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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
2010 Western Mensurationists’ Conference, David Affleck, John Goodburn, Christopher Keyes, Renate Bush
2010 Western Mensurationists’ Conference, David Affleck, John Goodburn, Christopher Keyes, Renate Bush
JFSP Research Project Reports
The 2010 Western Mensurationists’ Conference in Missoula, MT, drew together forest scientists and land managers with primary expertise in the measurement and modeling of forest resources. The meeting provided an opportunity to focus the collective technical expertise of this group on crossdisciplinary conifer crown modeling issues that are of increasing importance to existing and emerging forest management strategies in western North America. Thus, a special invited session on conifer crown modeling results and opportunities was added to the conference agenda together with a participatory workshop on crown modeling needs and challenges. Funding was provided by the Joint Fire Science Program …
The Role Of Adaptive Capacity In Creating Fire-Adapted Human Communities, Pamela J. Jakes, Matthew S. Carroll, Travis B. Paveglio, Soren Newman
The Role Of Adaptive Capacity In Creating Fire-Adapted Human Communities, Pamela J. Jakes, Matthew S. Carroll, Travis B. Paveglio, Soren Newman
JFSP Research Project Reports
In this research we sought answers to the question: What are the social characteristics and conditions of human communities that promote adaptive capacity for wildfire? The Quadrennial Fire Review (USDA and USDI 2009) promotes a goal of “achieving fire-adapted communities” in the wildland urban interface (WUI), and identifies metrics for determining whether a community is fire-adapted. While these metrics address some of the biophysical conditions necessary for fire-adapted human communities, they offer little insight into the social elements that promote or sustain adaptive capacity. Adaptive capacity refers to the individual and collective resources, capabilities, and actions that alleviate the risk …
The Communicative Construction Of Safety In Wildland Firefighting, Jody Jahn, Linda Putnam, Anne Black
The Communicative Construction Of Safety In Wildland Firefighting, Jody Jahn, Linda Putnam, Anne Black
JFSP Research Project Reports
This document is a summary of a mixed methods dissertation that examined the communicative construction of safety in wildland firefighting. For the dissertation, I used a twostudy mixed methods approach, examining the communicative accomplishment of safety from two perspectives: high reliability organizing (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 1999), and safety climate (Zohar, 1980). In Study One, 27 firefighters from two functionally similar wildland firefighting crews were interviewed about their crew-level interactions involved in implementing safety rules and firefighting tasks. These critical incident narratives (Flanagan, 1954; Gremler, 2004) were compared to extract workgroup level similarities and differences in interaction patterns relating to …
A Proposal To Improve Performance Of The Forest Vegetation Simulator - Fire And Fuels Extension, Dave C. Cawrse, Michael G. Van Dyke, Nicolas Nicholas L. Crookston, Donald Robinson, Sarah Beukema
A Proposal To Improve Performance Of The Forest Vegetation Simulator - Fire And Fuels Extension, Dave C. Cawrse, Michael G. Van Dyke, Nicolas Nicholas L. Crookston, Donald Robinson, Sarah Beukema
JFSP Research Project Reports
The Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) and its associated Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE) have been used to provide information required by larger software systems like the Interagency Fuels Treatment - Decision Support System (IFT-DSS). Interacting with FVS in an automated fashion has been difficult, and simulations with very large numbers of stands, such as those necessary for landscape analyses for fire planning, could take a significant amount of time to process. This project was designed to: (A) develop a requirements document considering Service Oriented Architecture and how that may apply to FVS, and how FVS will be used interactively; (B) …
Assessment Of Canopy Fuel Loading Across A Heterogeneous Landscape Using Lidar, Kenneth L. Clark, Nicholas Skowronski, Michael Gallagher, Nicholas Carlo, Michael Farrell, Melanie R. Maghirang
Assessment Of Canopy Fuel Loading Across A Heterogeneous Landscape Using Lidar, Kenneth L. Clark, Nicholas Skowronski, Michael Gallagher, Nicholas Carlo, Michael Farrell, Melanie R. Maghirang
JFSP Research Project Reports
