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Fire Ecology
Volume 10 Issue 1, 2014
DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.1001
About the Cover: A key challenge to land managers is balancing the need to reintroduce fire in fire-adapted ecosystems with the desire to mitigate adverse smoke impacts to individuals and communities. To quantify smoke emissions, land managers have turned to scientific models that are intended to provide reasonable estimates of smoke emitted during both wildfire and prescribed fire events. In this issue, Drury et al.report on a modeling study in which options for estimating smoke emissions were intercompared. The cover photograph illustrates the magnitude of smoke produced as the Tripod Fire burned through dense, closed-canopy, conifer forest on 21 August 2006. Photo credit: Jennifer Croft, FMO, Tonasket Ranger District, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Washington, USA.
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NEW!
Abstracts in Spanish!
We now provide all of our abstracts in Spanish. To view the Spanish version, click on the link that says "View Article PDF."
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Upcoming AFE Events
We are currently organizing or co-hosting the following events:
Missoula, Montana
May 19-23, 2014.
In collaboration with IAWF.
6th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress.
San Antonio, Texas, USA. November 16-20, 2015.
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In this Issue
Fire Ecology enters its tenth year of publication with issue 10(1), now available for viewing on the AFE website. Our publication of classic fire ecology articles continues with Harold Weaver's prescient Fire as an ecological and silvicultural factor in the ponderosa pine region of the Pacific slope. It is preceded by an Introduction by Jan van Wagtendonk, who argues that the article is just as relevant today as it was in 1943 when it was first published in the Journal of Forestry.
Our four research articles in this issue are all from the western United States. Morgan and others demonstrated the utility of digital fire atlases in cold, dry, and mesic forests of the northern Rocky Mountains, USA, during three fire management periods from 1900 to 2008. Drury and others compared smoke emissions estimates from the 2006 Tripod Fire in eastern Washington, USA, linking various scientific models, and found pre-fire fuel loading estimates critical in developing emission estimates. Peppin and others interviewed western United States resource managers involved in post-wildfire seeding activities, and found that information on long-term effects of seeding is not sufficient. Longer-term monitoring must be funded if the effects of such activities are to be better understood. Lazzeri-Aerts and Russell studied tree survival and recruitment in coast redwood forests of coastal California, and found that coast redwood survived wildfire better than associated species, which survived better when proximate to coast redwood trees. The fire adaptations of coast redwood allow it to survive, and recruit, above the levels of associated species after wildfire. We continue the inclusion of abstracts in both English and Spanish for all research articles.
We conclude issue 10(1) with three book reviews. David L. Peterson reviews two recent books: Vegetation Fires and Global Change, edited by Johann Goldammer (2013; Cambridge University Press), and Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems: Ecology, Evolution and Management,written by Jon Keeley and others (2012; Cambridge University Press). Leda N. Kobziar reviews the new fire text, Fire on Earth: An Introduction, by Andrew C. Scott and others (2014; Wiley Blackwell). Each of these new books will be of value to members of the Association for Fire Ecology.
-James K. Agee, Fire Ecology Managing Editor
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Fire as an Ecological and Silvicultural Factor, with an Introduction by Jan W. van Wagtendonk
Pages: 1-3 DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.1001001
I first met Harold Weaver in 1968, a year after he had retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He had just finished his morning run (barefoot, at that!) and was resting beneath a giant sequoia at Whitaker's Forest, a University of California, Berkeley, forest reserve adjacent to Kings Canyon National Park. He was there at the behest of Harold Biswell, my major professor at Berkeley. Dr. Biswell had a list of required reading for his neophyte fire ecologists that included "Fire as an Ecological and Silvicultural Factor in the Ponderosa Pine Region of the Pacific Slope" that Harold Weaver had published in theJournal of Forestry in 1943. Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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Northern Rockies Pyrogeography: An Example of Fire Atlas Utility
We demonstrated the utility of digital fire atlases by analyzing forest fire extent across cold, dry, and mesic forests, within and outside federally designated wilderness areas during three different fire management periods: 1900 to 1934, 1935 to 1973, and 1974 to 2008. We updated an existing atlas with a 12 070 086 ha recording area in Idaho and Montana, USA, west of the Continental Divide, 81 % of which is forested. Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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Post-Fire Seeding in Western United States Forests: Perspectives of Resource Managers
Pages: 31-42 DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.1001031
Recent reviews have brought into question the effectiveness of post-fire seeding in mitigating soil erosion and non-native plant invasions, yet millions of dollars continue to be spent annually on post-fire seeding as a primary post-fire rehabilitation response. Overall policy development and implementation direction regarding post-fire rehabilitation treatments rests heavily on national- and regional-level natural resource managers. Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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Survival and Recovery Following Wildfire in the Southern Range of the Coast Redwood Forest
Fire plays a central role in determining structure, composition, and recruitment in many forest types. In coast redwood forests, the role of fire is not well understood and scant literature exists on post-fire response, particularly in the southern part of the range. In order to better understand patterns of survival and recruitment following fire for coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [lamb. ex D. Don] Endl.) and associated tree species, three sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, were sampled following wildfire. Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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Intercomparison of Fire Size, Fuel Loading, Fuel Consumption, and Smoke Emissions Estimates on the 2006 Tripod Fire, Washington, USA
Land managers rely on prescribed burning and naturally ignited wildfires for ecosystem management, and must balance trade-offs of air quality, carbon storage, and ecosystem health. A current challenge for land managers when using fire for ecosystem management is managing smoke production. Smoke emissions are a potential human health hazard due to the production of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3) precursors. In addition, smoke emissions can impact transportation safety and contribute to regional haze issues. Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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Vegetation Fires and Global Change
Page: 84-85 DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.1001084
Scientific syntheses on wildfire and fire use over the past 30 years have typically been conducted at sub-continental scales, often focused on specific topics such as ecological effects. Vegetation Fires and Global Change is a rare attempt to pull together concepts, patterns, and trends of wildfire throughout the world, covering a broad range of mostly biophysical issues. Targeted at internationally relevant themes and proposed actions, this ambitious undertaking is comprised of nearly 400 pages and 25 chapters, with contributions from 58 different authors. Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems: Ecology, Evolution and Management
Page: 86-87 DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.1001086
During the past decade, the media have reported on many wildfire "disasters" in mediterranean regions of the world, typically highly populated areas of California (USA), Australia, and Europe. These fires cause significant economic losses through the destruction of homes and other structures, and not infrequently result in loss of human life. It is this socioeconomic context that makes mediterranean fire such a relevant topic. Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems: Ecology, Evolution and Management literally defines the scientific scope and content of mediterranean fire ecology at the global scale. Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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Fire on Earth: An Introduction
Page: 88-91 DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.1001088
I'd just returned from sabbatical in Spain and was suffering the disillusionment that accompanies reentry into a less exotic work environment. The first few pages of Fire on Earth: An Introduction produced the first jab of inspiration I'd felt in weeks. Yes, we have broadly neglected fire in our intellectual disciplines for hundreds of years! Yes, there is no greater integrating and influential force than fire! Yes, I think I actually want to read this 400+ page book cover to cover! Read Complete Abstract View Article PDF
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