contributions by a wide range of authors from academia, NGOs, forest industry, and governmental organisations with diverse perspectives on forests and natural resources management. Each chapter offers new insights into how these systems can be made more resilient to ensure that they provide a diversity of ecological and social values well into the future. Together they provide a robust way of thinking about the many challenges that natural ecosystems face and how we as society may best address them.
Author: Michael J. Yochim
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
ISBN: 0826363431
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
In his enthusiastic explorations and fervent writing, Michael J. Yochim "was to Yellowstone what Muir was to Yosemite. . . . Other times, his writing is like that of Edward Abbey, full of passion for the natural world and anger at those who are abusing it," writes foreword contributor William R. Lowry. In 2013 Yochim was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). While fighting the disease, he wrote Requiem for America's Best Idea. The book establishes a unique parallel between Yochim's personal struggle with a terminal illness and the impact climate change is having on the national parks--the treasured wilderness that he loved and to which he dedicated his life. Yochim explains how climate change is already impacting the vegetation, wildlife, and the natural conditions in Olympic, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Parks. A poignant and thought-provoking work, Requiem for America's Best Idea investigates the interactions between people and nature and the world that can inspire and destroy them.
Author: Cathryn H. Greenberg
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030732673
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 513
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Book Description
This edited volume presents original scientific research and knowledge synthesis covering the past, present, and potential future fire ecology of major US forest types, with implications for forest management in a changing climate. The editors and authors highlight broad patterns among ecoregions and forest types, as well as detailed information for individual ecoregions, for fire frequencies and severities, fire effects on tree mortality and regeneration, and levels of fire-dependency by plant and animal communities. The foreword addresses emerging ecological and fire management challenges for forests, in relation to sustainable development goals as highlighted in recent government reports. An introductory chapter highlights patterns of variation in frequencies, severities, scales, and spatial patterns of fire across ecoregions and among forested ecosystems across the US in relation to climate, fuels, topography and soils, ignition sources (lightning or anthropogenic), and vegetation. Separate chapters by respected experts delve into the fire ecology of major forest types within US ecoregions, with a focus on the level of plant and animal fire-dependency, and the role of fire in maintaining forest composition and structure. The regional chapters also include discussion of historic natural (lightning-ignited) and anthropogenic (Native American; settlers) fire regimes, current fire regimes as influenced by recent decades of fire suppression and land use history, and fire management in relation to ecosystem integrity and restoration, wildfire threat, and climate change. The summary chapter combines the major points of each chapter, in a synthesis of US-wide fire ecology and forest management into the future. This book provides current, organized, readily accessible information for the conservation community, land managers, scientists, students and educators, and others interested in how fire behavior and effects on structure and composition differ among ecoregions and forest types, and what that means for forest management today and in the future.
Author: Kellen N. Nelson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780355093513
Category : Climatic changes
Languages : en
Pages : 123
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Book Description
Fire and bark beetles have affected vast areas of forest over the past several decades raising concern about the risk of subsequent burning. Little is known about how fuel loads and fire behavior vary shortly after burning, nor how forest flammability might differ between stands recovering from fire and bark beetles. To address this, we investigated the variation and drivers of fuel characteristics (Chapter 2) and fire behavior (Chapter 3) in 24-year-old post-fire lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) stands that regenerated after the 1988 Yellowstone Fires. To assess differences in flammability between disturbance types (Chapter 4), we intensively sampled meteorological conditions and fuel moisture content in adjacent burned and bark beetle-affected forest sites. Both sites were approximately 24 years since disturbance. Our results indicate that fuel characteristics varied tremendously across the post-1988 Yellowstone landscape and were sufficient to support fire in all stands. Total surface-fuel loads in post-disturbance forests were similar or greater than those reported in mature lodgepole pine stands; however, 88% of fuel was in the 1000-hr fuel class, and litter, 1-hr, and 10-hr surface fuel loads were lower than values reported for mature lodgepole pine forests. Pre-fire successional stage was the best predictor of 100-hr and 1000-hr fuel and strongly influenced the size and proportion of sound and rotten logs, where post-fire stand structure was the best predictor of litter, 1-hr, and 10-hr fuels. Available canopy fuel loads and canopy bulk density met or exceeded loads observed in mature lodgepole pine forests, exhibited a strong positive relationship with post-fire lodgepole pine density, and were the primary drivers of crown fire behavior. Meteorological conditions in post-fire sites exhibited symptoms of earlier snowmelt, greater evapotranspiration, and greater drought stress than post-bark beetle sites, and live fuel moisture content mimicked these differences as post-fire sites broke dormancy earlier and experienced longer, more severe drought conditions than post-bark beetle sites. Dead fuel moisture content was similar in burned and bark beetle affected sites in July, but had a greater response to heavy August precipitation that resulted in higher dead fuel moisture content on the post-burn sites. In sum, our data suggest that 76% of the young post-fire lodgepole pine forests have 1000-hr fuel loads that exceed levels associated with high-severity surface fire, and 63% exceed canopy bulk densities associated with spreading crown fire. Fire simulation modeling predicted active crown fire in 90% of stands at wind speeds >20 km hr−1, regardless of fuel moisture condition. We conclude that 24-year old lodgepole pine forests can readily support fire intervals shorter than those observed historically in Yellowstone National Park, and that dead fuel moisture content appears more dynamic while foliar fuel moisture content might be less dynamic on post-fire sites than post-bark beetle sites. Overall, the potential for crown fire is high across the post-1988 Yellowstone landscape, and post-fire sites appear to be more flammable than post-bark beetle sites during dry periods. Given a less developed canopy seed bank and a high potential for crown fire, young post-fire lodgepole pine forests are likely to have lower reproductive potential than comparable mature forests. Progressive reductions in tree recruitment after short-interval fires may lead to self-limiting dynamics where lack of fuels limit continued short-interval burning.