Our research used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems coupled with sequential harvesting of Pitch pine (Pinus rigida Mill.) to quantify canopy fuels in three dimensions across a large, heterogeneous landscape impacted by multiple wildfires, prescribed burns and insect defoliation events. We used a three-tiered approach; 1) calibration of upward sensing profiling LiDAR data with sequential harvesting of 20 x 20 meter plots to quantify the mass of foliage, branches and stems in Pitch pine canopies in 1-meter height layers, 2) scaling results to the landscape scale using previously-published relationships between upward sensing and downward sensing scanning LiDAR systems in …
Annual Brome Biocontrol After Wildfire Using A Native Fungal Seed Pathogen, Susan E. Meyer, Phil S. Allen, Julie Beckstead, Michael Gregg, Heidi Newsome, Kathleen Harcksen, Gary Kidd, Glenn Paulsen, Karen Prentice, Dana Quinney, David Wilderman, Stephanie Carlson, Suzette Clement, Duane Smith, Thom Stewart, Katie Merrill, Keith Merrill, Kedra Foote, Stephen Harrison, Kelly Bergen, Brian Connelly, Trevor Davis, Sandra Dooley, Michael Huck, Laura Street, Lauren Miller
Annual Brome Biocontrol After Wildfire Using A Native Fungal Seed Pathogen, Susan E. Meyer, Phil S. Allen, Julie Beckstead, Michael Gregg, Heidi Newsome, Kathleen Harcksen, Gary Kidd, Glenn Paulsen, Karen Prentice, Dana Quinney, David Wilderman, Stephanie Carlson, Suzette Clement, Duane Smith, Thom Stewart, Katie Merrill, Keith Merrill, Kedra Foote, Stephen Harrison, Kelly Bergen, Brian Connelly, Trevor Davis, Sandra Dooley, Michael Huck, Laura Street, Lauren Miller
JFSP Research Project Reports
A major problem in post-fire restoration of semi-arid shrublands dominated by annual bromes is the presence of carryover seed banks that cannot be controlled using conventional methods. These seeds can provide significant competition for seeded species in the years following treatment. We investigated the feasibility of using a naturally occurring seed pathogen, the ascomycete Pyrenophora semeniperda, as a biocontrol organism for eliminating this carryover seed bank. We carried out the necessary technology development to create and apply field inoculum to cheatgrass- or red brome-infested areas (both burned and unburned) at six sites located in three states across two years of …
Changes In Vegetation And Fuels Due To The Warm Fire On The Kaibab National Forest, Melissa A. Mcmaster, Andrea Thode, Brian Brost, Matthew Williamsen, Ethan Aumack, Dave Mertz
Changes In Vegetation And Fuels Due To The Warm Fire On The Kaibab National Forest, Melissa A. Mcmaster, Andrea Thode, Brian Brost, Matthew Williamsen, Ethan Aumack, Dave Mertz
JFSP Research Project Reports
Fire is a significant and essential disturbance in ponderosa pine ecosystems but the management and the re-introduction of fire across the landscape is a difficult task for land managers. In this study we worked with land managers, stakeholders and researchers to examine the effects of a large wildfire on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona. We analyzed litter and duff depth, downed woody debris and understory vegetation responses to low and high burn severity and assessed the response of the understory vegetation to seeding with Lolium perenne ssp. multiflorum in high severity burn areas. To assist land managers in future …
Continued Evaluation Of Post-Fire Recovery And Treatment Effectiveness For Validation Of The Ermit Erosion Model, Peter R. Robichaud, William J. Elliot, Joseph W. Wagenbrenner, Sarah A. Lewis, Louise E. Ashmun, Peter M. Wohlgemuth, Robert E. Brown
Continued Evaluation Of Post-Fire Recovery And Treatment Effectiveness For Validation Of The Ermit Erosion Model, Peter R. Robichaud, William J. Elliot, Joseph W. Wagenbrenner, Sarah A. Lewis, Louise E. Ashmun, Peter M. Wohlgemuth, Robert E. Brown
JFSP Research Project Reports
The use and cost of post-fire emergency stabilization treatments continues to grow. To help maximize the impact of these treatments, many assessment teams use the Erosion Risk Management Tool (ERMiT) erosion model to predict postfire erosion and mitigation effects. However, despite several completed JFSP projects, the long-term effects of these treatments remain unknown, and the ERMiT model has not been validated. Long-term post-fire erosion and runoff data on a variety of mulches and erosion barriers were collected using 12 existing sites throughout the Western U.S. The agricultural straw and wood strand mulch treatments were very effective at reducing erosion and …
Effectiveness Of Fuel Treatments For Mitigating Wildfire Severity: A Manager‐Focused Review And Synthesis, Philip N. Omi, Erik J. Martinson Mr.
