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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Longevity Of Prescribed Fire Effectiveness In Mixed-Evergreen Forests Of The Klamath Mountains, Kaily M. Fineran Jan 2024

Longevity Of Prescribed Fire Effectiveness In Mixed-Evergreen Forests Of The Klamath Mountains, Kaily M. Fineran

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Prescribed fire is a common management tool used across the western United States to create wildfire-resilient ecosystems and communities. The Klamath Mountains of northern California, USA has experienced numerous, large wildfires in recent years. This is due in part to a combination of highly flammable fuels, uncharacteristic weather events, and high fuel accumulations as a result of fire exclusion and forest management practices. Within the last decade, local land management organizations and the Karuk Tribe have begun re-introducing prescribed fire in low elevation, mixed evergreen forests. While the long-term effects of fuel treatments are not well-known, these efforts provided a …


The Long-Term Effects Of Wildfire Severity On Oak-Pine Communities And Their Microclimates, Scott Glenn Culbert Jan 2023

The Long-Term Effects Of Wildfire Severity On Oak-Pine Communities And Their Microclimates, Scott Glenn Culbert

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

In the eastern U.S., fire-dependent tree species have historically dominated upland forest communities, but are now experiencing widespread regeneration challenges as a result of 20th century fire suppression policies, and are being replaced by mesophytic species. Wildfires that contain areas of high burn severity may provide an important means of mitigating these challenges and facilitating fire-dependent species regeneration and recruitment into larger size classes. One mechanism by which high-severity fire can accomplish this is by modifying understory microclimate characteristics to be more conducive to these species’ growth. A wildfire within the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, USA, provided the …


Effects Of Prescribed Fire Regimes On White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Browse, Forage, And Nutrient Availability In The Pineywoods Ecoregion Of Texas, Wyatt L. Bagwell Dec 2022

Effects Of Prescribed Fire Regimes On White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Browse, Forage, And Nutrient Availability In The Pineywoods Ecoregion Of Texas, Wyatt L. Bagwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fire is a management tool for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) habitat, influencing browse availability, herbaceous production, and nutrient content. In 2020 and 2021, this study utilized 46 plots across East Texas to assess these habitat components. A stem count index survey method was used to assess browse utilization prior to April in both years, and preferred browse species were clipped and analyzed for nutrient availability, and herbaceous production was also measured. Additionally, white-tailed deer population data, browse survey data, and recent fire history were obtained from five different wildlife management areas to examine their relationship. Deer had preferences …


Soil Macroinvertebrates Responses To Wildfires In The Blue Ridge Mountains, Usa, Madeline Olliff May 2021

Soil Macroinvertebrates Responses To Wildfires In The Blue Ridge Mountains, Usa, Madeline Olliff

Biology Theses

Fire has been a prevalent disturbance on Earth for millions of years. Around the globe there are several regions that have become fire adapted, including the Southeastern United States. There have been few studies examining the effects of wildland fires on soil macroinvertebrates in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in spite of the importance of these animals to soil processes and their contributions to the biodiversity of these ecosystems. During the fall of 2016, the Southeastern USA experienced numerous, large wildfires. These fires offered an opportunity to study the effects of wildland fire on soil macroinvertebrates. We sampled sites from three …


The Effects Of Fire On Oak-Forest Plant Communities Along Soil Moisture Gradients: A 25-Year Study, Rebekah Frances Shupe Jan 2021

The Effects Of Fire On Oak-Forest Plant Communities Along Soil Moisture Gradients: A 25-Year Study, Rebekah Frances Shupe

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the eastern U.S., fire is a natural disturbance process in Quercus (oak) forests. Fire is thought to promote oak regeneration and plant diversity by reducing competition, preparing a suitable seedbed, and increasing light availability. However, the era of fire suppression that began in the early 20th century is thought to have negatively impacted oak regeneration and the biodiversity of the understory layer. In this study, we examined the effects of prescribed fire on tree regeneration and the understory layer over 25 years. From a study initiated in 1994, we resampled 45 permanent vegetation plots measuring 1250 m2 …


Wildlife Forage Recovery Following Boreal Wildfire, Alexis Jorgensen, Jennifer Baltzer Jan 2021

Wildlife Forage Recovery Following Boreal Wildfire, Alexis Jorgensen, Jennifer Baltzer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate change is altering the boreal wildfire regime through increases in the extent and severity of burning and reductions in fire return intervals. These changes can alter the regeneration trajectory of canopy species and ground vegetation, with implications for wildlife habitat. There is some uncertainty about the timelines of when different animal species will use burned areas as their preferred forage taxa recover following fire, and how such recovery is mediated by environmental factors. Here, we aim to address these knowledge gaps through the following questions: 1) What are the main forage types consumed by boreal wildlife and how much …


Tamm Review: Reforestation For Resilience In Dry Western U.S. Forests, Malcolm P. North, Jens T. Stevens, David F. Greene, Michelle Coppoletta, Eric E. Knapp, Andrew M. Latimer, Christina M. Restaino, Ryan E. Tompkins, Kevin R. Welch, Rob A. York, Derek J.N. Young, Jodi N. Axelson, Tom N. Buckley, Becky L. Estes, Rachel N. Hager, Jonathan W. Long, Marc D. Meyer, Steven M. Ostoja, Hugh D. Safford, Kristen L. Shive, Carmen L. Tubbesing, Dana Walsh, Chhaya M. Werner, Peter Wyrsch, Heather Vice Sep 2018

