Forest Management Commons^™

Equipment And Strategies To Enhance The Post-Wildfire Establishment And Persistence Of Great Basin Native Plants, Nancy Shaw, Beth Newingham, Amy C. Ganguli, Ann L. Hild, Robert D. Cox, Jim Truax, Mike Pellant, David Pyke, Dan Ogle, Loren St. John

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Annual grass invasion in the Great Basin has increased fire size, frequency and severity. Post-fire restoration to provide functional native plant communities is critical to improve resistance to weed invasion. Our ability to successfully re-establish mixtures of native grasses, forbs and shrubs, however, is limited. We examined the effects of the standard rangeland drill and a minimum-till drill, seeding strategies for small-seeded species, and Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. spp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) seeding rates on seeding success in burned shrub communities at four sites in the northern Great Basin. Seeded and recovering vegetation, as well as soil …

Evaluation And Improvement Of Smoke Plume Rise Models, Yongqiang Liu Dr., Gary Achtemeier Dr., Scott Goodrick Dr., Bill Jackson Dr., John Qu Dr.

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The purpose of this JFSP project was to evaluate and improve the performance of Daysmoke in simulating smoke plume rise of prescribed burning. A combined approach of field measurement, numerical modeling, and dynamical and statistical analysis was used. Smoke plume height was measured with a ceilometer for 20 prescribed burns in the southeastern U.S. The measured data was used to validate Daysmoke simulation. An empirical smoke plume rise model was developed based on the RAWS observations. Daysmoke was improved by including the number of multiple updraft cores. Regional air quality modeling was conducted with smoke plume rise provided by Daysmoke. …

Evaluation Of Smoke Models And Sensitivity Analysis For Determining Their Emission Related Uncertainties, M. Talat Odman Dr., Scott Goddrick Dr., Fernando Garcia-Menendez, Aika Yano

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Emissions from wildland (wild and prescribed) fires add to the burden of air pollution and can have adverse impacts on air quality and public health. Numerical models for dispersion and chemical transport, also known as air quality models, can be used to investigate the fire plume evolution and the smoke impacts. However, it is important that the predictive skills of smoke models be evaluated under a wide range of applicable conditions through systematic simulations of past events with existing data. Three models were evaluated in this research: CALPUFF, DAYSMOKE and CMAQ. Different prescribed burn and wildfire episodes occurring throughout the …

Fire And Aquatic Ecosystems In The Context Of Climate Change: A Synthesis For Improved Management, Charles Luce, Penelope Morgan, Kate Dwire, John Buffington, Bruce Rieman, Zack Holden, Matt Dare, Dan Isaak, Claire Mcgrath

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Fire will be the proverbial eye-of-the-needle through which many western U.S. mountain, forest, and stream ecosystems will pass as the climate changes. Historic observations show increased dryness and temperatures accompanying more widespread fire and forest die-off. These events may punctuate gradual changes to ecosystems, or may be a mechanism driving stepwise changes in ecosystems. Most western ecosystems are strongly tied to cycles of fire and recovery, and the changing nature of fire will have profound consequences. There is no question that vulnerability assessments of western U.S. ecosystems need to account for fire in their calculus. The biophysical template of the …

Synthesis Of Knowledge Of Extreme Fire Behavior: Volume I For Fire Managers, Paul A. Werth, Brian E. Potter, Craig B. Clements, Mark. A. Finney, Scott L. Goodrick, Martin E. Alexander, Miguel G. Cruz, Jason A. Forthofer, Sara S. Mcallister

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group definition of extreme fire behavior (EFB) indicates a level of fire behavior characteristics that ordinarily precludes methods of direct control action. One or more of the following is usually involved: high rate of spread, prolific crowning/ spotting, presence of fire whirls, and strong convection column. Predictability is difficult because such fires often exercise some degree of influence on their environment and behave erratically, sometimes dangerously. Alternate terms include “blow up” and “fire storm.” Fire managers examining fires over the last 100 years have come to understand many of the factors necessary for EFB development. This …

Fire Ecology And Management Of Non-Forested Ecosystems In Western North America. Final Report: Description Of Organizational Meetings And Development Of A Publication Plan, Matt Brooks

