scholarly journals Using tree recruitment patterns and fire history to guide restoration of an unlogged ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir landscape in the southern Rocky Mountains after a century of fire suppression

2003 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Kaufmann
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Tree Recruitment ◽  
Southern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Recruitment Patterns

Changes in forest fire frequency in Kootenay National Park, Canadian Rockies

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (8) ◽  
pp. 1763-1767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan M. Masters
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Fire Cycle ◽  
Time Since Fire

Time-since-fire distribution analysis is used to estimate forest fire frequency for the 1400 km2 Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, located on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. The time-since-fire distribution indicates three periods of different fire frequency: 1988 to 1928, 1928 to 1788, and before 1788. The fire cycle for the park was > 2700 years for 1988 to 1928, 130 years between 1928 and 1788, and 60 years between 1778 and 1508. Longer fire cycles after 1788 and 1928 may be due, respectively, to cool climate associated with the Little Ice Age and a recent period of higher precipitation. Contrary to some fire history investigations in the region, neither a fire suppression policy since park establishment in 1919, nor the completion of the Windermere Highway through the park in 1923 appear to have changed the fire frequency from levels during pre-European occupation. Spatial partitioning of the time-since-fire distribution was unsuccessful. No relationship was found between elevation or aspect and fire frequency. Key words: fire cycle, Rocky Mountains, climate change.

Fire History in Interior Ponderosa Pine Communities of the Black Hills, South Dakota, USA

1996 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
PM Brown ◽  
CH Sieg
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Black Hills ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Southern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
South Central ◽  
Pine Trees

Chronologies of fire events were reconstructed from crossdated fire-scarred ponderosa pine trees for four sites in the south-central Black Hills. Compared to other ponderosa pine forests in the southwest US or southern Rocky Mountains, these communities burned less frequently. For all sites combined, and using all fires detected, the mean fire interval (MFI), or number of years between fire years, was 16 years (± 14 SD) for the period 1388 to 1900. When a yearly minimum percentage of trees recording scars of ≥ 25% is imposed, the MFI was 20 years (± 14 SD). The length of the most recent fire-free period (104 years, from 1890 to 1994) exceeds the longest intervals in the pre-settlement era (before ca. 1874), and is likely the result of human-induced land use changes. Based on fire scar position within annual rings, most past fires occurred late in the growing season or after growth had ceased for the year. These findings have important implications for management of ponderosa pine forests in the Black Hills and for understanding the role of fire in pre-settlement ecosystem function.

Last glacial–interglacial environments in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA and implications for Younger Dryas-age human occupation

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christy E. Briles ◽  
Cathy Whitlock ◽  
David J. Meltzer
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Southern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Late Glacial Period ◽  
Fire Activity

The last glacial-interglacial transition (LGIT; 19–9 ka) was characterized by rapid climate changes and significant ecosystem reorganizations worldwide. In western Colorado, one of the coldest locations in the continental US today, mountain environments during the late-glacial period are poorly known. Yet, archaeological evidence from the Mountaineer site (2625 m elev.) indicates that Folsom-age Paleoindians were over-wintering in the Gunnison Basin during the Younger Dryas Chronozone (YDC; 12.9–11.7 ka). To determine the vegetation and fire history during the LGIT, and possible explanations for occupation during a period thought to be harsher than today, a 17-ka-old sediment core from Lily Pond (3208 m elev.) was analyzed for pollen and charcoal and compared with other high-resolution records from the southern Rocky Mountains. Widespread tundra and Picea parkland and low fire activity in the cold wet late-glacial period transitioned to open subalpine forest and increased fire activity in the Bølling–Allerød period as conditions became warmer and drier. During the YDC, greater winter snowpack than today and prolonged wet springs likely expanded subalpine forest to lower elevations than today, providing construction material and fuel for the early inhabitants. In the early to middle Holocene, arid conditions resulted in xerophytic vegetation and frequent fire.

