Download or read book The Effects of Fire Disturbance on Riparian Woody Species in the Shrub Steppe Seven Years After Fire written by Jennifer Carol Lannoye and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Wildland Fire in Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Workshop on the Multiple Influences of Riparian stream Ecosystems on Fires in Western Forest Landscapes written by J. Boone Kauffman and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Seed Bank Response to Prescribed Fire in the Central Appalachians written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pre- and post-treatment seed-bank characteristics of woody species were compared after two prescribed fires in a mesic mixed-oak forest in the central Appalachians. Nineteen woody species were identified from soil samples. Mean species richness declined but evenness did not after prescribed burning. The seed bank was dominated by black birch, yellow-poplar, blackberry, grapevine and Hercules club before burning. Following burning, the median density of seed bank propagules declined by 45 percent. Black birch, yellow-poplar, and grapevine declined by 69, 56, and 40 percent, respectively. The results illustrate the importance of the seed bank as a robust source of non-oak regeneration in mixed-oak forests and of the potential effect of fire altering it.

Download or read book Fire Effects Guide written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Influence of Wildfire Disturbance and Post fire Seeding on Vegetation and Insects in Sagebrush Habitats written by Ashley T. Rohde and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Disturbance events alter community composition and structure because of differences in resistance and resilience of individual taxa, changes in habitat resulting in colonization by new taxa and alteration of biotic interaction patterns. Recent changes in disturbance types, frequencies and intensities caused by anthropogenic activities may further alter community composition and structure if these disturbances exceed the tolerances or adaptations of some taxa. In sagebrush steppe habitats of the western United States, wildfire is the current dominant disturbance type, burning millions of hectares annually. Further, up to 90% of sagebrush-steppe ecosystems are affected by anthropogenic influences such as invasive species. Post-fire seeding treatments are widely used to reduce soil erosion, control the establishment of invasive plant species, and restore habitat for wildlife. I investigated insect community responses to wildfire and post-fire seeding in sagebrush-steppe habitats in southwestern Idaho by comparing insect communities among three condition classes (hereafter treatments): burned-and-seeded (BS), burned-and-unseeded (BX), and unburned (UX), which served as a control. We also quantified indirect effects of treatments on insects by assessing vegetation composition and structure (height) differences among these treatments. We found post-fire seeding changed the vegetation composition at BS plots compared to the BX plots by increasing the amount of seeded bunchgrasses and forbs, but these seeding efforts did not achieve the vegetation composition of UX plots because sagebrush was not successfully re-established. We found evidence to suggest that differences in vegetation among treatments affected the composition of insect assemblages. The strongest difference was between UX and burned (BS and BX) plots, but we found some evidence that insect communities were influenced by vegetation differences between BS and BX plots when UX plots were removed from the analysis. Correlations between insect families and vegetation variables provide useful information for evaluating potential effects of shrubland fires on insects and how best to support their post-fire recovery. This information could be useful to assess the potential for recovery of insect assemblages to various disturbance types, which could in turn inform the development of ecological models to potentially predict the threshold of tolerance for functional groups of insects to disturbances."--Abstract.

Download or read book Proceedings shrublands under fire written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effects of Prescribed Fire on Greasewood dominated Rangelands in Montana and Wyoming written by Nathan Wade and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fire exclusion, climatic change, and mismanagement have led to woody shrub encroachment and exotic species invasions on rangelands. The impacts of fire and fire seasonality (fall and spring) on black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus, Hook., Torr.) survival, density, structure, and plant communities were studied. The impact of an integrated fire-herbicide treatment was also examined on greasewood survival, density, and structure. Research was conducted at two greasewood-dominated sites, in Miles City, MT, USA and in Laramie, WY, USA. The MT site was dominated by C3 exotic grasses, and the WY site was dominated by C4 native grasses. Fire, regardless of season and site, did not impact shrub survival and density, but decreased shrub volume for a predicted 4 – 5 years. Fire, regardless of season or site, also had no impact on native or exotic plant abundance. Current-year biomass increased in spring burns in MT and decreased in spring burns in WY. With fire-herbicide treatments, 4 treatments were studied (control, fall burn, herbicide, and fall burn with herbicide). Both herbicide treatments had the lowest survival rates, with herbicide alone being the lowest. Shrub density, height, canopy area, and volume were lowest in both herbicide treatments. Shrub volume was predicted to take >10 years after herbicide application to recover. Besides shrub survival, there were no differences in shrub density and structure between the two herbicide treatments. Greasewood is resilient and future studies can investigate the impact of repeated fire and herbicide treatments on greasewood and associated plant communities.

