Evaluating Prescribed Fire Effectiveness Using Permanent Monitoring Plot Data: A Case Study

Autor: Kristen M. Waring, William T. Flatley, Kristen J. Hansen
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Fire Ecology. 12:2-25
ISSN: 1933-9747
DOI: 10.4996/fireecology.1203002
Popis: Since Euro-American settlement, ponderosa pine forests throughout the western United States have shifted from high fire frequency and open canopy savanna forests to infrequent fire and dense, closed canopy forests. Managers at Zion National Park, USA, reintroduced fire to counteract these changes and decrease the potential for high-severity fires. We analyzed existing permanent monitoring plot data collected between 1995 and 2010 to assess achievement of management objectives related to prescribed fire in ponderosa pine forests. Following first entry fire, ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson var. scopulorum Engelm.) and Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.) overstory and midstory densities declined between 10% and 45% and effectively shifted the Gambel oak diameter distribution toward larger trees. Second entry fires had a greater effect, reducing ponderosa pine and Gambel oak overstory and midstory densities between 24% and 92%. Diameter distributions of both species shifted toward fewer, larger trees following second entry fires. Total fuel load was reduced by
Databáze: OpenAIRE