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

It has been almost 30 years since the last major book on the ecology and management of fire was published that contained extensive information from non-forested ecosystems across western North America (Wright and Bailey 1982). During subsequent years there have been notable books that have focused largely on forested ecosystems (e.g. Agee 1993), and there was one very recent book that addressed many important grassland, shrubland, woodland, and forest areas, but its geographic extent was confined to California (Sugihara et al. 2006). No single book has since matched the geographic scope associated with non-forested ecosystems in western North America as …

Laboratory Of Tree-Ring Research And School Of Natural Resources And The Environment, Thomas W. Swetnam, Donald Falk, Elaine K. Sutherland, Peter M. Brown, Timothy J. Brown

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Understanding the role of climate variation in governing fire regimes remains one of the central needs in contemporary fire science and management. Ideally, this understanding should encompass both historical and current fire-climatology, and inform both basic science and ecosystem management. In this project, Fire and Climate Synthesis (FACS) we undertook a detailed synthesis of both paleofire and modern fire based on compilations of existing data sets. We also analyzed three major thematic pathways by which climate has impacted fire policy, including direct and indirect climate effects on fire policy. Paleofire. We assembled the largest and most comprehensive data set of …

Fire Regimes Of Montane Grasslands Of The Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, Donald A. Falk, Craig D. Allen, Robert Parmenter, Thomas Swetnam, Clifford Dils

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Montane grasslands are an important ecosystem type in Southwestern landscapes, occurring from the forest borders of piñon-juniper woodland to high elevation subalpine and alpine ecosystems. Thus, they often represent a mosaic element embedded in the forest landscape matrix, playing key roles in processing water and nutrients, and providing habitat for unique suites of species, often at higher levels of diversity than those found in surrounding uplands. Soils, local temperature and moisture gradients, and disturbance all play roles in determining the distribution and extent of montane grasslands. Of these factors, fire plays the most dynamic role in regulating the location and …

Fuel Reduction Treatment Longevity And Crown Response In Interior Ponderosa Pine Forests Of Northern California, Martin W. Ritchie, Carl N. Skinner, Jianwei Zhang

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

With increasing interest in fuels treatments to address the high risk of severe fires in the western United States, there is an attendant need to quantify the effectiveness of such treatments. In addition to the immediate effect of reducing levels of combustible material and the attendant impact on fire intensity, resource managers also need to quantify or forecast the longevity of such treatments. Treatments that produce significant, but short-lived reductions in risk of severe wildfire may not be meeting the goals and objectives of managers. This temporal component needs further study and is the subject of this proposal. There are …

Fuel Treatments In Mixed-Pine Forests In The Great Lakes Region: A Comprehensive Guide To Planning And Implementation, Eric Toman, Stanley Gehrt, Charles Goebel, David M. Hix, Roger Williams, Robyn Wilson, Sarah Mccaffrey

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Fuel management decisions are made within a larger context of resource management characterized by multiple objectives including ecosystem restoration, wildlife management, commodity production (from timber to less traditional forest products), and provision of recreation opportunities and amenity values. Implementation of fuel treatments is strongly influenced by their perceived influence on and compatibility with overarching management objectives. In some cases these objectives may be complementary while in others they may involve difficult tradeoffs. Such tradeoffs are only further complicated by institutional mandates, limited availability of information, and complex ownership patterns. Like natural resource managers across the U.S., those in the Great …

Timber Talk, Vol. 49, No. 2, June 1, 2011

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News ; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Green; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Kiln Dried; New Nebraska “Secondary Processor” Directory; Sand Creek Post and Beam Named 2011 Nebraska Small Business of the Year; Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac; The Trouble With Ethanol; Trends — From One Saw Doctor’s Perspective; Nebraska Forestry Industry Spotlight; The Trading Post; Timber Sales

Timber Talk, Vol. 49, No. 4, November 1, 2011

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Green; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Kiln Dried; The Business Plan: Critical To Start-Up And Growth; A Baker’s Dozen Marketing Tips; Nebraska Forestry Industry Spotlight; The Trading Post; Proper Method of Bore Cutting Revisited; Timber Sales.

