Download or read book Modeling Fire induced Tree Mortality in Longleaf Pine Using Spatial Data written by Holland R. Heese and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Restoration of fire-excluded pine ecosystems is a major conservation and management goal. Land managers have used prescribed fires to reduce accumulated forest floor fuels and restore pinelands. While these fires have been successful at reducing fuels, tree mortality in these restoration fires can be as high as 75 to 95 percent. In this study, I model post-fire mortality of longleaf pine (in two stands in the Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alabama) using logistic models composed of only predictors that can be measured pre-fire. These methods are extended by the addition of spatial competition functions since such measures are drawn from available data for managers, and have been shown to have effects on growth and mortality. The best models, selected by AIC, predict survival as well or better than earlier models but have high false mortality predictions. The spatial dynamics of the stand are also studied pre-fire and post-fire to determine the effect of prescribed fire and inter-tree competition. Post-fire, spatial distribution of the trees did not significantly change. Earlier studies detected differences in the spatial dynamics between different classes of longleaf pine. These dynamics were confirmed in some results and in others questioned. Small trees (DBH 30 cm) clustered away from large trees (DBH 30 cm). Large trees were more dispersed than a random process (Poisson) would dictate. Juveniles (DBH
Download or read book The National Tree list Layer written by Stacy Allen Drury and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Tree-List Layer (NTLL) project used LANDFIRE map products to produce the first national tree-list map layer that represents tree populations at stand and regional levels. The NTLL was produced in a short time frame to address the needs of Fire and Aviation Management for a map layer that could be used as input for simulating fire-caused tree mortality across landscapes. Simulated tree mortality estimates using the NTLL as model input provided acceptable results when compared with tree mortality simulations using field-sampled tree attribute data. Our results indicate that fire managers can expect simulated tree-mortalities using the NTLL to predict fire-caused tree mortality as well as field-measured plot data, especially during extreme wildfire events. Decision makers can use tree mortality maps that are produced using the NTLL to develop and support decisions such as where to place fuels treatments or where to most effectively position fire suppression resources.
Download or read book Mitigating Old Tree Mortality in Long Unburned Fire Dependent Forests written by Sharon M. Hood and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This report synthesizes the literature and current state of knowledge pertaining to re-introducing fire in stands where it has been excluded for long periods and the impact of these introductory fires on overstory tree injury and mortality. Only forested ecosystems in the United States that are adapted to survive frequent fire are included. Treatment options that minimize large-diameter and old tree injury and mortality in areas with deep duff and methods to manage and reduce duff accumulations are discussed. Pertinent background information on tree physiology, properties of duff, and historical versus current disturbance regimes are also discussed. Charts and tables.
Download or read book Fire induced Tree Mortality in the Mixed Conifer Forests of the Sierra Nevada California written by Phillip John Van Mantgem and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Linking Plant Demography Forest Fuels and Fire in Longleaf Pine Pinus Palustris Savannas Using LIDAR Remote Sensing and Simulation Modeling written by Eva Louise Loudermilk and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A longleaf pine - hardwood simulation model was created to link population level tree dynamics with fuel characteristics and stochastic fire regimes. This is the first known modeling work to simulate interactions between longleaf pine and hardwoods. Spatial components included seed dispersal (including pine seed masting), clonal spreading (for hardwoods), fuel dispersal and distribution, and competition from neighboring trees. Evaluations with in situ data were promising for two modeled longleaf pine sites. Tree distributions and community stability were examined with varying fire frequency. The model was especially useful in identifying scientific knowledge gaps associated with plant competition and facilitation, especially in relation to hardwood demography. The model ultimately provided a foundation for studying fuel and fire heterogeneity influences on population dynamics.
Download or read book First Order Fire Effects Model written by Elizabeth D. Reinhardt and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM) was developed to predict the direct consequences of prescribed fire and wildfire. FOFEM computes duff and woody fuel consumption, smoke production, and fire-caused tree mortality for most forest and rangeland types in the United States. The model is available as a computer program for PC or Data General computer.
Download or read book Modeling Environmental Factors Related to Drought Induced Tree Mortality Based on Lidar and Hyperspectral Imagery written by and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is projected to bring more frequent and prolonged droughts, causing widespread forest die-off. Identifying tree mortality over large spatial extents in response to the most recent California drought will help forest managers and conservationists understand where there may be a greater likelihood of future die-offs. In order to find more at-risk areas, this study evaluated how interacting site-specific topographic, climate, substrate, and stand characteristics mediated tree mortality in the Central Sierra Nevada during the 2012-2016 drought. The author used lidar and hyperspectral imagery provided by the National Ecological Observatory Network to identify individual dead trees using the Random Forest classification method and created a Random Forest Regression model to assess site-specific environmental variables that had a greater influence on tree mortality. The results show that the most influential variables were tree height, density, and elevation. Results also found higher mortality rates in pines and oaks, meaning further widespread die-off of these trees could reduce forest productivity, increase fire hazard risk, and drive a shift in community composition over the long-term. This study provides a finer resolution mapping of tree mortality over the research area than was reported by the USFS Aerial Detection Survey. Due to the confounding evidence regarding the relative influence of environmental factors on tree mortality during droughts, these results provide robust information to help maintain these changing forests in a climate-informed manner. Because this study is site-specific, more research is needed to assess how environmental factors mediate drought-induced mortality in other regions also projected to have more intense droughts as a result of climate change.