Author: Monica Goigel Turner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biomass
Languages : en
Pages : 14
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Book Description
Disturbance and succession have long been of interest in ecology, but how landscape patterns of ecosystem structure and function evolve following large disturbances is poorly understood. After nearly 25 years, lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia) forests that regenerated after the 1988 Yellowstone Fires (Wyoming, USA) offer a prime opportunity to track the fate of disturbance-created heterogeneity in stand structure and function in a wilderness setting. In 2012, we resampled 72 permanent plots to ask (1) How have postfire stand structure and function changed between 11 and 24 yr postfire, and what variables explain these patterns and changes? (2) How has landscape-level (among-stand) variability in postfire stand structure and function changed between 11 and 24 yr postfire? We expected to see evidence of convergence beginning to emerge, but also that initial postfire stem density would still determine trajectories of biomass accumulation. After 24 yr, postfire lodgepole pine density remained very high (mean = 21,738 stems/ha, range = 0-344,067 stems/ha). Stem density increased in most plots between 11 and 24 yr postfire, but declined sharply where 11-yr-postfire stem density was >72,000 stems/ha. Stems were small in high-density stands, but stand-level lodgepole pine leaf area, foliage biomass, and live aboveground biomass increased over time and with increasing stem density. After 24 yr, mean annual lodgepole pine aboveground net primary production ( ANPP) was high (mean = 5 Mg?ha?1?yr?1, range = 0-16.5 Mg?ha?1?yr?1). Among stands, lodgepole pine ANPP increased with stem density, which explained 69% of the variation; another 8% of the variation was explained by environmental covariates. Early patterns of postfire lodgepole pine regeneration, which were contingent on prefire serotiny and fire severity, remained the dominant driver of stand structure and function. We observed mechanisms that would lead to convergence in stem density (structure) over time, but it was landscape variation in functional variables that declined substantially. Stand structure and function have not converged across the burned landscape, but our evidence suggests function will converge sooner than structure.
Author: Paige E. Copenhaver
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biomass
Languages : en
Pages : 11
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Book Description
More frequent fire activity associated with climate warming is expected to increase the extent of young forest stands in fire-prone landscapes, yet growth rates and biomass allocation patterns in young forests that regenerated naturally following stand-replacing fire have not been well studied. We assessed the structural and functional characteristics of young, postfire lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) trees across the Yellowstone subalpine plateaus to understand the influence of postfire stand density and age on tree-level aboveground biomass (AB), component biomass (bole, branch, foliage), partitioning to components, tree-level aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and leaf area (LA). Sixty 24-year-old lodgepole pine trees were harvested from 21 sites ranging from 500 to 74,667 stems?ha?1 for development of allometric equations to predict biomass, ANPP and LA. All traits increased nonlinearly with increasing tree basal diameter. Tree-level total AB and component biomass decreased with increasing stand density and increased with age when compared with measurements from 11-year-old trees. Bole partitioning increased with stand density, while foliage and branch wood partitioning declined. Tree-level ANPP and LA decreased significantly with stand density and age. Overall, our results indicate that stand density and age explain much of the variation in tree characteristics and that 24 years after fire, the initial postfire regeneration density is still exerting significant influence on the structure and function of individual trees.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Post-fire forest management
Languages : en
Pages : 60
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Book Description
This synthesis provides an ecological foundation for management of the diverse ecosystems and fire regimes of North America, based on scientific principles of fire interactions with vegetation, fuels, and biophysical processes. Although a large amount of scientific data on fire exists, most of those data have been collected at small spatial and temporal scales. Thus, it is challenging to develop consistent science-based plans for large spatial and temporal scales where most fire management and planning occur. Understanding the regional geographic context of fire regimes is critical for developing appropriate and sustainable management strategies and policy. The degree to which human intervention has modified fire frequency, intensity, and severity varies greatly among different ecosystems, and must be considered when planning to alter fuel loads or implement restorative treatments. Detailed discussion of six ecosystems--ponderosa pine forest (western North America), chaparral (California), boreal forest (Alaska and Canada), Great Basin sagebrush (intermountain West), pine and pine-hardwood forests (Southern Appalachian Mountains), and longleaf pine (Southeastern United States)--illustrates the complexity of fire regimes and that fire management requires a clear regional focus that recognizes where conflicts might exist between fire hazard reduction and resource needs. In some systems, such as ponderosa pine, treatments are usually compatible with both fuel reduction and resource needs, whereas in others, such as chaparral, the potential exists for conflicts that need to be closely evaluated. Managing fire regimes in a changing climate and social environment requires a strong scientific basis for developing fire management and policy. --
Author: David L. Peterson
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437926665
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 60
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Book Description
Timber harvest following wildfire leads to different outcomes depending on the biophysical setting of the forest, pattern of burn severity, operational aspects of tree removal, and other activities. Postfire logging adds to these effects by removing standing dead trees (snags) and disturbing the soil. The influence of postfire logging depends on the intensity of the fire, intensity of the logging operation, and mgmt. activities such as fuel treatments. Removal of snags reduces long-term fuel loads but generally results in increased amounts of fine fuels for the first few years after logging. Cavity-nesting birds, small mammals, and amphibians may be affected by harvest of standing dead and live trees, with negative effects on most species. Illustrations.
Author: William C. Fischer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forest fires
Languages : en
Pages : 152
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Book Description
