Webinar
Two speakers present restoration ecology research published in the January 2020 issue of the Natural Areas Journal: Leighton Reid shares understory plant community outcomes based on twelve years of monitoring in a woodland mosaic in Missouri as it underwent restoration via prescribed, dormant-season burning and mechanical thinning of red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and exotic shrubs. Reid’s case study suggests that understory plant recovery may be slower in harsher and more degraded sites and faster in more mesic sites within a woodland mosaic. Mike Leahy describes plant community changes documented over 20 years of prescribed fire, herbicide treatments of invasive nonnative species, and seeding of local ecotype prairie seed at Pawnee Prairie, a 190-ha mix of remnant tallgrass prairie and formerly row-cropped prairie in Missouri. The prairie restoration practices resulted in significant gains in the natural quality of the site’s vegetation, including a greater abundance of prairie flora matrix species and some conservative species.
The first goal of the National Seed Strategy (developed by the Plant Conservation Alliance and through an MOU of 12 federal agencies) is to assess the national public and private demand for native plants, and the existing and potential capacity to supply them. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study is in the first phase of a two-part project to provide the holistic view needed to put the nation’s native seed supply on a more solid foundation. In the next phase, input from organizations (states, land trusts, non-profits) that needs seeds for ecological restoration is needed. This presentation will aim to make the case for getting those entities to participate in the assessment.
The purpose of this webinar is to review 2019 fires and look ahead toward conditions for 2020. Dr. Zander Evans presented an overview of the largest fires in the Southwest during 2019. He will share summaries of forest types and burn severities for each of the fires. In addition, Rich Naden, Fire Weather Meteorologist with the Southwest Coordination Center, discussed the fire season outlook for 2020 in the Southwest.
Sound is a fundamental part of our experience when interacting with the world around us. So fundamental in fact, that we often forget to question what it is we are hearing. Our long relationship with all aspects of fire, including the sounds of fire, are deeply intuitive and yet elusive. What is creating the crackling sound we hear when vegetation burns? What is it really telling us about the exchange between vegetation and fire? What is making all that “noise” near a fire that causes us to raise our voices as we work or turn to observe with a fresh sense of alert concern? What sounds are involved that lead to a safe or unsettling feeling around wildland fire? In this webinar, I will take a deep dive into the crackling sound of fire; what is this sound really telling us, where is it coming from, and what else is going on besides what we hear?
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Selecting species and seed from appropriate sources to maximize project success faces many challenges. This presentation will review plant selection for ecosystem diversity that supports economically and ecologically practical outcomes. Habitat degradation and loss have accelerated globally, resulting in loss of biological diversity and species endangerment at unprecedented scales. Restoring habitats that provide ecosystem services necessary for all life is crucial. One of the biggest hurdles to habitat restoration is the availability of seeds of native plants to provide a diverse and resilient base of the food chain. Plant diversity is now clearly a fundamental driver of ecosystem services and the diversity of other organisms, and native plant diversity is needed because invasive plants tend to reduce diversity and homogenize vegetation on the landscape. Seeding with native plants is one of the few reliable methods of restoring diversity at all levels, even in the face of climate change and controversial novel ecosystems. