Forest Biology Commons^™

Experimental Study Of Local Fire Conditions And Effects On Surface Or Near-Surface Archeological Resources At National Park Service Units – Midwest Region., Jay T. Sturdevant, Rod Skalsky, Cody L. Wienk, Brennan Dolan, Dustin Gonzalez, David Amrine

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Today, park managers must routinely balance the restoration needs of natural resources with the preservation of cultural resources. This project was designed to provide park managers with scientific data on the impacts from wildland fire to archeological resources at National Park Service units in the Midwest Region. Experimental research was conducted at six parks to record data on fire conditions (i.e., fuels, fire temperature, and burn duration) and the impacts on multiple classes of archeological materials routinely observed at sites within the region. The experimental study of fire conditions in different regional environments addresses questions regarding the threats or non-threats …

A Regional Assessment Of The Ecological Effects Of Chipping And Mastication Fuels Reduction And Forest Restoration Treatments., Mike Battaglia, Charles Rhoades, Monique E. Rocca, Michael G. Ryan

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Over the past several years, fire managers have increased their use of mastication treatments, the on-site disposal of shrubs and small-diameter trees through chipping and shredding. Mastication is a relatively untested management practice that alters the chemical and physical conditions of the forest floor and may influence vegetation regrowth and fuel development for years or decades. Eighteen sites were established across four ecosystems of the southern Rocky Mountains and the Colorado Plateau: lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), mixed conifer (Pinus ponderosa, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pinus flexilis, and Pinus contorta), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), and pinyon pine/juniper …

Enhancing Western Managers’ Knowledge And Use Of Available Economic And Financial Biomass Information And Tools, Todd A. Morgan, Kenneth Skog, Greg Jones, Woodam Chung, Henry Spelter, John Baldridge, Jason Brandt, Dan Loeffler, Jon Songster

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) sponsored this study to enhance the ability of federal land managers to understand and deal with the economic and financial aspects of woody biomass removal as a component of fire hazard reduction treatments. The study objectives were to synthesize the body of economic and financial information and tools currently available to federal land managers in the West, identify managers’ information needs and disconnects from available information, and fill the gaps between existing information and tools versus managers’ awareness of available information and access to tools. The methods used for this study included 1) preparing …

Fire And Fuels Management In Coast Redwood Forests, Steven P. Norman, J. Morgan Varner, Leonel Arguello, Stephen Underwood, Bradley Graham, Greg Jennings, Yana Valachovic, Christopher Lee

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Coast redwood forests rank among the most significant natural features of North America, yet our understanding of how they came to be and how we might sustain them has been beset by scientific and management uncertainty for decades. A key part of this controversy has been the historical importance of fire given the mild coastal climate and small number of lightning ignitions. In the northern part of the coast redwood range, past research found that fire was uncommon, but results conflicted with others that found fire to be as frequent as in any dry forest of western North America. We …

A Chronosequence Feasibility Assessment Of Emergency Fire Rehabilitation Records Within The Intermountain Western United States, Kevin C. Knutson, David A. Pyke, Troy A. Wirth, David S. Pilliod, Matthew L. Brooks, Jeanne C. Chambers

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus have invested heavily (for example, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spent more than $60 million in fiscal year 2007) in seeding vegetation for emergency stabilization and burned area rehabilitation of non-forested arid lands over the past 10 years. The primary objectives of these seedings commonly are to (1) reduce the post-fire dominance of non-native annual grasses, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and red brome (Bromus rubens); (2) minimize the probability of recurrent fire; and (3) ultimately produce desirable vegetation characteristics (for example, ability to recover following disturbance [resilience], resistance to invasive species, …

Extending The Reach Of The Fire Effects Planning Framework By Taking A Critical Approach To Science Delivery And Application, Anne E. Black, Carol Miller, Vita Wright, Kate Walker, Carolyn Ballard, Paula Nasiatka, Brett Fay, Linda Chappell, Dave Calkin

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The Fire Effects Planning Framework (FEPF), developed under JFSP project (99-1-3-16) “Wildland fuels management: evaluating and planning risks and benefits,” was formally completed in June 2004. FEPF is a logical framework that uses available data (e.g., local, LANDFIRE data) and existing software (e.g., GIS, Farsite, FlamMap, expert knowledge) to produce maps of probable fire effects during the pre-season or in advance of a fire front. The initial project included significant technology transfer activities. As that project concluded, however, we continued to receive requests for assistance from field managers (District, Forest and Regional Forest Service offices), international organizations (Interior West Fire …

In Plantations Or Natural Stands: Ponderosa Is Programmed To Partner With Fire, Marjie Brown

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

Ponderosa pine plantation forests cover nearly 400,000 acres of California’s National Forests. Fire hazard is extreme both within and adjacent to many of these areas which has led to extensive fuel reduction plans for plantations and other forests on federal public lands. Although fuels treatments have been implemented on a limited basis in California’s plantations, the effectiveness of varying methods has only recently received scientifi c attention. This project analyzed the effectiveness of individual and combination treatments to provide science-based guidance for fi re hazard reduction in these areas. Prescribed understory fi re, both alone and combined with pre-burn mastication, …

