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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Restoring Mixed Conifer Ecosystems To Pre-Fire Suppression Conditions In Crater Lake National Park, Rachel Clark
Restoring Mixed Conifer Ecosystems To Pre-Fire Suppression Conditions In Crater Lake National Park, Rachel Clark
Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)
Mixed-conifer forests dominated by ponderosa pine trees prevail across the Western United States. Once sustained by frequent, low-intensity fires, these ecosystems have changed dramatically as a result of a hundred years of fire suppression resulting in an accumulation of fuels and shade tolerant species. Researchers are finding that reintroducing fire to these systems may be more complicated than once thought. The forests at Crater Lake National Park are a kind of microcosm for the wide-ranging mixed conifer forests across the West. Early efforts to restore fire at Crater Lake showed that older ponderosa pines were at risk of mortality via …
Tested By Fire: What Happens When Wildfires Meet Fuel Treatments?, Valerie Rapp
Tested By Fire: What Happens When Wildfires Meet Fuel Treatments?, Valerie Rapp
Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)
Strong scientific evidence has long been needed on the effectiveness of fuel treatments when subsequent wildfires encounter treated areas. This project studied what happened when wildfires met fuel treatments, using results from five large wildfires in mixed-conifer forests in the Western United States. The relation between fuel treatment effectiveness and wildfire severity differed by treatment type. Recent treatments (less than 10 years old) that reduced surface fuels were generally effective, whether or not thinning had been done first. Combination treatments, with thinning followed by slash disposal, showed the most impressive results, and in fact the effectiveness of combination treatments increased …
A Toolkit For Assessing Fire Hazards, Elise Lequire
A Toolkit For Assessing Fire Hazards, Elise Lequire
Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)
Whether the goal is to improve wildlife habitat, gauge the effects of prescribed burns or wildfire, or assess the unaccustomed conditions and hidden dangers of fallen trees in the aftermath of hurricanes, a suite of tools developed by the Fire and Environmental Research Applications (FERA) Team at the Pacific Northwest Research Station, Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, allows resource managers to estimate fuel loads, fire hazards, and smoke emissions characteristics in a wide range of forest and grassland ecosystems. The Natural Fuels Photo Series, developed by FERA’s Roger Ottmar, is a field guide for resource managers who need a quick …