Evaluation Of The Modis Lai Product Using Independent Lidar-Derived Lai: A Case Study In Mixed Conifer Forest, Jennifer L.R. Jensen, Karen S. Humes, Andrew T. Hudak, Lee A. Vierling, Eric Delmelle

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

This study presents an alternative assessment of the MODIS LAI product for a 58,000 ha evergreen needleleaf forest located in the western Rocky Mountain range in northern Idaho by using lidar data to model (R²=0.86, RMSE=0.76) and map LAI at higher resolution across a large number of MODIS pixels in their entirety. Moderate resolution (30 m) lidar-based LAI estimates were aggregated to the resolution of the 1-km MODIS LAI product and compared to temporally-coincident MODIS retrievals. Differences in the MODIS and lidar-derived values of LAI were grouped and analyzed by several different factors, including MODIS retrieval algorithm, sun/sensor …

Engineering A Future For Amphibians Under Climate Change, Luke P. Shoo, Deanna H. Olson, Sarah K. Mcmenamin, Kris A. Murray, Monique Van Sluys, Maureen A. Donnelly, Danial Stratford, Juhani Terhivuo, Andres Merino-Viteri, Sarah M. Herbert, Phillip J. Bishop, Paul Stephen Corn, Liz Dovey, Richard A. Griffiths, Katrin Lowe, Michael Mahony, Hamish Mccallum, Jonathan D. Shuker, Clay Simpkins, Lee F. Skerrat, Stephen E. Williams, Jean-Marc Hero

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

1. Altered global climates in the 21st century pose serious threats for biological systems and practical actions are needed to mount a response for species at risk.

2. We identify management actions from across the world and from diverse disciplines that are applicable to minimizing loss of amphibian biodiversity under climate change. Actions were grouped under three thematic areas of intervention: (i) installation of microclimate and microhabitat refuges; (ii) enhancement and restoration of breeding sites; and (iii) manipulation of hydroperiod or water levels at breeding sites.

3. Synthesis and applications. There are currently few meaningful management actions that will …

A Habitat Overlap Analysis Derived From Maxent For Tamarisk And The South-Western Willow Flycatcher, Patricia York, Paul Evangelista, Sunil Kumar, James Graham, Curtis Flather, Thomas Stohlgren

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

Biologic control of the introduced and invasive, woody plant tamarisk (Tamarix spp, saltcedar) in south-western states is controversial because it affects habitat of the federally endangered South-western Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus). These songbirds sometimes nest in tamarisk where floodplain-level invasion replaces native habitats. Biologic control, with the saltcedar leaf beetle (Diorhabda elongate), began along the Virgin River, Utah, in 2006, enhancing the need for comprehensive understanding of the tamarisk-flycatcher relationship. We used maximum entropy (Maxent) modeling to separately quantify the current extent of dense tamarisk habitat (>50% cover) and the potential extent of …

A Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis Of Risk Perception And Treatment Options As Related To Wildfires In The Usda Fs Region 3 National Forests, Ingrid M. Martin, Wade E. Martin, Carol B. Raish

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

As the incidence of devastating fires rises, managing the risk posed by these fires has become critical. This report provides important information to examine the ways that different groups or disaster subcultures develop the mentalities or perceived realities that affect their views and responses concerning risk and disaster preparedness. Fire risk beliefs and attitudes of individuals and groups from four geographic areas in the Southwest (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Region 3, Arizona and New Mexico) surrounding the Kaibab, Tonto, Santa Fe, and Lincoln National Forests are presented. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, we collected information from three …

Carrying Capacity For Species Richness As A Context For Conservation: A Case Study Of North American Breeding Birds, Andrew J. Hansen, Linda Bowers Phillips, Curtis H. Flather, Jim Robinson-Cox

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

Aim To demonstrate that the concept of carrying capacity for species richness (S_K) is highly relevant to the conservation of biodiversity, and to estimate the spatial pattern of S_K for native landbirds as a basis for conservation planning.

Location North America.