Effectiveness Of Fuel Treatments For Mitigating Wildfire Severity: A Manager‐Focused Review And Synthesis, Philip N. Omi, Erik J. Martinson Mr.
JFSP Research Project Reports
The 2008 Request for Applications from the Joint Fire Science Program called for a synthesis of the extant literature that addresses the effectiveness of fuel treatments. We employed a four‐pronged approach to address this task, including several scoping exercises with land managers, a literature review, a meta‐analysis, and development of an online pictorial database.
An Enhanced Online Piled Fuels Biomass Calculator, Clinton S. Wright, Paige C. Eagle
An Enhanced Online Piled Fuels Biomass Calculator, Clinton S. Wright, Paige C. Eagle
JFSP Research Project Reports
A web-programming project was undertaken to allow users of the online Hand-piled Fuels Biomass Calculator to also estimate the volume, biomass and potential emissions of mechanically piled fuels. Machine pile calculations encoded in the decision support software CONSUME 3.0 were added to the online Calculator to achieve this objective. In addition, the ability to batch process piled fuels data was added to the online Calculator to ease data input for large analysis projects. A stand-alone version of the Calculator was developed for users without access to the Internet. As it is executed within a standard web browser (e.g., Microsoft Internet …
Evaluating The Effects Of Pinyon Thinning Treatments At A Wildland Urban Interface, J. R. Matchett, Matthew L. Brooks, Anne Halford, Dale Johnson, Helen Smith
Evaluating The Effects Of Pinyon Thinning Treatments At A Wildland Urban Interface, J. R. Matchett, Matthew L. Brooks, Anne Halford, Dale Johnson, Helen Smith
JFSP Research Project Reports
This study evaluated the short-term effects of thinning methods for pinyon pine woodlands at two sites in the southwestern Great Basin. Both cut/pile/burn and mastication treatments were equally effective at reducing the target fuels which were mature, live pinyon trees. Application costs though differed substantially, with the cut/pile/burn technique being less expensive. Thinning treatments increased the abundance of herbaceous vegetation, although in some cases the strength of the increase was constrained by the level of pre-treatment tree dominance. Increases in perennial grass cover and density in response to thinning were usually greatest at lower levels of pre-treatment pinyon dominance, whereas …
Exploring The Traditional Use Of Fire In The Coastal Mountains Of Central California, Brent E. Johnson, Rand R. Everett, Kent G. Lightfoot, Charles J. Stiplen
Exploring The Traditional Use Of Fire In The Coastal Mountains Of Central California, Brent E. Johnson, Rand R. Everett, Kent G. Lightfoot, Charles J. Stiplen
JFSP Research Project Reports
This study brought together a team of ecologists, archaeologists, environmental historians, indigenous peoples, and land managers within a research framework combining an ethnographic investigation of traditional practices with cutting-edge paleoecological techniques to answer questions about Indian utilization of fire as an ecological and cultural landscape management tool in Central Coastal California. The study was designed around four key elements: (1) examining fire regimes for research sites using a combination of fire scar dendrochronology, phytoliths, archaeology, historical information, and traditional ecological knowledge; (2) attempting to formalize a methodology for using phytoliths to estimate the fire return interval and intensity in grassland …
Fire Regimes Of The Southern Appalachian Mountains: Temporal And Spatial Variability Over Multiple Scales And Implications For Ecosystem Management, Charles W. Lafon, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Sally P. Horn, Robert N. Klein
Fire Regimes Of The Southern Appalachian Mountains: Temporal And Spatial Variability Over Multiple Scales And Implications For Ecosystem Management, Charles W. Lafon, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Sally P. Horn, Robert N. Klein
JFSP Research Project Reports
Information about historic fire regimes and the departure of current fire regimes from historic conditions is essential for guiding and justifying management actions, such as prescribed burning programs for ecosystem process restoration and fuel reduction. Such information is noticeably lacking for the southern Appalachian Mountains, where human populations are encroaching onto wildland areas, and where decades of fire exclusion have contributed to the decline of fire-associated communities and also to altered fuel loads. We address this knowledge gap via a multi-scale investigation of the variability in fire regimes over time and space using tree-ring reconstructions of fire history and stand …
