Forest Sciences Commons^™

Interactions Of Fire And Herbivory On The Management Of Ilex Glabra In Longleaf Pine Forests, Courtney R. Filliben

Honors Theses

The longleaf pine forest is characterized by the high levels of biodiversity and species richness that give it both ecological and economical importance. Decades of clear-cutting, habitat fragmentation, and natural fire restriction have reduced this once great forest system to a mere fraction of its original range. One of the specific causes of the decline of the longleaf pine is understory domination by woody shrubs. These shrubs limit the growth of characteristic grasses and forbs that are responsible for the majority of the biodiversity. The overall purpose of this study was to identify a new longleaf pine reforestation technique that …

Managing For Multiple Objectives In Southwestern Forests: Evaluating The Trade-Offs Between Enhancing Mexican Spotted Owl Nest Habitat And Mitigating Potential Crown Fire, Daniel C. Deane Mckenna

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA), the United States’ forest census, measured sixty-six Mexican spotted owl nest stands in order gain insight into the structure and composition of the nest habitat of this threatened species. I used these data, along with the greater FIA database and the Forest Vegetation Simulator to explore questions surrounding the management of Mexican spotted owl habitat, specifically how to balance the objective of sustaining and enhancing nest habitat in face of increasing forest fire size and severity in the Southwest. My research consisted of three studies. The first study quantified the structure and composition of …

Within-Fire Patchiness Associated With Prescribed Burning In The Northern Jarrah Forests Of Western Australia, Zigourney Nielsen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There is growing understanding of the importance of landscape mosaics and heterogeneity for biodiversity outcomes in Western Australia. However, there is limited information on the patchiness (spatial configuration of unburnt and burnt patches which occur at a range of spatial scales) within the perimeter of a single prescribed burn. Of particular concern is the idea that prescribed burning operations, carried out under very restricted weather and environmental conditions, can lead to structural and floristic homogenization of the area within a burn perimeter. This may be evident as reduced post-fire vegetation patchiness. Western Australian Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forests are managed to …

Resource Selection Of Free-Ranging Horses Influenced By Fire In Northern Canada, Sonja E. R. Leverkus, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Marten Geertsema, Brady W. Allred, Mark Gregory, Alexandre R. Bevington, David M. Engle, J. Derek Scasta

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Free-ranging or feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) were important to the livelihood of First Nations and indigenous communities in Canada. The early inhabitants of the boreal region of British Columbia (BC) capitalized on naturally occurring wildfires and anthropogenic burning to provide forage for free-ranging horses and manage habitat for wildlife. This form of pyric herbivory, or grazing driven by fi re via the attraction to the palatable vegetation in recently burned areas, is an evolutionary disturbance process that occurs globally. However, its application to manage forage availability for free-ranging horses has not been studied in northern Canada. Across Canada, there …

Vegetation Response To Repeated Prescribed Burning And Varied Wildfire Severity In Upland Forests On The Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, Zachary W. Poynter

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

As a result of decades of fire suppression, oaks (Quercus L.) and other disturbance-dependent tree species are experiencing widespread regeneration failure. Today, fire takes the form of relatively low to moderate intensity prescribed fire, used to restore fire adapted ecosystems, and wildfires which often vary in severity. I investigated long-term changes to forest structure and composition in response to repeated prescribed burning followed by an extended period of no fire. Burning reduced total basal area, midstory stem density and sapling stem density. However, the fire-free interval significantly increased sapling layer stem densities of oaks and competitor species. This research …

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

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 …

Fire And Fuels: Vegetation Change Over Time In The Zuni Mountains, New Mexico, Luke Wylie

Master's Theses

The Zuni Mountains are a region that has been dramatically changed by human interference. Anthropogenically, fire suppression practices have allowed a buildup of fuels and caused a change in the fire-adapted ponderosa pine ecosystem such that the new ecosystem now incorporates many fire-intolerant species. As a result, the low-severity fires that the ecosystem once depended on to regenerate the forest are much reduced, and these low-severity fires are now replaced by crown-level infernos that threaten the forest and nearby towns. In order to combat these effects, land managers are implementing fuel reduction practices and are striving to better understand the …