Methods We evaluated the leading hypotheses on biophysical factors affecting species richness for Breeding Bird Survey routes from areas with little influence of human activities.We then derived a best model based on information theory, and used this model to extrapolate SK across North America based on the biophysical predictor variables. The predictor variables included the …

The Joint Fire Science Program’S First 10 Years, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Fire scientists and managers at the 4th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress offer their thoughts about the Joint Fire Science Program’s accomplishments, challenges, and future direction

Chloroacetamid Spray Drift And Leaf Tatters In Hackberry, Ariana P. Miller

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

During the last decade, leaf tatters has been reported in white oak and hackberry across several Midwestern states. Herbicide spray drift studies have shown that chloroacetamides can induce leaf tatters. The objectives of this research were to: 1) identify vulnerable bud developmental stages in hackberry and 2) determine if different commercial chloroacetamides affect severity of leaf tatters. In 2008, a preliminary spray drift experiment was conducted on mature trees from a former hackberry provenance test stand. Acetochlor (Harness), S-metolachlor (Dual II Magnum), and dimethenamid (Outlook) were applied at concentrations approximating 27%, 54%, 81%, or 108% of the recommended field rate. …

Distribution Of Dioecious Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) Along An Environmental Gradient In Ogallala, Ne, Taylor Sloey

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the sex distribution and energy allocation of dioecious Eastern Red Cedars (Juniperus virginiana) along an environmental resource gradient. The trees surveyed were growing in a canyon located at the University of Nebraska’s Cedar Point Biological Research Station in Ogallala, Nebraska. Due to the geography of this canyon, environmental factors necessary for plant growth should vary depending on the tree’s location within the canyon. These factors include water availability, sun exposure, ground slope, and soil nitrogen content, all of which are necessary for carbon acquisition.

Juniperus virginiana is a dioecious conifer. Dioecious …

Bending, Like The Reed In The Wind: A System To Restore Northwestern Forests, Lisa-Natalie Anjozian

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

Silviculture is the study, cultivation, and management of forest trees. It is rooted in science, but often is an art based on the experience of the forester. This story explores free-selection, a silvicultural system developed by scientists that allows managers and stakeholders greater fl exibility in growing new forests. By using this system for applying treatments, managers craft a vision of the desired short- and long-term conditions of the forest. The focus is placed on how the remaining forest components will function, rather than focusing on stand structure guidelines that dictate stand treatments and tree removal.

Naked Eyes And Hyperspectral Images Build Fuel Maps In The Southern Appalachian Mountains, Lisa-Natalie Anjozian

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

With the limited knowledge previously available about the types of fuels, and how they are distributed in the southern Appalachian Mountains, managers have faced diffi culties in developing fi re plans for the region, including whether or where to apply prescribed fi re. For this study, the scientists took a two phase approach to determine fuel loads on the land—by ground surveys, and by remote sensing technology using hyperspectral images. Examining over 1,000 study plots in diverse topographic locations affected by various disturbances (or no disturbance) across four states, the researchers found few differences in undisturbed plots regardless of topographic …

Nature In A Name: Paulownia Tomentosa—Exotic Tree, Native Problem, Lisa-Natalie Anjozian

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

While awareness of fire’s importance in dry Appalachian forests, and the application of fire as a restoration tool have increased over the last two decades, so too has the post-fire invasion of Paulownia tomentosa (Princess tree). For the last ten years, managers have witnessed Paulownia invasion grow following fi re events. To understand this better, the team studied five life history transitions for the species: seed dispersal, seed germination, seed survival over time through incorporation in the seed bank, initial habitat requirements, and seedling persistence to maturity. Paulownia seeds were found to disperse over two miles from their source tree. …

The Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition: A Citizen-Agency Partnership That Works, Bruce Shindler

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

With the urgency of wildfi re near every community’s door, federal agencies have sought a middle ground between the extremes of timber-industry and environmental positions, one that would enable active management to reduce fuels and create safer communities. At the same time, citizen groups have organized themselves to protect important community values connected with their neighboring forests. These developments have set the stage for increasingly successful multi-stakeholder partnerships. The collaborative processes facilitated by these partnerships require considerable patience and perseverance at the outset, but the result can be a healthier forest, reduced fi re risk, more stable planning processes, and …

