Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

On The Inherent Asymmetric Nature Of The Complementary Relationship Of Evaporation, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Accelerating Adoption Of Fire Science And Related Research, Jamie Barbour

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Since its inception in 1998, the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) has funded over 350 projects. The Joint Fire Science Program has long recognized that the investments made in wildland fire science need to be accompanied by an emphasis on science interpretation and delivery. Program success is ultimately measured by how well information from research efforts is being conveyed to resource managers and end users, and whether this information is improving management decisions. This project introduced a conceptual model for an adaptive process to improve the delivery of scientific information. We developed this process through these steps: 1. Creating a …

An Automated System For Evaluating Bluesky Predictions Of Smoke Impacts On Community Health And Ecosystems, Robert Solomon

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Predictions of smoke impacts on communities and ecosystems are currently being made by the BlueSky smoke forecast system; providing real-time predictions of surface smoke concentrations from prescribed fire, wildfire, and agricultural burn activities. Currently operational in the Pacific Northwest, BlueSky has already a demonstrated success regarding what inter-agency collaboration can accomplish. A critical component of BlueSky that needed to be addressed was the development of an automated verification system to evaluate predicted impacts from smoke on communities and ecosystems. A verification system is necessary because land managers need to evaluate their burn decisions against potential National Ambient Air Quality Standard …

Atmospheric Fire Risk (Haines Index) In A Changed Climate, Julie Winkler, Brian Potter

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Previous studies of wildland fire potential under a perturbed climate have focused on potential changes in near-surface atmospheric parameters (e.g., temperature, humidity, and precipitation) and vegetation changes. However, above-ground atmospheric conditions, such as atmospheric stability, also play a critical role in fire behavior, especially for larger fires. This study employed the widely-used Haines Index as a measure of above-ground conditions relevant to wildland fire and investigated the potential changes in the Haines Index over the next 100 years. The analysis is based on simulations from the most recent version of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate System …

Fire Managers Field Guide: Hazardous Fuels Management In Subtropical Pine Flatwoods And Tropical Pine Rocklands, Joseph J. O'Brien, Kathyryn A. Mordecai, Leslie Wolcott, James Snyder, Kenneth Outcalt

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Preface This document, The Fire Managers Field Guide: Hazardous Fuels Management in Sub-tropical Pine Flatwoods and Tropical Pine Rocklands is intended to provide an overview of techniques and tactics under actual use for addressing hazardous fuels in tropical and subtropical pine forests found in Florida, the Bahamas and elsewhere in the Caribbean. The information presented here was distilled from peer reviewed literature, technical reports, and the experiences of on-theground fire managers. Managing fuels is complex and idiosyncratic. This guide is intended to provide only a broad introduction to currently available techniques; some well known and others newer and untested. The …

Cross-Training Professionals On Reducing Property Loss At The Wildland-Urban Interface, Anne S. Fege

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Most wildfire education programs have relied primarily on homeowner information and education. This project focuses on the role of business professionals who are often hired to design, build, maintain or mitigate the home and surrounding landscape or who otherwise advise homeowners and affect their decisions. Such professionals include architects, builders, insurance agents, landscape architects and contractors, planners, media, real estate professionals and others. The findings of this project were three-fold. First, by participating in this program, businesses and professionals gain a marketable service in the form of a greater understanding in wildfire mitigation as well as better business practices with …

Developing An Analysis And Planning Framework For District-Level Fuels Treatment Projects (Final Project Report), Alan Ager

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Widespread fuel reduction programs have been initiated in many parts of the USA in response to a growing threat of wildland fire. Urban encroachment, fuels buildup from fire suppression, and drought all have been linked to increasing wildfire frequency and severity. Developing effective mitigation strategies is a challenging problem, especially on vast tracts of federally-managed wildlands in the western U.S. Fuel reduction activities on Federal lands are generally difficult to plan and implement due to cost, public expectations, and land management regulations. State of the art wildfire modeling is frequently required to demonstrate the benefits of fuels reduction treatments and …

