Modern fire regime resembles historical fire regime in a ponderosa pine forest on Native American lands

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda B. Stan ◽  
Peter Z. Fulé ◽  
Kathryn B. Ireland ◽  
Jamie S. Sanderlin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Western United States ◽  
The South ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Tribal Lands

Forests on tribal lands in the western United States have seen the return of low-intensity surface fires for several decades longer than forests on non-tribal lands. We examined the surface fire regime in a ponderosa pine-dominated (Pinus ponderosa) forest on the Hualapai tribal lands in the south-western United States. Using fire-scarred trees, we inferred temporal (frequency and seasonality) and spatial (synchrony) attributes and regulators of the fire regime over three land-use periods (historical, suppression, modern) between 1702 and 2007. Patterns of fire frequency and synchrony were similar, but fire seasonality was dissimilar, between the historical and modern periods. Logistic regression and generalised linear mixed models identified a suite of variables representing fuels, climate and human land uses that were associated with the probability of a site burning. Combined, these results allow for valuable insights regarding past fire spread and variability in fire frequency throughout our study area. In some respects, the current distinct fire regime in our study area, which predominately consists of prescribed fires implemented since the 1960s, resembles the past frequent surface fire regime that occurred here and in similar forest types on non-tribal lands in the south-western United States. Our results will be useful for informing adaptive management throughout the region as climate warms.

scholarly journals Uncertainty in surface-fire history: the case of ponderosa pine forests in the western United States

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1205-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L Baker ◽  
Donna Ehle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Population Mean ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Fire Scar

Present understanding of fire ecology in forests subject to surface fires is based on fire-scar evidence. We present theory and empirical results that suggest that fire-history data have uncertainties and biases when used to estimate the population mean fire interval (FI) or other parameters of the fire regime. First, the population mean FI is difficult to estimate precisely because of unrecorded fires and can only be shown to lie in a broad range. Second, the interval between tree origin and first fire scar estimates a real fire-free interval that warrants inclusion in mean-FI calculations. Finally, inadequate sampling and targeting of multiple-scarred trees and high scar densities bias mean FIs toward shorter intervals. In ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) forests of the western United States, these uncertainties and biases suggest that reported mean FIs of 2-25 years significantly underestimate population mean FIs, which instead may be between 22 and 308 years. We suggest that uncertainty be explicitly stated in fire-history results by bracketing the range of possible population mean FIs. Research and improved methods may narrow the range, but there is no statistical or other method that can eliminate all uncertainty. Longer mean FIs in ponderosa pine forests suggest that (i) surface fire is still important, but less so in maintaining forest structure, and (ii) some dense patches of trees may have occurred in the pre-Euro-American landscape. Creation of low-density forest structure across all parts of ponderosa pine landscapes, particularly in valuable parks and reserves, is not supported by these results.

Water Development and Water Planning in the South-Western United States

1969 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 610
Author(s):  
Donald M. Harding ◽  
Johannes Humlum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Western United States ◽  
The South ◽  
Water Planning ◽  
Water Development

What drives ponderosa pine regeneration following wildfire in the western United States?

2019 ◽  
Vol 454 ◽  
pp. 117663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie E. Korb ◽  
Paula J. Fornwalt ◽  
Camille S. Stevens-Rumann
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Pine Regeneration

scholarly journals Stand-Level Height-Diameter Equations for Young Ponderosa Pine Plantations in Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina: Evaluating Applications of Equations Developed in the Western United States

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-210
Author(s):  
Héctor E. Gonda ◽  
Douglas A. Maguire ◽  
Gustavo O. Cortés ◽  
Steven D. Tesch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Nonlinear Models ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
The Other ◽  
Linear Functions ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Northern Patagonia ◽  
Level Height

Abstract Two linear and two nonlinear height-diameter models commonly used in the western United States were tested for the young ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) plantations of northern Patagonia, where it is the most widely planted species. The equations were fitted to each of 127 plots, located throughout the geographic range of the plantations in Neuquén province. The four equations were compared using Furnival's (1961) index of fit. Even though there were no important differences among models tested, the nonlinear model previously applied by Wykoff et al. (1982), H = 1.3 + exp(β0 + (β1/(D + 2.54))) + β was preferable because it converged more efficiently than the other nonlinear equation and was more flexible than the linear functions. Differences in the behavior of plot-level and regionwide equations demonstrated the biases possible if regionwide equations are applied to estimate missing heights within a plot. The coefficients for the two nonlinear models fitted to trees growing in several regions in the western United States generally overestimated the height of Neuquén trees. West. J. Appl. For. 19(3):202–210.

scholarly journals Quantifying pyrodiversity and its drivers

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1948) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary L. Steel ◽  
Brandon M. Collins ◽  
David B. Sapsis ◽  
Scott L. Stephens
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Topographic Roughness ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Ecological Pattern

Pyrodiversity or variation in spatio-temporal fire patterns is increasingly recognized as an important determinant of ecological pattern and process, yet no consensus surrounds how best to quantify the phenomenon and its drivers remain largely untested. We present a generalizable functional diversity approach for measuring pyrodiversity, which incorporates multiple fire regime traits and can be applied across scales. Further, we tested the socioecological drivers of pyrodiversity among forests of the western United States. Largely mediated by burn activity, pyrodiversity was positively associated with actual evapotranspiration, climate water deficit, wilderness designation, elevation and topographic roughness but negatively with human population density. These results indicate pyrodiversity is highest in productive areas with pronounced annual dry periods and minimal fire suppression. This work can facilitate future pyrodiversity studies including whether and how it begets biodiversity among taxa, regions and fire regimes.

Contemporary Southern Literature

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
Southern Literature ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Southern Studies ◽  
The South ◽  
And Migration

From the colonial period through to the present day, the U.S. South has been seen as aberrant or at least different, as separate from, the rest of the nation. Often thought of as backward and strange, the South has also been figured as the nation’s Other, home to anything that the United States disavows: racism, sexism, religious fundamentalism, poverty, and so on. While a debate rages in the field of southern studies about what and where the South exactly is—even whether the South should be spoken of as a solid geography—contemporary literature from the region continues to present the multiple meanings of place today. Indeed, in the 21st century particularly, southern literature is expanding and diversifying more than ever. Identifiable are three dominant trends in contemporary literature from the South. First, and perhaps most dominant, is the narrative of racial memory; this work explores the impacts and legacies of race relations in the region, from slavery and Native American removal through to Jim Crow and beyond. Second is the narrative of the southern environment; these narratives are stories that contemplate and focus on the region’s diverse landscapes, from mountainous Appalachia to the Mississippi Delta to the swampy Gulf. They are also narratives that engage with the dramatic effects of climate change and ecological disaster, highly pertinent in the contemporary era of the Anthropocene. Third, are narratives of an (un)changing South; this writing reflexively and critically explores the meaning of the region in a time of globalization and migration. When the population of the South—which has always been a diverse one—is changing in both dramatic and incremental ways, the stories and narratives of the region are clearly adapting too. Southern literature continues to ask complex questions about what the South means in today’s United States.

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