Author: Eddie John Van EttenPublisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2832502431
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
Fire Regimes in Desert Ecosystems: Drivers, Impacts and Changes
Author: Eddie John Van EttenPublisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2832502431
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
Wildland Fire in Ecosystems
Author: Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas
Author: Thomas T. VeblenPublisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 038721710X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 446
Book Description
Both fire and climatic variability have monumental impacts on the dynamics of temperate ecosystems. These impacts can sometimes be extreme or devastating as seen in recent El Nino/La Nina cycles and in uncontrolled fire occurrences. This volume brings together research conducted in western North and South America, areas of a great deal of collaborative work on the influence of people and climate change on fire regimes. In order to give perspective to patterns of change over time, it emphasizes the integration of paleoecological studies with studies of modern ecosystems. Data from a range of spatial scales, from individual plants to communities and ecosystems to landscape and regional levels, are included. Contributions come from fire ecology, paleoecology, biogeography, paleoclimatology, landscape and ecosystem ecology, ecological modeling, forest management, plant community ecology and plant morphology. The book gives a synthetic overview of methods, data and simulation models for evaluating fire regime processes in forests, shrublands and woodlands and assembles case studies of fire, climate and land use histories. The unique approach of this book gives researchers the benefits of a north-south comparison as well as the integration of paleoecological histories, current ecosystem dynamics and modeling of future changes.
Ecological Foundations for Fire Management in North American Forest and Shrubland Ecosystems
Author: Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ecosystem management
Languages : en
Pages : 102
Book Description
This synthesis provides an ecological foundation for management of the diverse ecosystems and fire regimes of North America, based on scientific principles of fire interactions with vegetation, fuels, and biophysical processes. Although a large amount of scientific data on fire exists, most of those data have been collected at small spatial and temporal scales. Thus, it is challenging to develop consistent science-based plans for large spatial and temporal scales where most fire management and planning occur. Understanding the regional geographic context of fire regimes is critical for developing appropriate and sustainable management strategies and policy. The degree to which human intervention has modified fire frequency, intensity, and severity varies greatly among different ecosystems, and must be considered when planning to alter fuel loads or implement restorative treatments. Detailed discussion of six ecosystems--ponderosa pine forest (western North America), chaparral (California), boreal forest (Alaska and Canada), Great Basin sagebrush (intermountain West), pine and pine-hardwood forests (Southern Appalachian Mountains), and longleaf pine (Southeastern United States)-- illustrates the complexity of fire regimes and that fire management requires a clear regional focus that recognizes where conflicts might exist between fire hazard reduction and resource needs. In some systems, such as ponderosa pine, treatments are usually compatible with both fuel reduction and resource needs, whereas in others, such as chaparral, the potential exists for conflicts that need to be closely evaluated. Managing fire regimes in a changing climate and social environment requires a strong scientific basis for developing fire management and policy.
Wildland Fire in Ecosystems
Author: U. S. Department Of AgriculturePublisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781480199064
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Book Description
This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on flora and fuels can assist land managers in planning for ecosystem management and fire management, and in their efforts to inform others about the ecological role of fire. Chapter 1 presents an overview and a classification of fire regimes that is used throughout the report. Chapter 2 summarizes knowledge of fire effects on individual plants, including susceptibility to mortality of aerial crowns, stems, and roots; vegetative regeneration; seedling establishment from on-site and off-site seed sources; seasonal influences such as carbohydrates and phenological stage; and factors affecting burn severity. Five chapters describe fire regime characteristics such as fire severity, fire frequency, and fire intensity, and postfire plant community responses for ecosystems throughout the United States and Canada. Typical fuel compositions, fuel loadings, and fire behavior are described for many vegetation types. Vegetation types including Forest-Range Environmental Study (FRES), Kuchler, and Society of American Foresters (SAF) types are classified as belonging to understory, mixed, or stand replacement fire severity regime types. The severity and frequency of fire are described for the pre-Euro-American settlement period and contrasted with current fire regimes. Historic fire frequencies ranged from a fire every 1 to 3 years in some grassland and pine types to a fire every 500 to 1,000 years in some coastal forest and northern hardwood types. In many vegetation types characterized by understory fire regimes, a considerable shift in fire frequency and fire severity occurred during the past century. Successional patterns and vegetation dynamics following disturbance by fire, and in some cases related grazing and silvicultural treatments, are described for major vegetation types. Management considerations are discussed, especially for the application of prescribed fire. A chapter on global climate change describes the complexity of a changing climate and possible influences on vegetation, fuels, and fire. The uncertainty of global climate change and its interactions with vegetation means expectations for fire management are general and tentative. Nonetheless, manipulation of wildlands and disturbance regimes may be necessary to ensure continual presence of some species. The last chapter takes a broader, more fundamental view of the ecological principles and shifting fire regimes described in the other chapters. The influences of fire regimes on biodiversity and fuel accumulation are discussed. Strategies and approaches for managing fire in an ecosystem context and sources of technical knowledge that can assist in the process are described. Research needs are broadly summarized.