Developing A Science Integration Strategy For Jfsp, Jamie Barbour

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The mission of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) is to produce high quality research findings to inform wildland fire and fuel managers’ decisions. Since its inception in 1998, the program has funded nearly 400 studies and has generated a tremendous amount of information and analytical tools. As the JFSP moves into the future, a Science Delivery Strategy is needed to: 1) ensure that this base of information finds application, and 2) create a more systematic way to identify and organize new work that will encourage its rapid assimilation by the management community. The attached Science Delivery Strategy was developed …

Development And Demonstration Of Smoke Plume, Fire Emissions, And Preand Post-Prescribed Fire Fuel Models On North Carolina Coastal Plain Forest Ecosystems, Robert Meckler, Gary Achtemier, Chris Geron, Miriam Rorig, David Brownlie

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The objectives are to (1) Inventory, map, and model live and down woody debris/fuels biomass utilizing USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis P2 and P3 field plot protocols, develop fuel loading formulas for fire behavior models in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and the Air Force Dare County Bombing Range in the North Carolina Coastal Plain, and incorporate data from Coastal Plain forest types into the fuel characteristic classification (FCC) system and the FARSITE fire behavior model; (2) Validate the USDA Forest Service PB-Coastal Plain smoke model, the BlueSky smoke prediction system, and the BlueSky Rapid Access Information …

Digital Photo Series (Natural Fuels Photo Series), Clinton S. Wright, Robert E. Vilnakek, Roger D. Ottmar, Paige C. Eagle

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The Digital Photo Series (DPS) is a web-based application that provides access to the Natural Fuels Photo Series database and photographs. The DPS works through a user’s internet browser, but has also been designed to work as a stand-alone application when the computer is disconnected from the internet. A user-friendly interface allows users to browse, query, and download photo series data and high-quality photographs. The Digital Photo Series is intended to complement, not replace, the printed photo series volumes.

A Comprehensive Guide To Fuels Treatment Fractices For Ponderosa Pine In The Black Hills, Colorado Front Range, And Southwest, M. E. Hunter, W. D. Shepperd, L. B. Lentile, J. E. Lundquist, M. G. Andreu, J. L. Butler, F. W. Smith

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The objective of this paper is to present recommendations for fuels treatments in ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest, Colorado Front Range, and Black Hills of South Dakota. We have synthesized existing knowledge from the peer-reviewed literature and administrative studies and acquired local knowledge through a series of discussions with fuels treatment practitioners. We describe specific treatments, the circumstances under which they can be applied, and treatment effects. We provide recommendations related to where, how, and how often fuels treatments may be prescribed to achieve desired outcomes. Desired outcomes address social, political, economic, and ecological factors.

Soil Response To Season And Interval Of Prescribed Fire In A Ponderosa Pine Forest Of The Blue Mountains, Oregon, D. Zabowski, W. G. Thies, J. Hatten, A. Ogden

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Soil properties were examined at a season of burn and burn interval study located in the Malheur National for responses to prescribed burns used to reduce fuel loads and wildfire hazard. Prescribed burn comparisons included spring vs. fall burning, with either one 15-year interval burn or two 5-year interval burns of each season. Results showed that major change to soil organic matter was a reduction in the amount of O horizon. The percent bare ground increased with both spring and fall burning and was highest with multiple burns, indicating a loss of O horizon cover. There was also a decrease …

Effects Of Fuel Treatments And Wildfire On The Avifauna Of The Pine Rockland Ecosystem In Southern Florida., John D. Lloyd, Gary L. Slater, Skip Snow, James R. Snyder

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The response of plants and animals in the pine forests of southern Florida to variation in fire and hydrological regimes remains inadequately described, hindering the ability of resource managers to manipulate fire and water to achieve desired ecological outcomes. In this study, we took advantage of natural variation in two measures of fire history (the number of days since last fire and the number of times an area had been burned during the previous ten years) and one measure of hydrology (water table elevation) to explore how plants, breeding birds, and wintering birds in slash-pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa) forests …

Effects Of Fire Severity And Distance From Unburned Edge On Mammalian Community Post-Fire Recovery, Jay Diffendorfer, Wayne Spencer, Scott Tremor, Jan Beyers