Fuel Consumption And Smoke Emissions From Landscape-Scale Burns In Eastern Hardwoods, Matthew Dickinson, Ann Acheson, Robert Kremens
Fuel Consumption And Smoke Emissions From Landscape-Scale Burns In Eastern Hardwoods, Matthew Dickinson, Ann Acheson, Robert Kremens
JFSP Research Project Reports
Our project used remotely-sensed infrared radiation measurements to estimate fuel consumption in eastern mixed-oak forests and facilitated the development of smoke management expertise and processes for complying with EPA regulations in Ohio and Kentucky. As a result of two workshops, Ohio developed a Smoke Management Plan designed to ensure that best management practices were being used across land ownerships and to facilitate mandated information sharing with the Ohio EPA and US EPA. Ohio also established a Prescribed Fire Council as a result of this process. Kentucky opted for a less formal response to EPA regulations, establishing a Prescribed Fire Council …
Developing And Using Fire Scar Histories In The Southern And Eastern United States, Richard P. Guyette, Martin Spetich, Daniel C. Dey
Developing And Using Fire Scar Histories In The Southern And Eastern United States, Richard P. Guyette, Martin Spetich, Daniel C. Dey
JFSP Research Project Reports
Land managers developing fire management plans in the eastern and southern United States lack quantitative information on historic fire regimes. Twelve new fire histories were developed from dated fire scars on trees from regions where no fire scar history data had existed before in the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Sites represent highly variable climates from extreme cold (with long snow cover duration) to subtropical. All sites utilized oak or pine recorder species that were collected from closed forest to open savanna structures. Pre-industrial mean fire intervals ranged from 3 to more than 35 years at …
Do Annual Prescribed Fires Enhance Or Slow The Loss Of Coastal Marsh Habitat At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge?, Donald R. Cahoon, Glenn Guntenspergen, Suzanne Baird
Do Annual Prescribed Fires Enhance Or Slow The Loss Of Coastal Marsh Habitat At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge?, Donald R. Cahoon, Glenn Guntenspergen, Suzanne Baird
JFSP Research Project Reports
The rate of estuarine marsh loss at Blackwater NWR has been high (up to 2,000 ha) during the past 80 years because the vertical buildup of the marsh surface has lagged behind the local rate of relative sea-level rise. In this mineral sediment-poor estuary, marsh vertical development is driven primarily by the accumulation of plant matter in the soil (roots and rhizomes). Thus any activity that affects plant productivity can affect the ability of these marshes to keep pace with sea-level rise. Blackwater NWR has employed an annual prescribed fire regime since the 1970’s to achieve multiple management objectives. However, …
Effect Of Season And Interval Of Prescribed Burns In A Ponderosa Pine Ecosystem On Tree Growth And Understory Vegetation., W. G. Thies, Becky K. Kerns, Douglas J. Westlind
Effect Of Season And Interval Of Prescribed Burns In A Ponderosa Pine Ecosystem On Tree Growth And Understory Vegetation., W. G. Thies, Becky K. Kerns, Douglas J. Westlind
JFSP Research Project Reports
After decades of fire exclusion many stands now have historically unprecedented (high) levels of fuels and overstocking. As a result these stands have developed a variety of health issues. In response to these problems land managers are using prescribed fire to restore fuel loads and stand stocking to pre-fire exclusion levels. The impacts of season of prescribed burn as well as burn interval are not well understood. Managers need the ability to better predict these impacts on such things as tree mortality from fire, associated insect attack and disease development, tree growth, and plant communities. The “Season of Burn” study …
Do Fuel Treatments Reduce Fire Severity? Evaluating Treatment Effectiveness In The 2006 Tripod Complex Fires, Susan J. Prichard, David L. Peterson
Do Fuel Treatments Reduce Fire Severity? Evaluating Treatment Effectiveness In The 2006 Tripod Complex Fires, Susan J. Prichard, David L. Peterson
JFSP Research Project Reports
The 2006 Tripod Complex fires burned over 70,000 ha of dry mixed conifer forests in north-central Washington State. Recent fuel treatments burned in the wildfire offered an opportunity to quantitatively evaluate if fuel treatment effectively mitigated fire severity. We quantified the relative effect of two common fuel treatments: mechanical thinning only (thin) and mechanical thinning followed by prescribed burning (thinRx). Fire severity was markedly different between the two treatments. Over 57% of trees survived in thinRx units versus 19% in thin and 14% in control units. Considering only large-diameter trees (> 20 cm dbh), 73% survived in thinRx units versus …