The Effect Of Fire On The Vegetation And Soil Properties Of Ungrazed Shortgrasssteppe Rangeland Of The Eastern Anatolia Region Of Turkey, Şule Erkovan, Ali̇ Koç, Mehmet Keri̇m Güllap, Hali̇l İbrahi̇m Erkovan, Serdar Bi̇len

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Fire is an important driver of ecological processes and a management tool in humid rangelands, but it is less known in semiarid rangelands at cool temperatures. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of fire on some vegetation and soil properties of the highland steppe rangelands of the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Canopy coverage, botanical composition as a functional group, aboveground biomass, litter mass, bacteria and fungi numbers, soil moisture, pH, organic matter, available NO3, available NH4, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total calcium, total potassium, total magnesium, total sodium, cation exchange capacity, and calcium carbonate contents …

Early Postfire Vegetation Recovery Of Pinus Brutia Forests: Effects Of Fire Severity, Prefire Stand Age, And Aspect, Ali̇ Kavgaci, Erdal Örtel, Ivan Torres, Hugh Safford

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Forests dominated by serotinous tree species are usually generalized to follow an autosuccessional model of postfire recovery. However, recent studies have suggested that prefire conditions, topography, and idiosyncrasies of the fire disturbance can have notable effects on how such forests respond to fire. We investigated the effects of fire severity, prefire stand age, and aspect (slope orientation) on the early postfire recovery of Pinus brutia forest. The study site was the area of 2008 Serik-Tasağıl Fire, one of the largest forest fires in Turkish recorded history. We sampled early postfire conditions at five sites having different conditions in terms of …

Fire Severity Controlled Susceptibility To A 1940s Spruce Beetle Outbreak In Colorado, Usa, Dominik Kulakowski, Thomas T. Veblen, Peter Beb

Geography

The frequency, magnitude, and size of forest disturbances are increasing globally. Much recent research has focused on how the occurrence of one disturbance may affect susceptibility to subsequent disturbances. While much has been learned about such linked disturbances, the strength of the interactions is likely to be contingent on the severity of disturbances as well as climatic conditions, both of which can affect disturbance intensity and tree resistance to disturbances. Subalpine forests in western Colorado were affected by extensive and severe wildfires in the late 19th century and an extensive and severe outbreak of spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) in the …

The Role Of Fire In Aspen Ecology And Restoration, Douglas J. Shinneman, Kevin D. Krasnow, Susan K. Mcilroy

Aspen Bibliography

Quaking aspen is generally considered to be a fire-adapted species because it regenerates prolifically after fire, and it can be replaced by more shade-tolerant tree species in the absence of fire. As early-successional aspen stands transition to greater conifer-dominance, they become increasingly fire prone, until fire returns, and aspen again temporarily dominate. While this disturbance-succession cycle is critical to the persistence of aspen on many landscapes, some aspen stands persist on the landscape without fire. The complex role of fire is an important consideration for developing conservation and restoration strategies intended to sustain aspen.

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

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & 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 …

Can Fire Atlas Data Improve Species Distribution Model Projections?, Shawn M. Crimmins, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Alison R. Mynsberge, Hugh D. Safford

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Correlative species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used in studies of climate change impacts, yet are often criticized for failing to incorporate disturbance processes that can influence species distributions. Here we use two temporally independent data sets of vascular plant distributions, climate data, and fire atlas data to examine the influence of disturbance history on SDM projection accuracy through time in the mountain ranges of California, USA. We used hierarchical partitioning to examine the influence of fire occurrence on the distribution of 144 vascular plant species and built a suite of SDMs to examine how the inclusion of fire-related predictors …