Spatial variability of surface fuels in treated and untreated ponderosa pine forests of the southern Rocky Mountains

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Vakili ◽  
Chad M. Hoffman ◽  
Robert E. Keane ◽  
Wade T. Tinkham ◽  
Yvette Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Fuel Component ◽  
Southern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Fuel Components

There is growing consensus that spatial variability in fuel loading at scales down to 0.5 m may govern fire behaviour and effects. However, there remains a lack of understanding of how fuels vary through space in wildland settings. This study quantifies surface fuel loading and its spatial variability in ponderosa pine sites before and after fuels treatment in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA. We found that spatial semivariance for 1- and 100-h fuels, litter and duff following thin-and-burn treatments differed from untreated sites, and was lower than thin-only sites for all fuel components except 1000-h fuels. Fuel component semivariance increased with mean fuel component loading. The scale of spatial autocorrelation for all fuel components and sites ranged from <1 to 48 m, with the shortest distances occurring for the finest fuel components (i.e. duff, litter). Component mean fuel particle diameter strongly predicted (R2 = 0.88) the distance needed to achieve sample independence. Additional work should test if these scaling relationships hold true across forested ecosystems, and could reveal fundamental processes controlling surface fuel variability. Incorporating knowledge of spatial variability into fuel sampling protocols will enhance assessment of wildlife habitat, and fire behaviour and effects modelling, over singular stand-level means.

Forest fire history of Desolation Peak, Washington

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Agee ◽  
Mark Finney ◽  
Roland De Gouvenain
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Forest Community ◽  
Western Hemlock ◽  
Silver Fir ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Natural Fire ◽  
Interior Forest

Forests in the vicinity of Desolation Peak, Washington, are of special ecological interest because of their transitional nature between coastal and interior forest types. The area is west of the Cascade Mountain crest but in the rainshadow of mountains farther to the west. Fire return intervals were hypothesized to be shorter than typical for coastal forest types, such as those dominated by western hemlock and Pacific silver fir, and longer than typical for interior forest types, such as ponderosa pine, owing to the close juxtaposition of these types at Desolation Peak. Seven forest community types were defined, and a 400-year fire history was developed for this 3500-ha area. The average natural fire rotation was 100 years; this varied by a factor of two by century and by topographic aspect. Forest types typical of coastal regions, such as Douglas-fir, – western hemlock and mountain hemlock – Pacific silver fir, had mean fire return intervals (108–137 years) much lower than in other western Washington areas. The most interior forest type, ponderosa pine – Douglas-fir, had a higher mean fire return interval (52 years) than reported for similar forest types east of the Cascades. Historically, fire has created structural and landscape diversity on Desolation Peak and may be an important process in the maintenance of such diversity into the future.

Fire history in the ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests on the east slope of the Washington Cascades

2000 ◽  
Vol 129 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 207-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L Everett ◽  
Richard Schellhaas ◽  
Dave Keenum ◽  
Don Spurbeck ◽  
Pete Ohlson
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Washington Cascades

Fire, fuels and restoration of ponderosa pine?Douglas fir forests in the Rocky Mountains, USA

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Baker ◽  
Thomas T. Veblen ◽  
Rosemary L. Sherriff
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Douglas Fir

Soil moisture strongly limits Douglas-fir seedling establishment near its upper elevational limit in the southern Rocky Mountains

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 837-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison C. Foster ◽  
Patrick H. Martin ◽  
Miranda D. Redmond
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Seedling Establishment ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Seedling Survival ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Southern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Precipitation Regimes ◽  
Maximum Temperatures

Climate change is causing significant shifts in tree species distributions to higher elevations and latitudes. Seed germination and seedling establishment are particularly important steps in tree range expansion under warmer conditions, yet seedling establishment is influenced by a range of factors beyond temperature, including herbivory, microenvironment, and the timing and amount of precipitation. We conducted an experiment to assess how augmented precipitation regimes, wildlife herbivory, and microclimate influence germination and first-season survival of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) near the upper elevational limit of its range in the southern Rocky Mountains. Germination was strongly influenced by moisture, with over three times higher germination in watered treatments. Seedling survival was similar across watered treatments but was negatively associated with microenvironments with higher maximum temperatures. These results indicate that soil moisture effects on germination and the negative impact of hot growing-season temperatures on seedling survival limit initial seedling establishment in Douglas-fir, even at the cooler and wetter end of its range, suggesting that the planting of this species will be most successful in cooler and wetter microsites. Taken together, this study suggests that continued warming and projected increases in droughts may strongly limit Douglas-fir regeneration and thus its ability to shift upwards with climate change.

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