Tamm Review: Reforestation For Resilience In Dry Western U.S. Forests, Malcolm P. North, Jens T. Stevens, David F. Greene, Michelle Coppoletta, Eric E. Knapp, Andrew M. Latimer, Christina M. Restaino, Ryan E. Tompkins, Kevin R. Welch, Rob A. York, Derek J.N. Young, Jodi N. Axelson, Tom N. Buckley, Becky L. Estes, Rachel N. Hager, Jonathan W. Long, Marc D. Meyer, Steven M. Ostoja, Hugh D. Safford, Kristen L. Shive, Carmen L. Tubbesing, Dana Walsh, Chhaya M. Werner, Peter Wyrsch, Heather Vice

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

The increasing frequency and severity of fire and drought events have negatively impacted the capacity and success of reforestation efforts in many dry, western U.S. forests. Challenges to reforestation include the cost and safety concerns of replanting large areas of standing dead trees, and high seedling and sapling mortality rates due to water stress, competing vegetation, and repeat fires that burn young plantations. Standard reforestation practices have emphasized establishing dense conifer cover with gridded planting, sometimes called 'pines in lines', followed by shrub control and pre-commercial thinning. Resources for such intensive management are increasingly limited, reducing the capacity for young …


The Effect Of Prescribed Fires On Vernal Herbs, Janis Lemaster Aug 2016

The Effect Of Prescribed Fires On Vernal Herbs, Janis Lemaster

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The effects of fire on vernal herbs are little known. David Kem attempted to assess the influences of spring and winter prescribed fires on vernal herbs by collecting abundance data on three sets of research plots located at the WKU Green River Preserve in Hart County, KY, on April 9-10, 2010. On April 10 he conducted spring burns, and on February 22, 2011, he conducted winter burns. He then collected post-fire data on the abundance of the herbs on the 12-19 of March, 2011. He found little influence of fire on overall species richness and the density of common species. …


Dynamics Of Resprouting And Forest Regeneration Following Anthropogenic Land Use In The Central Amazon Basin, Scott Lawrence Kosiba Jun 2016

Dynamics Of Resprouting And Forest Regeneration Following Anthropogenic Land Use In The Central Amazon Basin, Scott Lawrence Kosiba

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Tree mortality is increasing with the effects of climate change and drought across the Amazon Basin while intense fires are becoming more prevalent. Tropical moist forest trees generally lack adaptations that protect against mortality during an intense fire, so anthropogenic burning typically kills high percentages of trees. Following disturbances where prescribed burning is used to limit woody encroachment and to fertilize the soil, abandoned land in central Amazonia becomes dominated by the pioneer tree genus, Vismia. Although the mechanisms by which Vismia comes to dominate previously-burned areas are not known, previous studies on anthropogenic land use and forest succession …


Nonstructural Carbohydrate Concentrations Of Pine Trees As A Function Of Evolutionary History, Joshua T. Mims Jan 2015

Nonstructural Carbohydrate Concentrations Of Pine Trees As A Function Of Evolutionary History, Joshua T. Mims

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) can supply substrate during periods when current photosynthate is unavailable or inadequate to meet metabolic demands. I hypothesized that natural selection has favored higher nonstructural carbohydrate concentrations ([NSC]) in species that have an evolutionary history of frequent disturbance and tested this using three southern pine species that have evolved under a continuum of disturbance frequencies (evolutionary history of fire ~ longleaf > slash > loblolly). Stem and root samples were collected from 12 similar-sized individual trees of each species during time periods that reflect the annual minimum and maximum [NSC]. A modified colorimetric method was performed on the samples …


Evaluation Of Red Alder Mortality In The Little Creek Watershed Following The 2009 Lockheed Fire, Dylan Robert Theobald Mar 2014

Evaluation Of Red Alder Mortality In The Little Creek Watershed Following The 2009 Lockheed Fire, Dylan Robert Theobald

Master's Theses

Five hundred eighty red alder along a 2.16 km portion of the Little Creek riparian zone were assessed for mortality following the 2009 Lockheed Fire near Davenport, California. The study area was divided into burn severity zones and every red alder within the riparian zone was observed and assessed for mortality. Height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and age were collected on selected trees. An estimation of red alder large woody debris (LWD) input to Little Creek since a 2010 LWD survey (Smith, 2010) was calculated using average red alder tree dimensions applied to Smalian’s formula (MLNRO, 2011). The mean …


Architecture Of Ponderosa Pine Bark In Relation To Spalling Behavior, Eric R. Force Jan 2014

Architecture Of Ponderosa Pine Bark In Relation To Spalling Behavior, Eric R. Force

Eric R Force

Shedding/spalling behavior of ponderosa bark, with or without fire impetus, is primarily a function of the geometry of individual bark pieces, which are stable laterally due to their digitate shapes, and metastable radially due to flanges around the base of each piece. In detail, each piece is a zoned envelope of distinctive elements, separated from other pieces by another element. Different physical properties of these elements are probably involved in bark-piece expulsion, which requires sequential flange release. Criteria to determine any role of fire in bark-piece expulsion are described.


Fire: Ecology & Prevention, Justin R. Frey Jun 2010

Fire: Ecology & Prevention, Justin R. Frey

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


The Effects Of Fire And Deer Herbivory On Oak Regeneration In An Eastern Deciduous Forest, Julie La Spina Jun 2009

The Effects Of Fire And Deer Herbivory On Oak Regeneration In An Eastern Deciduous Forest, Julie La Spina

Honors Theses

In the past, oak was one of the most dominant species groups in the deciduous forests of the northeastern United States. More recently, a variety of factors, including interspecific competition, fire suppression and deer herbivory, have led to the decline of oaks. We studied how oaks regenerate and grow following a major disturbance, and how their growth interacts with deer herbivory. We measured the growth of seedlings of three tree species following the 1,200 hectare Overlook Fire that occurred in Minnewaska State Park, NY in April 2008. At each of three sites, we measured the growth of twenty Quercus prinus, …