Development And Characterization Of 16 Microsatellite Markers For The Louisiana Pine Snake, Pituophis Ruthveni, And Two Congeners Of Conservation Concern,
2010
Department of Biology, Stephen F Austin State University
Development And Characterization Of 16 Microsatellite Markers For The Louisiana Pine Snake, Pituophis Ruthveni, And Two Congeners Of Conservation Concern, Matthew Kwiatkowski, Christopher M. Somers, Ray G. Poulin, D. Craig Rudolph, Jessica Martino, Tracey D. Tuberville, Cris Hagen, Stacey L. Lance
Faculty Publications
We isolated and characterized 16 microsatellite loci from the Louisiana pine snake, Pituophis ruthveni. Loci were screened in 24 individuals from locations throughout its distribution in Louisiana and Texas. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 12, observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.200 to 0.875, and the probability of identity ranged from 0.043 to 0.298. We examined cross-species amplification at these loci in P. catenifer (bullsnakes and gopher snakes) and P. melanoleucus (pine snakes). These new markers provide tools for examining the conservation genetics of this species complex. Louisiana pine snakes face numerous threats: population densities are extremely …
Summer Heat And An Epidemic Of Cytospora Canker Of Alnus,
2010
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region
Summer Heat And An Epidemic Of Cytospora Canker Of Alnus, James J. Worrall, Gerard C. Adams, Sarah C. Tharp
Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications
An epidemic of cytospora canker [Valsa melanodiscus, anamorph Cytospora umbrina] is associated with dieback and mortality of Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia in the Southern Rocky Mountains and had begun by the late 1980s. Isolations showed that inoculum was often abundant on bark and bud surfaces even in winter, especially near diseased stems. The pathogen was occasionally isolated from internal tissues of dormant buds and asymptomatic wood and phloem. In infected stems, the pathogen was detected up to 5 cm beyond visible canker margins. The data suggest that the pathogen can cause latent infections, but the infection court …
Understory Vegetative Diversity Of Post-Thinned Pine Plantations Treated With Fertilizer, Fire And Herbicide In East Texas,
2010
Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas 75962
Understory Vegetative Diversity Of Post-Thinned Pine Plantations Treated With Fertilizer, Fire And Herbicide In East Texas, Brian P. Oswald, Dean W. Coble, R R. Botting, Ken W. Farrish, James E. Van Kley
Faculty Publications
This study assessed biodiversity in the understory of two pine plantations where different management tools (fertilizer, prescribed burning, and herbicide application) were utilized. During three growing seasons, species, percent cover, and number of individuals, and physical characteristics were recorded. Responses to treatment were examined based on comparison of species richness, evenness, diversity, and importance. Two years after treatment, fertilized plots showed a decline in species richness, evenness, and diversity. Prescribed burning and herbicide treatments increased species richness but decreased species evenness, resulting in no change in diversity index. Herbicide treatment reduced the importance of dominant shrubs and increased the importance …
Forest Analysis Of The Gordon Natural Area Focusing On Carbon Stock, Forest Structure, And Forest Composition,
2010
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Forest Analysis Of The Gordon Natural Area Focusing On Carbon Stock, Forest Structure, And Forest Composition, R. Dicce, D. Drake, D. Mackey, P. Avery
Forest Carbon Storage Study Documents
No abstract provided.
The Communicative Construction Of Safety In Wildland Firefighting,
2010
University of California Santa Barbara
The Communicative Construction Of Safety In Wildland Firefighting, Jody Jahn, Linda Putnam, Anne Black
Joint Fire Science Program 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 …
The Role Of Adaptive Capacity In Creating Fire-Adapted Human Communities,
2010
USDA Forest Service
The Role Of Adaptive Capacity In Creating Fire-Adapted Human Communities, Pamela J. Jakes, Matthew S. Carroll, Travis B. Paveglio, Soren Newman
Joint Fire Science Program 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 …
2010 Western Mensurationists’ Conference,
2010
University of Montana
2010 Western Mensurationists’ Conference, David Affleck, John Goodburn, Christopher Keyes, Renate Bush
Joint Fire Science Program 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 …
A Proposal To Improve Performance Of The Forest Vegetation Simulator - Fire And Fuels Extension,
2010
US Forest Service
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
USDA Forest Service
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
Northern Arizona University
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
USDA Forest Service
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
Omi Associates
Effectiveness Of Fuel Treatments For Mitigating Wildfire Severity: A Manager‐Focused Review And Synthesis, Philip N. Omi, Erik J. Martinson Mr.
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
USDA Forest Service
An Enhanced Online Piled Fuels Biomass Calculator, Clinton S. Wright, Paige C. Eagle
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
US Geological Survey
Evaluating The Effects Of Pinyon Thinning Treatments At A Wildland Urban Interface, J. R. Matchett, Matthew L. Brooks, Anne Halford, Dale Johnson, Helen Smith
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
University of California
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
Texas A&M University
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
US Forest Service
Fuel Consumption And Smoke Emissions From Landscape-Scale Burns In Eastern Hardwoods, Matthew Dickinson, Ann Acheson, Robert Kremens
Joint Fire Science Program 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,
2010
University of Missouri-Columbia
Developing And Using Fire Scar Histories In The Southern And Eastern United States, Richard P. Guyette, Martin Spetich, Daniel C. Dey
Joint Fire Science Program 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?,
2010
U.S. Geological Survey
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
Joint Fire Science Program 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, …