Wildland Fire in Ecosystems
Author: Joint Fire Sciences ProgramPublisher:
ISBN: 9781976763373
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on flora and fuels can assist land managers with ecosystem and fire management planning and in their efforts to inform others about the ecological role of fire. Chapter topics include fire regime classification, autecological effects of fire, fire regime characteristics and postfire plant community developments in ecosystems throughout the United States and Canada, global climate change, ecological principles of fire regimes, and practical considerations for managing fire in an ecosystem context. Keywords: ecosystem, fire effects, fire management, fire regime, fire severity, fuels, habitat, plant response, plants, succession, vegetation In 1978, a national workshop on fire effects in Denver, Colorado, provided the impetus for the "Effects of Wildland Fire on Ecosystems" series. Recognizing that knowledge of fire was needed for land management planning, state-of-the-knowledge reviews were produced that became known as the "Rainbow Series." The series consisted of six publications, each with a different colored cover, describing the effects of fire on soil, water, air, flora, fauna, and fuels. The Rainbow Series proved popular in providing fire effects information for professionals, students, and others. Printed supplies eventually ran out, but knowledge of fire effects continued to grow. To meet the continuing demand for summaries of fire effects knowledge, the interagency National Wildfire Coordinating Group asked Forest Service research leaders to update and revise the series. To fulfill this request, a meeting for organizing the revision was held January 4-6, 1993, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The series name was then changed to "The Rainbow Series." The five-volume series covers air, soil and water, fauna, flora and fuels, and cultural resources. The Rainbow Series emphasizes principles and processes rather than serving as a summary of all that is known. The five volumes, taken together, provide a wealth of information and examples to advance understanding of basic concepts regarding fire effects in the United States and Canada. As conceptual background, they provide technical support to fire and resource managers for carrying out interdisciplinary planning, which is essential to managing wildlands in an ecosystem context. Planners and managers will find the series helpful in many aspects of ecosystem-based management, but they will also need to seek out and synthesize more detailed information to resolve specific management questions. Chapter 1 - Introduction and Fire Regimes * Chapter 2 - Fire Autecology * Chapter 3 - Fire in Northern Ecosystems * Chapter 4 - Fire in Eastern Ecosystems * Chapter 5 - Fire in Western Forest Ecosystems * Chapter 6 - Fire in Western Shrubland, Woodland, and Grassland Ecosystems * Chapter 7 - Fire in Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems * Chapter 8 - Global Change and Wildland Fire * Chapter 9 - Ecological Principles, Shifting Fire Regimes and Management Considerations
Effects of Fire on Madrean Province Ecosystems
Author: Peter F. FfolliottPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ecosystem management
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Wildland Fire in Ecosystems
Author: L. Jack LyonPublisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781480198968
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 90
Book Description
Fire regimes-that is, patterns of fire occurrence, size, uniformity, and severity-have been a major force shaping landscape patterns and influencing productivity throughout North America for thousands of years. Faunal communities have evolved in the context of particular fire regimes and show patterns of response to fire itself and to the changes in vegetation composition and structure that follow fire. Animals' immediate responses to fire are influenced by fire season, intensity, severity, rate of spread, uniformity, and size. Responses may include injury, mortality, immigration, or emigration. Animals with limited mobility, such as young, are more vulnerable to injury and mortality than mature animals. The habitat changes caused by fire influence faunal populations and communities much more profoundly than fire itself. Fires often cause a short-term increase in productivity, availability, or nutrient content of forage and browse. Fires generally favor raptors by reducing hiding cover and exposing prey. Small carnivores respond to fire effects on small mammal populations (either positive or negative). Large carnivores and omnivores are opportunistic species with large home ranges. Their populations change little in response to fire, but they tend to thrive in areas where their preferred prey is most plentiful-often in recent burns. In forests and woodlands, understory fires generally alter habitat structure less than mixed severity and stand-replacement fires, and their effects on animal populations are correspondingly less dramatic. Stand-replacing fires reduce habitat quality for species that require dense cover and improve it for species that prefer open sites. Population explosions of wood-boring insects, an important food source for insect predators and insect-eating birds, can be associated with fire-killed trees. Woodpecker populations generally increase after mixed-severity and