Fire Returns To Southern Appalachian Forests, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

In the Daniel Boone National Forest (DBNF) in eastern Kentucky, controlled experiments are shedding light on the role of fi re in meeting an urgent need: encouraging regeneration of oak in the forest. Though mature oak dominates the canopy in much of the forest, competition from species that tolerate shade has jeopardized the ability of oak to successfully regenerate. Since 1995, researchers have been collaborating with Forest Service managers, with funding from the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), to document the multiple effects of prescribed fi re on canopy opening, seedling recruitment, damage to mature trees, fuel loading, and effects …

Angle Of Repose: Testing Erosion And Prescribed Fire In Eastern Oregon And Washington’S Blue Mountains, Lisa-Natalie Anjozian

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

Some forest lands in the United States are overgrown with small trees and thick with fuels. Prescribed fire has been used in many forests and woodlands to reduce fuel loads and the risk of wildfi re. But forests are unique, with different soils, plants, weather, and topography. While erosion from prescribed fi re would seem to be less severe than from a wildfire, prior to this study, little data existed on erosion rates and the infl uence of prescribed fi re on erosion in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and Washington. This study showed that hillslope erosion in the …

Do Fence Me In: Cattle Enlisted In The Great Basin To Reverse The Cheatgrass/Wildfire Cycle, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

Cheatgrass and cattle have co-existed in the Great Basin since the late 19th century, when both were introduced by settlers of the western territories. Unchecked grazing of the sagebrush-steppe community decimated the native perennial grasses in some areas and gave cheatgrass, a nonnative annual, permanent inroads into the ecosystem. Cheatgrass is generally palatable and nutritious for cattle in spring, but dries quickly in the hot, dry summers typical of the Great Basin, becoming a flashy fuel that carries fire quickly. The invasion has drastically shortened the fire return interval and led to increasingly intense and fast spreading wildfi res, which …

Forest Restoration Project In The Gordon Natural Area, Gerard Hertel

Gordon Natural Area Forest Restoration Project Documents

No abstract provided.

Wildland Fire Use: Managing For A Fire-Smart Landscape, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The promise of wildland fire use (WFU) is that, over time, the fires will play a more natural role, creating a jigsaw-puzzle pattern of burned and regrowing patches over a landscape and gradually moving it closer to the stand structure and species composition that prevailed before fire exclusion became the policy.

Impact Of Deer And Invasive Plants On Native Habitats-A Demonstration Area, Gerard Hertel, Greg Turner

Deer and Non-native Invasive Plant Impact Study Documents

No abstract provided.

Gamebird 2006: Quail Vi And Perdix Xii, Sandra B. Cederbaum, Brant C. Faircloth, Theron M. Terhune, Jeffrey J. Thompson, John P. Carroll

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Foreword v

Acknowledgements vi

Editorial Panel vii

Sponsors x

Invited Manuscripts 2

Integrating Management, Research, and Monitoring: Balancing the 3-Legged Stool. Michael J. Conroy & James T. Peterson . 2

Management of Southern African Gamebirds: Opportunities and Threats. Tim Crowe . 11

Taking the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative to the Next Level. Donald F. McKenzie . 16

Restoring a Gray Partridge (Perdix perdix) Population and the Future of Predation Control. G.R. Potts . 24

Abundance Estimation 27

The GWCT Partridge Count Scheme: A Volunteer-Based Monitoring and Conservation Promotion Scheme. Julie Ewald, Nevile Kingdon, & Hugues Santin-Janin . 27

Refining the …

Pre-Euroamerican Settlement Forests In Redwood National Park, California, Usa: A Reconstruction Using Line Summaries In Historic Land Surveys, Joy Fritschle

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Dean, Lalit Verma

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Habitat Selection By Anolis Carolinensis (Green Anole) In Open Pine Forests In Eastern Texas, Richard R. Schaefer, Robert R. Fleet, D. Craig Rudolph, Nancy E. Koerth

Faculty Publications

We initiated a mark-recapture study to determine the effects of shrub density on Anolis carolinensis (Green Anole) populations. Green Anole perch site, shrub species, and shrub volume preferences were also examined. We established two study plots of different shrub densities in open pine forests on the Angelina National Forest in eastern Texas. In late spring, the Green Anole population at the higher shrub-density plot was estimated to be 16 times greater than the population at the lower shrub-density plot. Green Anoles most commonly perched on live shrubs, but exhibited very little preference or avoidance of any particular species of live …

Aspen Succession And Nitrogen Loading: A Case For Epiphytic Lichens As Bioindicators In The Rocky Mountains, Usa, Paul C. Rogers, Kori D. Moore, Ronald J. Ryel

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Question: Can lichen communities be used to assess shortand long-term factors affecting seral quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) communities at the landscape scale? Location: Bear River Range, within the Rocky Mountains, in northern Utah and southern Idaho, USA. Method: Forty-seven randomly selected mid-elevation aspen stands were sampled for lichens and stand conditions. Plots were characterized according to tree species cover, basal area, stand age, bole scarring, tree damage, and presence of lichen species. We also recorded ammonia emissions with passive sensors at 25 urban and agricultural sites throughout an adjacent populated valley upwind of the forest stands. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) …