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

This final report summarizes key findings relative to the five major objectives listed in our proposal, along with the crosswalk of accomplished and future deliverables. Additional details concerning objectives, methods, results, and recommendations are presented in Attachment A. Each of our major objectives is listed below with a brief summary of findings to date. Because we only recently finished the final session of data collection, all findings are preliminary and may change as more comprehensive statistical analyses are completed. 1. Evaluate the effects of fire on southern California rodent, large mammal, and bat diversity and study patterns of post fire …

Effects Of Fire On Kuenzler’S Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus Fendleri Var. Kuenzleri), David B. Wester, Colton M. Britton

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Kuenzler’s cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri [Castetter, Pierce and Schwerin] L. Benson]) is a federally- and state-listed endangered species that is known to occur in pinyon-juniper habitat in the mountains of south central New Mexico in Lincoln, Otero, Chaves and Eddy counties. Presence of this species affects the management of its habitat with prescribed burning. However, there has been no research that has documented the response of Kuenzler’s cactus to fire. This project was initiated in 2002 to provide information on habitat characteristics of Kuenzler’s cacti and to investigate its response to fire. Because of the protected status of the …

Interactions Among Prescribed Fire, Soil Attributes, Fungal Mats, And Mycorrhizal Fungus Fruiting Patterns In An Old-Growth Pinus Ponderosa / Abies ConcolorStand In Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, Usa, Kermit Cromack, Randy Molina, Jane E. Smith, James M. Trappe, Efren Cazares-Gonzales, Mary Rasmussen, Matt Trappe

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The first of its kind, Soil characteristics tend to occur as a suite, Pre-treatment patterns: a silver lining, Prescribed burn treatment effects on soil attributes, Fruiting patterns primarily influenced by soil C:N ratios, Fungal indicator guilds, Prescribed burn treatment effects on fungal fruiting patterns, Prescribed burn treatment effects on fungal mats, Summary and take-home message.

Soil Response To Season And Interval Of Prescribed Fire In A Ponderosa Pine Forest Of The Blue Mountains, Oregon, D. Zabowski, W. G. Thies, J. Hatten, A. Ogden

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Soil properties were examined at a season of burn and burn interval study located in the Malheur National for responses to prescribed burns used to reduce fuel loads and wildfire hazard. Prescribed burn comparisons included spring vs. fall burning, with either one 15-year interval burn or two 5-year interval burns of each season. Results showed that major change to soil organic matter was a reduction in the amount of O horizon. The percent bare ground increased with both spring and fall burning and was highest with multiple burns, indicating a loss of O horizon cover. There was also a decrease …

Fuels Reduction In A Western Coniferous Forest: Effects On Two Sympatric Ungulates And Their Habitat, Ryan A. Long, Janet Rachlow, Marty Vavra, John G. Kie

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

We evaluated effects of an experimental fuels reduction program on elk, mule deer, and their habitat at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey) in northeastern Oregon. From 2001 to 2003, 26 stands of true fir and Douglas-fir that suffered high rates of mortality from an outbreak of spruce budworm were selectively thinned (spring or summer) and burned (fall) while 27 similar stands were left untreated to serve as experimental controls. We used location data for elk and mule deer collected during spring (1 April–14 June) and summer (15 June–31 August) of 1999–2006 to compare use of treated and untreated …

Droughtscape, Winter 2007, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

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Policy Update: NIDIS is Law. What’s Next?

What Would You Like to See?

TX, OK, Plains, Southwest Hardest Hit in 2006

Climatologically Speaking, How Bad Was It?

State Spotlight: Arizona

Drought Decision-Support Tools Evolving

Relationship Between Soil Moisture Of Near Surface And Multiple Depths Of The Root Zone Under Heterogeneous Land Uses And Varying Hydroclimatic Conditions, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of The Agricultural Green Revolution Induced Land Use Changes On Air Temperatures In India, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Chlorophacinone Baiting For Belding’S Ground Squirrels, Craig A. Ramey, George H. Matschke, Richard M. Engeman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The efficacy of using 0.01% chlorophacinone on steam-rolled oat (SRO) groats applied in CA alfalfa by spot-baiting/hand baiting around burrow entrances (~11.5 g) to control free-ranging Belding's ground squirrels (Spermophilus beldingi) were compared in 6 randomly assigned square treatment units (TUs). Four TUs were given the rodenticide and 2 treated with placebo bait. Each TU was a 0.4 ha square surrounded by a similarly treated 5.5 ha square buffer zone. Baits were applied on May 13 and re-applied, on May 20 and May 22, after 7 days of un-forecasted cool wet weather greatly reduced their above ground activity. Pesticide (EPA …