Download or read book The National Tree list Layer written by Jason Herynk and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2012-10-19 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Tree-List Layer (NTLL) project used LANDFIRE map products to produce the first national tree-list map layer that represents tree populations at stand and regional levels. The NTLL was produced in a short time frame to address the needs of Fire and Aviation Management for a map layer that could be used as input for simulating fire-caused tree mortality across landscapes. Simulated tree mortality estimates using the NTLL as model input provided acceptable results when compared with tree mortality simulations using field-sampled tree attribute data. Our results indicate that fire managers can expect simulated tree-mortalities using the NTLL to predict fire-caused tree mortality as well as field-measured plot data, especially during extreme wildfire events. Decision makers can use tree mortality maps that are produced using the NTLL to develop and support decisions such as where to place fuels treatments or where to most effectively position fire suppression resources.
Download or read book Postfire Mortality of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas fir written by James F. Fowler and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This review focused on the primary literature that described, modeled, or predicted the probability of postfire mortality in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The methods and measurements that were used to predict postfire tree death tended to fall into two general categories: those focusing on measuring important aspects of fire behavior, the indirect but ultimate cause of mortality; and those focusing on tissue damage due to fire, the direct effect of fire on plant organs. Of the methods reviewed in this paper, crown scorch volume was the most effective, easiest to use, and most popular measurement in predicting postfire mortality in both conifer species. In addition to this direct measure of foliage damage, several studies showed the importance and utility of adding a measurement of stem (bole) damage. There is no clear method of choice for this, but direct assessment of cambium condition near the tree base is widely used in Douglas-fir. Only two ponderosa pine studies directly measured fine root biomass changes due to fire, but they did not use these measurements to predict postfire mortality. Indirect measures of fire behavior such as ground char classes may be the most practical choice for measuring root damage. This review did not find clear postfire survivability differences between the two species. The literature also does not show a consistent use of terminology; we propose a standard set of terms and their definitions.
Download or read book Mitigating Old Tree Mortality in Long Unburned Fire Dependent Forests written by Sharon M. Hood and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-10 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historically, many forested ecosystems in the United States burned frequently, both from lightning ignited fires and from Native American burning. Frequent fire maintained low fuel loadings and shaped forests composed of tree species adapted to survive low-intensity frequent fire. In the early 1900s, the United States government initiated a program to suppress all fires, both natural and anthropogenic. Many unintended consequences have resulted from over a century of fire suppression, such as increased tree densities and fuel, increased stress on older trees from competition, and greater risk of bark beetle attacks. These consequences are especially apparent in forests that historically burned frequently and have thus missed many fire cycles. Maintaining old trees and perpetuating large-diameter trees is an increasing concern. Stands of old trees that were historically common across vast landscapes in the United States are now relatively rare on the landscape because of harvesting (Noss and others 1995). Though logging is no longer the principal threat to most old-growth forests, they now face other risks (Vosick and others 2007). Prescribed fire has become a major tool for restoring fire-dependent ecosystem health and sustainability throughout the United States and use will likely increase in the future. However, increased mortality of large-diameter and old trees following fire has been reported in many areas around the country, and there is increased concern about maintaining these on the landscape (Kolb and others 2007; Varner and others 2005). As early as 1960, Ferguson and others (1960) reported high longleaf pine mortality after a low-intensity prescribed burn consumed the majority of heavy duff accumulations around the base of the trees. Mortality of pre-settlement ponderosa pines in prescribed burn areas in Grand Canyon National Park was higher than in control plots (Kaufmann and Covington 2001). After beginning a forest restoration program that reintroduced fire by prescribed burning at Crater Lake National Park, excessive post-fire mortality of larger ponderosa pine was observed in the burn areas, and early season burns had an even higher mortality than late season burns (Swezy and Agee 1991). Both Swezy and Agee (1991) and McHugh and Kolb (2003) reported a U-shaped mortality distribution for ponderosa pine following wildfires, with smaller- and larger-diameter trees having higher mortality than mid-diameter trees. Forest managers around the country have expressed concerns about large-diameter and old tree mortality when prescribed burning in long-unburned forests. The synthesis herein suggests recommendations for maintaining and perpetuating old trees in fire-dependent ecosystems. It expands on efforts funded by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) to define the issues surrounding burning in fire excluded forests of the United States that are adapted to survive frequent fire. When the JFSP initially funded this synthesis, two JFSP projects were examining the effect of raking on reducing old ponderosa and Jeffrey pine (subsequently published in Fowler and others 2010; Hood and others 2007a). Another JFSP project examined the effect of prescribed burning under different duff moisture conditions on long-unburned old longleaf pine mortality (Varner and others 2007). Two other syntheses were also recently published on this subject: Perpetuating old ponderosa pine (Kolb and others 2007) and The conservation and restoration of old growth in frequent-fire forests of the American West (Egan 2007). The scope of the synthesis herein focuses only on limiting over story tree mortality in species adapted to survive frequent fire; therefore, the implications of fire suppression and fuel treatments on other ecosystem components are not discussed.
