Research Database
Displaying 241 - 245 of 245
Lessons of the Hayman fire: weeds, woodpeckers and fire severity
Year: 2008
This project took advantage of pre-fire data gathered within the perimeter of Colorado’s 2002 Hayman Fire. Researchers studied the unique fire regime of Front Range ponderosa pine forests, and fire effects on understory-plant communities and American Three-toed Woodpeckers. Results confirmed that historically, the diverse structure of these forests was maintained by a mixed-severity fire regime that included large areas of severe fire. In addition, researchers found that much of the burn meets habitat requirements for American Three-toed Woodpeckers, and that understory plant species that…
Publication Type: Report
The Ecological Importance of Severe Wildfires: Some Like it Hot
Year: 2008
Many scientists and forest land managers concur that past fire suppression, grazing, and timber harvesting practices have created unnatural and unhealthy conditions in the dry, ponderosa pine forests of the western United States. Specifically, such forests are said to carry higher fuel loads and experience fires that are more severe than those that occurred historically. It remains unclear, however, how far these generalizations can be extrapolated in time and space, and how well they apply to the more mesic ponderosa pine systems and to other forest systems within the western United States.…
Publication Type: Journal Article
The Effect of Wildland Fire on Aquatic Ecosystems in the Western USA
Year: 2003
The workshop on the Effects of Wildland Fire on Aquatic Ecosystems in the Western USA was convened in Boise, Idaho, USA in April 2002 to synthesize the emerging science and discussion relevant to such solutions. The organizing committee invited the authors in this special issue of Forest Ecology and Management to present new work or synthesize the current understanding (or lack of it) regarding the role of disturbance, fire, or fire-related management for aquatic populations, communities, or habitats and the physical and biological processes that maintain them. Scientists and managers…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Do wood-boring beetles influence the flammability of deadwood?
Year:
Global warming increases the risk of wildfire and insect outbreaks, potentially reducing the carbon storage function of coarse woody debris (CWD). There is an increasing focus on the interactive effects of wildfire and insect infestation on forest carbon, but the impact of wood-boring beetle tunnels via their effect on the flammability of deadwood remains unexplored. We hypothesized that the presence of beetle holes, at natural densities, can affect its flammability positively through increased surface area and enhanced oxygen availability in the wood. To test this, wood-boring beetle holes…
Publication Type: Journal Article