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 The Effect of Controlled Burns on Abundance of Woody Species at Buck Mountain West Virginia written by and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each year, the U.S. Forest Service prescribes burns within the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest(GWJNF). Burns are prescribed in the growing (late April-October) and dormant season (November- mid-April). The goal of the burns is to reinstate the natural fire regime, returning forests to their original species composition. Currently in GWJNF, Appalachian pine-oak forests are experiencing an increase in fire-intolerant species, while Quercus species and Gaylussacia brachycera, an endangered shrub species, are declining. In the summer of 2014, a vegetation survey was conducted on Buck Mountain, West Virginia to determine if there was a significant difference between dormant and growing season burns compared to a no-burn control. A total of 60 plots (15 per treatment) was established within a site burned once (in the dormant season), a site burned twice (dormant burn followed by a growing season burn), a site burned twice (both dormant), and a site protected from fire (control). We hypothesized that burns would have differing effects on woody vegetation, depending on fire treatment and shade tolerance. We predicted that Quercus species and G. brachycera would increase after a growing season burn. We found that Quercus ilicifolia regeneration, as well as G. brachycera were more abundant at burn sites, regardless of season. Our results suggest that seasonality of burns did not affect oak and G. brachycera regeneration at Buck Mountain. Future vegetation monitoring is needed to determine if time intervals between burns affects regeneration of desired species rather than the season of burn.

Download or read book Effects of Fire Retardant Chemical and Fire Suppressant Foam on Shrub Steppe Vegetation in Northern Nevada written by and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey offers the full text of the 1999 paper entitled "Effects of Fire Retardant Chemical and Fire Suppressant Foam on Shrub Steppe Vegetation in Northern Nevada," written by Diane L. Larson, Wesley E. Newton, Patrick J. Anderson, and Steven J. Stein. The authors describe the materials, methods, and results of their study to determine the effects of fire retardant chemical on Great Basin shrub steppe vegetation.

Download or read book Long term Fire Effects on Plant Succession and Exotic Weeds in Protected Area Sagebrush Steppe John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Oregon written by Claire Marie Reed-Dustin and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historical function of fire in sagebrush steppe has been altered by 19th century overgrazing, active fire suppression, annual grass invasion and encroachment of woody species. The significance of fire to these systems is known, but research on long-term fire effects are limited. The Sheep Rock management unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon offers an opportunity to study long-term (15 year) responses of Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis (Wyoming big sagebrush) communities to fire. Using generalized linear mixed models, this study examined responses of A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis, Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), Gutierrezia sarothrae (broom snakeweed), Poa secunda (Sandberg bluegrass), Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass) and Taeniatherum caput-medusae (medusahead), along gradients of community type and topography through time post-fire. Community types were differentiated between A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis dominant plots (brush plots) and Juniperus occidentalis (western juniper) dominant plots (forest plots). Cover of B. tectorum was greatest in brush plots. Bromus tectorum cover increased dramatically 2 years post-burn. At 5 years post-burn cover of B. tectorum was 135% of pre-burn cover in brush plots and 301% of pre-burn cover in forest plots. Analysis determined abundance of T. caput-medusae was not enough pre-burn to analyze fire effects. Examination of mean T. caput-medusae cover, in plots through time, suggests it is expanding within the Sheep Rock management unit. Pseudoroegneria spicata is more abundant in forest plots than in brush plots. In forest plots, P. spicata cover decreased by 49% 1 year post-burn, but recovered by 5 years post-burn. In brush plots, cover of P. spicata declined, but not significantly through time post-fire. On northern exposures recovery of P. spicata cover occurred between 1 and 2 years post-burn, whereas on southern exposures recovery occurred between 2 and 5 years post-burn. The cover of P. secunda did not show a dramatic response to fire through time post-burn. Fire reduced A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis cover in brush plots by 99% and 100% on northern and southern exposures, respectively. In forest plots, fire reduced A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis cover by 86% and 47% on northern and southern exposures, respectively. Similarly, A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis density in brush plots declined by 96% on both northern and southern exposures 1 year post-fire. In forest plots fire reduced A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis density by 71% on northern exposures and 0% on southern exposures. The cover and density of A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis did not change significantly through time after an initial decrease 1 year post-burn, except for density in forest plots, which didn't show significant change through time. Artemisia tridentata is a long-lived species and therefore continuation of this study is required to gain a fuller perspective on its long term response to fire. Cover of G. sarothrae declined by 92% in brush plots and by 73% in forest plots. Gutierrezia sarothrae cover returned to pre-burn cover by 5 years post burn in brush plots, but did not recover in forest plots. Topography was not identified as a significant parameter for G. sarothrae cover in response to fire. Similarly to G. sarothrae cover, G. sarothrae density decreased 1 year post-burn and recovered by 5 years post burn in brush plots, but it did not recover in forest plots. In contrast to G. sarothrae cover, topography was identified as a significant parameter for the response of G. sarothrae density. We hypothesize south slopes favor G. sarothrae establishment, while north slopes favor increased G. sarothrae size, which explains topographic significance for density, but not for cover. Results of this study can be used by land managers to consider species specific responses to fire in both the short and long-term. This information is useful when developing plans for reintroducing fire into A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis systems or when developing post-wildfire management strategies.