Filling In Knowledge Gaps In North Carolina, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

North Carolina is divided into three broad physiographic regions, from the low-lying Atlantic Coastal Plain, to the midelevation foothills—the Piedmont Plateau—to the higher elevation Blue Ridge and Appalachian zone. Understanding the behavior of fire in these widely different regions, as in much of the southeastern United States, presents challenges that differ sharply from those common in the West, where the emphasis on fire science research has been greater. An ambitious project has helped fill in local and regional knowledge gaps, as researchers gathered data and assessed the relevance and limitations of existing tools, including remote satellite sensing, weather station information, …

Sink Or Source? Fire And The Forest Carbon Cycle, Christina Frame

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

As the size and severity of fires in the western U.S. continue to increase, it has become ever more important to understand carbon dynamics in response to fire. Many subalpine forests experience stand-replacing wildfires, and these fires and subsequent recovery can change the amount of carbon released to the atmosphere because subalpine forests store large amounts of carbon. Stand-replacing fires initially convert ecosystems into a net source of carbon as the forest decomposes—a short-term effect (decades) that will likely be important over the next century if fire frequency increases as a result of climate change. Over the long term (centuries), …

The Good Earth: Run-Off, Erosion, And Recovery In The Post-Fi Re Chaparral Steeplands Of Southern California, Lisa-Natalie Anjozian

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

In September 2002, the Williams Fire burned 38,184 acres of chaparral steeplands, including more than 90 percent of the San Dimas Experimental Forest. The 1960 Johnstone Fire had burned many of the same watersheds some forty years earlier, thus providing opportunities to compare post-fire watershed response coupled with management efforts that had converted some native chaparral areas to grassland. With scant studies on soil water repellency, plant recovery, and their effects on watershed hydrology, managers face diffi culties in planning for erosion/run-off problems. The researchers delivered quantifi ed data on changing soil properties, the character and structure of regenerating plants, …

To Thin Or Not To Thin: Assessing The Consequences Of Fuel Reduction Treatments For The Non-Coniferous Ecosystems Of Southwestern Oregon, Shari Anstedt

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

Over time, fire exclusion has caused the accumulation of fuels and changes in vegetation structure and composition in many western ecosystems. This is commonly assumed to have also occurred in the oak woodlands, shrub lands and grasslands of southwestern Oregon. As a result, land managers of the Medford District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have sought to reduce fuel-loads using a variety of thinning methods including mechanical mastication and hand-cutting, piling and burning. As of the mid-1990s, these treatments have been used on thousands of acres annually of the Ashland Resource Area (ARA) of the BLM. Since non-coniferous …

Using Lidar To Validate And Strengthen A Long-Range Smoke Transport Model For Air Quality Forecasting, Joy Drohan

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

Researchers have explored the potential and limitations of using lidar, the remote sensing instrument, to provide information on smoke plume dynamics and optical properties. They used a scanning lidar in the smoke-polluted atmospheres near wildfires and prescribed fires to measure the height, dynamics, and three-dimensional dispersion of smoke plumes and the temporal and spatial variations of the optical properties of the smoke particulates. The team has developed and refi ned a measurement methodology and data processing techniques for analysis of data collected from smoky atmospheres by lidar and auxiliary instruments within the smoke-polluted area. They developed, validated, and improved lidar …

Frequencies, Lasers, And Wavelengths: A Quest For Affordable, Landscape Scale Remote Sensing, Marjie Brown

Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)

New developments in high-resolution remote sensing systems have demonstrated the potential for generating direct, more accurate, and efficient estimates of fuels and the vegetation characteristics that influence fire behavior at the landscape scale. Two of these direct measurement tools are operated from aircraft and known by their acronyms LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and IFSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar). IFSAR is less costly than LIDAR, and unlike LIDAR, IFSAR sees through clouds and smoke. This project sought to evaluate the utility of IFSAR data for characterizing vegetation structure in the chaparral-dominated landscapes typical over much of southern California. The researchers …