Bark Beetle-Induced Changes To Crown Fuel Flammability And Crown Fire Potential, Wesley G. Page

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent outbreaks of aggressive tree-killing bark beetles, including mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine forests and spruce beetle in Engelmann spruce forests, have recently affected vast areas across western North America. The high levels of tree mortality associated with these outbreaks have raised concerns amongst fire managers and wildland firefighters about the possible effects on fire behavior potential, particularly crown fire potential, as crown fires (fires that consume part or all of tree crowns) hinder the ability of firefighters to conduct safe and effective fire suppression operations. The purpose of this research was to measure and characterize the changes in …

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 …

Background Reading: Department Of Agriculture, 2013 Budget Overview, United States. Forest Service, United States. Department Of Agriculture

The Future of Natural Resources Policy (December 6)

57 pages.

"Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Overview"

"February 2012"

"Background Reading"

The Future of Natural Resources Policy: This forum will provide a post-election perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities that natural resources, public lands, and energy policymakers in Washington are likely to face in the next four years. An expert panel will discuss the dynamics in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress, and how their evolving policies are likely to affect Colorado in the coming years.

Wildland Urban Interface Assessment Of San Luis Obispo, California, Brian Hanson, Stephen Kadash, Nicholi Mackewicz

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The purpose of this report is to provide a wildland fire hazard assessment of communities in the city of San Luis Obispo, California, and to identify prescriptions designed to prevent property damage and loss of life in the event of a wildfire. These prescriptions are adopted from established Shelter-In-Place communities who practice fire wise community wildfire prevention.There are eight communities that were identified as being fire prone. Each community had its own set of fire hazard, for example, flammable vegetation against a home, tall dead grass behind structures, or overhanging trees that would prevent an engine from passing. Once the …

Effects Of Ungulate Herbivory On Aspen, Cottonwood, And Willow Development Under Forest Fuels Treatment Regimes, Bryan A. Endress, Michael J. Wisdom, Martin Vavra, Catherine G. Parks, Brian L. Dick, Bridgett J. Naylor, Jennifer M. Boyd

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Herbivory by domestic and wild ungulates can dramatically affect vegetation structure, composition and dynamics in nearly every terrestrial ecosystem of the world. These effects are of particular concern in forests of western North America, where intensive herbivory by native and domestic ungulates has the potential to substantially reduce or eliminate deciduous, highly palatable species of aspen (Populus tremuloides), cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), and willow (Salix spp.). In turn, differential herbivory pressure may favor greater establishment of unpalatable conifers that serve as ladder fuels for stand-replacing fires. The resulting high fuel loads often require silvicultural fuels reductions …

Ecosystem Responses To Fuel Reduction Treatments In Stands Killed By Southern Pine Beetle, Aaron Stottlemyer

All Dissertations

Heavy fuel loads were created by multiple southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Ehrh.) outbreaks throughout the southern Piedmont between 1999 and 2002. Prescribed burning and mechanical mastication are proposed to reduce fuel loading in beetle-killed pine (Pinus L. spp.) stands in the upper South Carolina Piedmont, but their ecological impacts are unknown. Prescribed burning reduced fuelbed continuity by consuming litter (Oi) and fine (1- and 10-hr timelag size classes) woody fuels immediately after the treatment. Duff (Oe + Oa) layer thickness also decreased and mineral soil was exposed in some areas. Mastication resulted in a thick, continuous layer of shredded …

Thermogravimetric Analysis Of Forest Understory Grasses, Thomas Elder, John S. Kush, Sharon M. Hermann

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Forest understory grasses are of significance in the initiation, establishment and maintenance of fire, whether used as a management tool or when occurring as wildfire. The fundamental thermal properties of such grasses are critical to their behavior in fire situations and have been investigated in the current work by the application of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA was performed in nitrogen and air, over a range of heating rates, allowing for the determination of activation energies and temperatures associated with the degradation of hemicelluloses and cellulose. Of particular interest is the behavior of Imperata cylindrica (cogongrass) an invasive species in the …