Download or read book Quantifying Legacy Effects of Managed Disturbance on Sagebrush Steppe Resilience and Diversity written by Julie Ripplinger and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Land-use legacies can affect landscapes for decades to millennia. A long history of shrub management exists in the sagebrush steppe of the Intermountain West where shrub-removal treatments, a type of managed disturbance, have been implemented for over 50 years to reduce sagebrush cover. The assumption behind managed disturbances is that they will increase forage for domestic livestock and improve wildlife habitat. However, the long-term effects of managed disturbance on plant community composition and diversity are not well understood. We investigated the legacy effects of three common types of managed disturbance (chemical, fire, and mechanical treatments) on plant community diversity and composition. We also examined sagebrush steppe resilience to managed disturbance. Based on management assumptions and resilience theory, we expected within-state phase shifts characterized by an initial reduction in biodiversity followed by a return to prior state conditions. We also expected changes in species proportions, characteristic of within-state shifts in state-and-transition models. We also expected an increase in non-native contribution to overall diversity. We found that plant communities experienced a fundamental shift in composition following disturbance, and responded in a flat linear fashion, giving no indication of return to prior community composition or diversity. As expected, we found post-disturbance increases in the number of non-native grass species present. However, native forb species made the largest contribution to altered diversity. Disturbance modified functional group composition, so contrary to our expectations, within-state changes did not occur as a result of disturbance. Our results indicated that sagebrush steppe plant communities are not resilient to chemical, fire, and mechanical treatments, and subsequent to managed disturbance, community composition tips over a threshold into an alternate stable state.

Download or read book Response of a Depleted Sagebrush Steppe Riparian System to Grazing Control and Woody Plantings written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ecological Consequences of a Novel Disturbance Interaction written by Allison Barbara Simler and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical disturbance regimes exert selective pressures on species traits. In turn, these traits determine the biological legacies that connect pre- and post-disturbance communities, including the pattern of surviving organisms, propagules, and other materials that shape future composition and structure. Anthropogenic activities have altered disturbance regimes, including their frequency, severity, extent, type, and interaction, and these shifts may challenge existing suites of life history strategies. The chapters of this dissertation examine the mechanisms by which changing disturbance regimes and disturbance interactions may alter or erode biological legacies, with important consequences for system recovery. In the fire-prone coastal forests of California, an emerging infectious tree disease, sudden oak death (SOD), represents a novel biotic disturbance. This disease, caused by the introduced oomycete Phytophthora ramorum, produces acute mortality in susceptible host tree populations, impacts forest fuel profiles, and alters subsequent fire behavior. I conducted this research within a long-term forest plot network established in the early 2000s to monitor the nascent SOD epidemic across the Big Sur region. In 2008, wildfire burned across this preexisting network, creating a rare opportunity to examine ecological impacts of compound disturbance events. In this work, I leverage pre- and post-fire data to examine the potential for disease-fire interactions to: 1) challenge important biological legacies maintained by contrasting asexual and sexual life history traits, 2) shift forest regeneration trajectories, and 3) impact future SOD epidemiology. These forests are dominated by woody plant species with the capacity to both asexually resprout and facultatively sexually regenerate, but belowground tree survival and vegetative regrowth represent the most abundant form of post-fire regeneration in this system. In Chapter 1, I assess the extent to which SOD-fire interactions challenge biological legacies maintained by the persistence of resprouting species, using data describing pre-fire fuels, disease occurrence, fire severity, and patterns of post-fire belowground survival and regrowth. I found that the accumulation of SOD-related surface fuels and increased substrate fire severity were associated with decreased probability of belowground survival for typically highly-persistent resprouting trees. However, surviving individuals resprouted more vigorously, potentially due to reduced stand competition, and indicated evidence of stand-level resilience, despite changes in individual-level vulnerability. The evolution and occurrence of resprouting and seed-producing traits is thought to have been shaped by disturbance regimes’ impacts on patterns of adult survival, competition, and propagule availability. In Chapter 2, I hypothesized that compounded disease and fire disturbances may alter opportunities for facultative sexual regeneration in this resprouter-dominated system, due to its impacts on these mechanisms. I found that diminishing availability of mature seed sources constrained post-fire seedling recruitment; however, where seed sources persisted, pre-fire disease impacts increased opportunities for seedling establishment and survival, likely due to gap formation and decreased competition associated with the SOD-related mortality of typically long-lived host species. Phytophthora ramorum is not completely eradicated from burned areas, and in turn, wildfire has the potential to impact the future epidemiology of this disease via changes to host composition, forest structure, and microclimatic conditions. In Chapter 3, I examine the influence of recurring wildfire on SOD epidemiology, including the occurrence, infestation intensity, and mortality impacts of P. ramorum. Here, I demonstrate that wildfire can alter forest disease dynamics via its influence on host composition and structure. Results from this analysis suggest that more frequent fire reduces P. ramorum occurrence, probability of host infection, and the density of important host species. In recently-burned environments, the persistence and reinvasion of the pathogen is strongly related to the legacy of surviving aboveground host vegetation. Further, recent wildfire reduces the impacts of P. ramorum on host stem mortality. Thus, the biological legacies determined by preceding disease-fire interactions are expected to shape future epidemiological pattern. In a variety of communities impacted by altered disturbance regimes, resprouting species are expected to be more competitive than obligate seeding species, due to resprouters’ abilities to persist locally without relying on dispersal, successful germination, and development to maturity. Together, the results of this dissertation work indicate mixed signs of resilience in this resprouter-dominated system. Following disease-fire interactions, density-dependent increases in resprouting vigor and increased opportunities for sexual recruitment may facilitate structural recovery, gradual compositional shifts to non-susceptible tree species, and opportunities for increased genetic variability. However, increased belowground mortality of typically highly-persistent asexual species and the gradual removal of susceptible hosts will have important impacts on stand turnover, population structure, and compositional shifts. Further, though recurring wildfire may reduce inoculum pressure and diminish mortality impacts, SOD epidemics will gradually reemerge in burned areas. This work provides important insight to the vulnerability and resilience of biological legacies maintained by asexual and sexual regeneration.

