Synthesis / Tech Report

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Fire as a restoration tool: A decision framework for predicting the control or enhancement of plants using fire

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This paper provides a decision framework that integrates fire regime components, plant growth form, and survival attributes to predict how plants will respond to fires and how fires can be prescribed to enhance the likelihood of obtaining desired plant responses.

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Cumulative watershed effects of fuel management in the western United States

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This synthesis contains 14 chapters that cover fire and forests, machinery, erosion processes, water yield and quality, soil and riparian impacts, aquatic and landscape effects, and predictive tools and procedures. These chapters provide an overview of our current understanding of the cumulative watershed effects of fuel management in the western United States.

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Ecological effects of prescribed fire season: A literature review and synthesis for managers

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This study compared historical and prescribed fire regimes for different regions in the United States and synthesized literature on season of prescribed burning. In regions and vegetation types where considerable differences in fuel consumption exist among burning seasons, the effects of prescribed fire season appears to be driven more by fire-intensity differences among seasons than by phenology. Where fuel consumption differs little among burning seasons, the effect of phenology or growth stage of organisms is often more apparent.

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Synthesis of knowledge on the effects of fire and fire surrogates on wildlife in U.S. dry forests

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This document represents a synthesis of existing knowledge on wildlife responses to fire and fire-surrogate treatments, presented in a useful, management-relevant format. Based on scoping meetings and dialogue with public lands managers from throughout the United States, we provide detailed, species-level, summary tables for project biologists and fire managers trying to anticipate the effects of fire and fire-surrogate treatments on local wildlife species.

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Imazapic – Ecological risk assessment: Final report

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The main objectives of this ecological risk assessment were to evaluate the potential ecological risks from imazapic to the health and welfare of plants and animals and their habitats and to provide risk managers with a range of generic risk estimates that vary as a function of site conditions. The categories and guidelines listed below were designed to help the BLM
determine which of the proposed alternatives evaluated in the EIS should be used on BLM lands.

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Biology, ecology, and management of western juniper

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This synthesis documents what is known about the history, biology, ecology, and management of western juniper. This synthesis will provide guidance for defining long-term goals, setting management priorities, and developing management plans and strategies related to western juniper. It is separated into six major sections: 1) distribution and history of woodland expansion, 2) life history and biology, 3) ecology; 4) hydrology, 5) restoration and management, and 6) management guidelines.

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Postfire seeding for erosion control: Effectiveness and impacts on native plant communities

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Less than half of the studies reviewed in this synthesis showed reduced sediment movement with seeding. In all vegetation types, successful growth of seeded grasses—enough to affect erosion—appears to displace native or naturalized species, including shrub and tree seedlings. In burned sagebrush range, postfire seeding is frequently used to replace non-native cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) with native or introduced bunchgrasses, with at least short-term success. In recent years, native species and sterile cereal grains have increasingly been used for seeding. Use of aerially applied straw mulch has increased as well, with the risk of weed introduction from contaminated bales.

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