stand-replacement fire if snags are available for nesting. Secondary cavity nesters, both birds and mammals, take advantage of the nest sites prepared by primary excavators. Many animal-fire studies depict a reorganization of animal communities in response to fire, with increases in some species accompanied by decreases in others. Like fire effects on populations, fire effects on communities are related to the amount of structural change in vegetation. Bird abundance and diversity are likely to be greatest early in succession. When shrub or tree canopy closure occurs, species that prefer open sites and habitat edges decline and species that prefer mature structures increase. Major changes to fire regimes alter landscape patterns, processes, and functional linkages. These changes can affect animal habitat and often produce major changes in the composition of faunal communities. In many Western ecosystems, landscape changes due to fire exclusion have changed fuel quantities and arrangement, increasing the likelihood of large or severe fires, or both. Where fire exclusion has changed species composition and fuel arrays over large areas, subsequent fires without prior fuel modification are unlikely to restore presettlement vegetation and habitat. In many desert and semi desert habitats where fire historically burned infrequently because of sparse fuels, invasion of weedy species has changed the vegetation so that burns occur much more frequently. Many animals in these ecosystems are poorly adapted to avoid fire or use resources in postfire communities. Collaboration among managers, researchers, and the public is needed to address tradeoffs in fire management, and fire management must be better integrated with overall land management objectives to address the potential interactions of fire with other disturbances such as grazing, flood, wind throw, and insect and fungus infestations.
Fire in California's Ecosystems
Author: Neil G. SugiharaPublisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520246055
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 613
Book Description
Focusing on California and issues specific to fire ecology and management in the state's bioregions, this work provides scientific information for use in land restoration and other management decisions made in the field. It introduces the basics of fire ecology, and includes an overview of fire, vegetation and climate in California; and more.
Ecology of Fire-Dependent Ecosystems
Author: Devan Allen McGranahanPublisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0429944942
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Book Description
Ecology of Fire-Dependent Ecosystems is brimming with intriguing ecological stories of how life has evolved with and diversified within the varied fire regimes that are experienced on earth. Moreover, the book places itself as a communication between students, fire scientists, and fire fighters, and each of these groups will find some familiar ground, and some challenging aspects in this text: something which ultimately will help to bring us closer together and enrich our different approaches to understanding and managing our changing planet. -- Sally Archibald, Professor, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Most textbooks are as dry as kindling and about as much fun to sink your teeth into. This is not that kind of textbook. Devan Allen McGranahan and Carissa L. Wonkka have taken a complex topic and somehow managed to synthesize it into a comprehensive, yet digestible form. This is a book you can read cover to cover – I know, I did it. As a result, I took an enlightening journey through the history and fundamentals of fire and its role in the natural and human world, ending with a thoughtful review of the evolving relationship between humans and wildland fire. -- Chris Helzer, Nebraska Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy, and author of The Prairie Ecologist blog Ecology of Fire-Dependent Ecosystems: Wildland Fire Science, Policy, and Management is intended for use in upper-level courses in fire ecology and wildland fire management and as a reference for researchers, managers, and other professionals involved with wildland fire science, practice, and policy. The book helps guide students and scientists to design and conduct robust wildland fire research projects and critically interpret and apply fire science in any management, education, or policy situation. It emphasizes variability in wildland fire as an ecological regime and provides tools for students, researchers, and managers to assess and connect fire environment and fire behaviour to fire effects. Fire has not only shaped social and ecological communities but pushed ecosystems beyond previous boundaries, yet understanding the nature and effects of fire as an ecological disturbance has been slow, hampered by the complexity of the dynamic interactions between vegetation and climate and the fear of the destruction fire can bring. This book will help those who study, manage, and use wildland fire to develop new answers and novel solutions, based on an understanding of how fire functions in natural and social environments. It reviews literature, synthesizes concepts, and identifies research gaps and policy needs. The text also explores the interaction of fire and human culture, demonstrating how fire policy can be made adaptable to cultural and socio-ecological objectives.