Download or read book Ecological Restoration and Management of Longleaf Pine Forests written by L. Katherine Kirkman and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-09-27 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecological Restoration and Management of Longleaf Pine Forests is a timely synthesis of the current understanding of the natural dynamics and processes in longleaf pine ecosystems. This book beautifully illustrates how incorporation of basic ecosystem knowledge and an understanding of socioeconomic realities shed new light on established paradigms and their application for restoration and management. Unique for its holistic ecological focus, rather than a more traditional silvicultural approach, the book highlights the importance of multi-faceted actions that robustly integrate forest and wildlife conservation at landscape scales, and merge ecological with socioeconomic objectives for effective conservation of the longleaf pine ecosystem.
Download or read book Mitigating Old Tree Mortality in Long Unburned Fire Dependent Forests written by Sharon Hood and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-02-13 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historically, many forested ecosystems in the United States burned frequently, both from lightning ignited fires and from Native American burning. Frequent fire maintained low fuel loadings and shaped forests composed of tree species adapted to survive low-intensity frequent fire. Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests burned as frequently as every 2 to 8 years (Christensen 1981; Frost 1993), and historical records and dendrochronological studies provide evidence that ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.), giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J. Buchholz), red pine (Pinus resinosa Aiton), and many other forests also burned regularly. In the early 1900s, the United States government initiated a program to suppress all fires, both natural and anthropogenic. Many unintended consequences have resulted from over a century of fire suppression, such as increased tree densities and fuel, increased stress on older trees from competition, and greater risk of bark beetle attacks. These consequences are especially apparent in forests that historically burned frequently and have thus missed many fire cycles.
Download or read book Effects of Fire on Southern Pine written by Dale D. Wade and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The National Tree List Layer written by United States Department of Agriculture and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-02-14 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Tree-List Layer (NTLL) project used LANDFIRE map products to produce the first national tree-list map layer that represents tree populations at stand and regional levels. The NTLL was produced in a short time frame to address the needs of Fire and Aviation Management for a map layer that could be used as input for simulating fire-caused tree mortality across landscapes. Simulated tree mortality estimates using the NTLL as model input provided acceptable results when compared with tree mortality simulations using field-sampled tree attribute data. Our results indicate that fire managers can expect simulated tree-mortalities using the NTLL to predict fire-caused tree mortality as well as field-measured plot data, especially during extreme wildfire events. Decision makers can use tree mortality maps that are produced using the NTLL to develop and support decisions such as where to place fuels treatments or where to most effectively position fire suppression resources.
Download or read book Post Fire Tree Mortality and Regeneration Patterns as Proxies of Conifer Forest Resilience written by and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shifting wildfire patterns and climate conditions, magnified by anthropogenic climate change, are threatening the resilience of conifer forests in North America and more specifically, the western US. If native conifer species are functionally maladapted to novel fire patterns and post-fire climate conditions, large-scale shifts in conifer forest structure, composition, and extent may occur as warming intensifies. Forest resilience in the context of fire and climate can be understood and quantified by the survival of trees through fire events and success of trees to regenerate post-fire and maintain population levels. In this dissertation, I use field observations and remote sensing to examine patterns of fire-induced tree mortality and post-fire tree regeneration as proxies of conifer forest resilience in the western US, across a range of environments and forest types, and particularly within the context of expansive high-severity, stand-replacing wildfires. In Chapter 1, I evaluate the interactions between climate-environment conditions and the spatial, structural, and temporal characteristics of fire refugia as drivers of subalpine forest recovery in the cool and moist Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington. In Chapter 2, I quantify large-scale patterns of post-fire delayed conifer tree mortality across three ecoregions and two broad forest types in the western US using high-resolution satellite imagery, and I evaluate whether post-fire delayed conifer tree mortality is a ubiquitous process across broad geographies, and if so, I ask i) what drives it? and ii) can it meaningfully affect seed dispersal and thus forest regeneration processes? Finally, in Chapter 3, I use an aggregated database of post-fire conifer establishment responses, across over 1800 sites and four ecoregions in the western US, to challenge the generalized notion that conifer species' shade-tolerance dictates their regenerative capacity within exposed early seral post-fire environments.
Download or read book Early Detection of Fire induced Delayed Tree Mortality Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing written by Meghan Janet Calhoon and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Numerical Simulation of Crown Fire Hazard in Bark Beetle Infested Lodgepole Pine Forests written by Chad M. Hoffman and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Chapter Four, I extended my analyses investigate fire behavior following a mountain pine beetle outbreak during the 'grey' stage. When mountain pine beetle mortality was between 25-55 percent of susceptible trees, there was an increase in crown fire behavior. I further found that when mortality levels were above 55 percent there are significant increases in surface fire intensity and the total fire power. I found that pre-outbreak forest composition and arrangement along with the magnitude of tree mortality influenced crown fire behavior during the "grey" stage.