Download or read book Effects of Repeated Prescribed Fire and Thinning from Below on Understory Components of Southern Illinois Oak hickory Forests written by Dennis F. Carril and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fire has influenced species composition within the Central Hardwood Forest for millennia. By the 1940s, land fragmentation from increased settlement and actively enforced suppression policies effectively eliminated fire from the landscape. Without the disturbance of recurrent fire that alters succession, the fertile loess-capped hills of southern Illinois have undergone several decades of compositional and structural change manifested by encroachment of mixed mesophytic competitors that are maladapted to fire. Today, land managers seek practical methods to restore declining oak-hickory forests. In 2002, five sites were chosen across the Greater Shawnee Hills geographic region for similar ecological characteristics. A factorial combination of thinning and a fire treatment consisting of two burns was used to test the response of understory components. Results showed a distinct improvement in oak-hickory seedling competitive position as compared to non oak-hickory species. Generally, woody seedlings benefited from thinning based on their physiological adaptations, and fire essentially acted as a filter selecting for traits of disturbance-prone vegetation.

Download or read book Grassfires written by Phil Cheney and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING. This book was released on 2008 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grassfirespresents the latest information from CSIRO on the behavior and spread of fires in grasslands. This second edition follows ten years of research aimed at improving the understanding of fundamental processes involved in the behavior of bushfires and grassfires. The book has been extensively revised and new case studies have been added to reflect the latest findings in research and investigations. The book covers all aspects of fire behavior and spread in the major types of grasses in Australia. It examines the factors that affect fire behavior in continuous grassy fuels; fire in spinifex fuels; the effect of weather and topography on fire spread; wildfire suppression strategies; and how to reconstruct grassfire spread after the fact. The three fire-spread meters designed by CSIRO and used for the prediction of fire danger and rate of spread of grassfires are explained and their use and limitations discussed. This new edition expands on the historical view of grassfires with respect to extensive Aboriginal burning, combustion chemistry, flame structure and temperature, spotting and spread in discontinuous/eaten out fuels, and the effect of wind in complex terrain. The case studies in the chapter "Wildfires and Their Suppression" have been updated and include the major wild grassfire events of recent years, the January 2003 ACT fires and the 2005 Wangary, SA fire. The "Myths, Facts and Fallacies" chapter includes new myths and a new section on personal safety during a wild grass fire. Of interest to all rural fire fighters and rural landholders, students and teachers of courses on landscape and ecological processes, rural and peri-urban dwellers, fire authorities and researchers.