Slides: Forest Service Planning At A Crossroads; New Approaches To Old Recommendations, Rick Cables

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Rick Cables, Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Region (Golden, CO)

23 slides

Fire: Ecology & Prevention, Justin R. Frey

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Silviculture Certification Revalidation Case Studey : An Assessment Of Aspen Regeneration By Fire Intensity Following Prescribed Burning On Low Productivity Sites In Southwest Idaho And/Or A Simplistic Model Showing Aspen Sprouting Response By Varying Degrees Of Fire Intensity As Defined By Degree Of Aspen Crown-Kill Within The Lime Creek Aspen Restoration Project Area, Steven L. Williams

Aspen Bibliography

This Case Study is prepared for revalidation as a certified silviculturist in the Intermountain Region. When I first began working on this study, I anticipated that prescribed fire would produce variable degrees of aspen crown-kill and that differences in aspen sprouting would exist across the project area. What I observed was that although variable degrees of aspen crown-kill do exist, their distribution and relative amounts is more a function of prescribed fire ignition than of vegetation conditions. Very nearly full aspen crown-kill occurs with any fire that sustains itself enough to carry through the vegetation. Where prescribed fire is employed, …

Agenda: Western Water Law, Policy And Management: Ripples, Currents, And New Channels For Inquiry, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

In many pockets of the American West, stresses and demands on water resources are overwhelming our capacity to effectively manage change and accommodate the diversity of interests and values associated with our limited water resources.

This event will offer an opportunity for lawyers, policymakers, and water professionals to engage the experts on the challenges and emerging solutions to the most pressing water policy and management issues of the day.

Seed Invasion Filters And Forest Fire Severity, Tom R. Cottrell, Paul F. Hessburg, Jonathan A. Betz

Biology Faculty Scholarship

Forest seed dispersal is altered after fire. Using seed traps, we studied impacts of fire severity on timing of seed dispersal, total seed rain, and seed rain richness in patches of high and low severity fire and unburned Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests in the Fischer and Tyee fire complexes in the eastern Washington Cascades. Unburned plots had the lowest average seed production. The high severity fire patches in the Fischer Fire Complex had a higher total seed production than low severity fire patches of the same complex. At the Tyee Fire Complex, the total seed production for each …

A Comparison Of Logging And Fire Disturbance On Biophysical Attributes Of The Northern Jarrah Forest, Alexander W. Watson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Ecologically sustainable forest management (ESFM) serves dual purposes: 1) to ensure the conservation of biodiversity, and 2) in production forest (forest managed for the production of timber and woodchips), to maintain an economically viable timber industry in perpetuity. A central axiom of ESFM is that any manipulation of a forest ecosystem should emulate the `natural' disturbance patterns of the forest. This is based on the assumption that forest communities have evolved with endogenous disturbance regimes and will be better able to cope if exogenous disturbance (e.g., logging) remains within natural levels and spatial and temporal bounds of intensity. The objective …

First Order Fire Effects Model: Fofem 4.0, User's Guide, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

A First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM) was developed to predict the direct consequences of prescribed fire and wildfire. FOFEM computes duff and woody fuel consumption, smoke production, and fire-caused tree mortality for most forest and rangeland types in the United States. The model is available as a computer program for PC or Data General computer.

The Natural Resource Law Center Conference On “Challenging Federal Ownership And Management Public Lands And Public Benefits”, Frank H. Murkowski

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

8 pages.

Regeneration Of Aspen By Suckering On Burned Sites In Western Wyoming, D.L. Bartos, W.F. Mueggler, R.B. Campbell, Jr.

Aspen Bibliography

Approximately 2.8 million ha of woodlands dominated by quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) are scattered throughout the Western United States (Green and Van Hooser 1983).