Effects Of Prescribed Burning, Mechanical, And Chemical Treatments To Curtail Rhododendron Dominance And Reduce Urban Interface Fuel Loads, Shepard M. Zedaker, Charles W. Harrell Iii, Christopher D. Pearce
Effects Of Prescribed Burning, Mechanical, And Chemical Treatments To Curtail Rhododendron Dominance And Reduce Urban Interface Fuel Loads, Shepard M. Zedaker, Charles W. Harrell Iii, Christopher D. Pearce
JFSP Research Project Reports
One-half-acre treatment areas were delineated within prescribed burns. Cutting treatments consisted of chainsaw or brushsaw severing of all rhododendron stems within 6 in of the ground surface. Herbicide and herbicide followed by fire treatments consisted of basal applications of triclopyr or imazapyr in methylated seed oil on each plot. Cutting and burning treatments followed by herbicides utilized foliar applications of triclopyr or imazapyr in emulsions to all resprouting rhododendron. All herbicide plots were randomly split in half for the application of imazapyr or triclopyr on different halves. Analyses of variance and mean separation by LSD were used to compare treatment …
Evaluating Postfire Seeding Treatments Designed To Suppress Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) In A Ponderosa Pine Forest On The Colorado Plateau, Matthew L. Brooks, Robert Klinger, Jennifer Chase, Curt Deuser
Evaluating Postfire Seeding Treatments Designed To Suppress Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) In A Ponderosa Pine Forest On The Colorado Plateau, Matthew L. Brooks, Robert Klinger, Jennifer Chase, Curt Deuser
JFSP Research Project Reports
The restoration of historical fuel conditions and fire regimes is one of the primary land management goals in the Shivwits Plateau region of northwestern Arizona. Fire is the primary tool used in this region to reduce fuel loads and shift landscapes back to historical conditions of a low intensity, 8- 15 year return interval, surface fire regime. However, the invasive plant cheatgrass has become the dominant understory vegetation and fuel type following initial fire treatments in many areas. There is significant concern that repeated burning at historically appropriate fire return intervals for ponderosa pine forest will benefit this invasive plant …
Evaluating Approaches To Mapping Burn Probabilities For A Quantitative Wildland Fire Risk Analysis Framework., Carol Miller, Marc Parisien, Alan Ager, Mark Finney
Evaluating Approaches To Mapping Burn Probabilities For A Quantitative Wildland Fire Risk Analysis Framework., Carol Miller, Marc Parisien, Alan Ager, Mark Finney
JFSP Research Project Reports
This final report summarizes a collaboration that brought together experts in burn probability (BP) modeling and wildland fire risk analysis to compare and evaluate BP models, and ultimately incorporate these into a risk analysis framework. The project built on and extended the work from JFSP project #01-1-1-05. This project evaluated and tested three different independent models that generate BP maps as output for their operational use in risk analysis. The project quantified the relative sensitivity of the three BP models to different inputs, enhanced our understanding of the factors that affect BP at the landscape scale, and yielded concrete improvements …
Evaluating Postfire Seeding Treatments Designed To Suppress Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) In A Ponderosa Pine Forest On The Colorado Plateau, Matthew L. Brooks, Robert Klinger, Jennifer Chase, Curt Deuser
Evaluating Postfire Seeding Treatments Designed To Suppress Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) In A Ponderosa Pine Forest On The Colorado Plateau, Matthew L. Brooks, Robert Klinger, Jennifer Chase, Curt Deuser
JFSP Research Project Reports
The restoration of historical fuel conditions and fire regimes is one of the primary land management goals in the Shivwits Plateau region of northwestern Arizona. Fire is the primary tool used in this region to reduce fuel loads and shift landscapes back to historical conditions of a low intensity, 8- 15 year return interval, surface fire regime. However, the invasive plant cheatgrass has become the dominant understory vegetation and fuel type following initial fire treatments in many areas. There is significant concern that repeated burning at historically appropriate fire return intervals for ponderosa pine forest will benefit this invasive plant …