The Science Of Targeting Within Landscapes And Watersheds To Improve Consevation Effectiveness, Todd Walter, Mike Dosskey, Madhu Khanna, Jim Miller, Mark Tomer, John Wiens

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

Our ernphasis in this chapter has been an the science that underlies efforts to target conservation efforts to enhance the effeciiveness (and cost-effectiveness) of management, mitigation and restoration.

Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii): A Technical Conservation Assessment, Justin D. Congdon, Douglas A. Keinath

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

Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are secure in Nebraska, and they range from being vulnerable to threatened, or endangered throughout most of the rest of their distribution. In Region 2, they have not been reported from Kansas, they are extremely rare in South Dakota, and they occupy wetlands in the northern half of Nebraska. The largest population known within the range of Blanding’s turtles is at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska.

The core habitat of Blanding’s turtles has an aquatic component that consists of a permanent wetland and a suite of other, usually smaller and more temporary, wetlands such …

Effects Of Aphid (Homoptera) Abundance And Surrounding Vegetation On The Encounter Rate Of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Chrysopidae (Neuroptera) And Nabidae (Hemiptera) In Alfalfa., James R. Brandle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Convective Line With Leading Stratiform Precipitation From Bamex, Brandom Storm, Matthew D. Parker, David P. Jorgensen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

On 31 May 2003, a front-fed convective line with leading stratiform precipitation (FFLS) was observed during the Bow Echo and Mesoscale Convective Vortex Experiment (BAMEX). The high-resolution BAMEX measurements provided one of the first opportunities to thoroughly observe the characteristics of an FFLS system. The 31 May system had an overturning updraft during its early stages, and produced leading stratiform precipitation. As the system matured, a jump updraft developed and the system began to produce trailing stratiform precipitation. It appears that this transition was facilitated by a local decrease in the low-level line-perpendicular vertical wind shear over time, as well …

Severe Convective Wind Environments, Evan L. Kuchera, Matthew D. Parker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Nontornadic thunderstorm winds from long-lived, widespread convective windstorms can have a tremendous impact on human lives and property. To examine environments that support damaging wind producing convection, sounding parameters from Rapid Update Cycle model analyses (at 3-hourly intervals) from 2003 were compared with 7055 reports of damaging winds and 377 081 occurrences of lightning. Ground- relative wind velocity was the most effective at discriminating between damaging and nondamaging wind convective environments. Steep surface-based lapse rates (a traditional damaging wind parameter) gener- ally did not discriminate between damaging and nondamaging wind convective environments. Other pa- rameters, such as convective available potential …

Trend Identification In Twentieth-Century U.S. Snowfall: The Challenges, Kenneth E. Kunkel, Michael A. Palecki, Kenneth G. Hubbard, David A. Robinson, Kelly T. Redmond, David R. Easterling

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

There is an increasing interest in examining long-term trends in measures of snow climatology. An examination of the U.S. daily snowfall records for 1900–2004 revealed numerous apparent inconsistencies. For example, long-term snowfall trends among neighboring lake-effect stations differ greatly from insignificant to +100% century -1.

Internal inconsistencies in the snow records, such as a lack of upward trends in maximum seasonal snow depth at stations with large upward trends in snowfall, point to inhomogeneities. Nationwide, the frequency of daily observations with a 10:1 snowfall-to-liquid-equivalent ratio declined from 30% in the 1930s to a current value of around 10%, a change …

A Hybrid, Markov Chain-Based Model For Daily Streamflow Generation At Multiple Catchment Sites, Jozsef Szilagyi, Gabor Balint, Andras Csik

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing Stream-Aquifer Interactions Through Inverse Modeling Of Flow Routing, Jozsef Szilagyi, Marc B. Parlange, Gabor Balint

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.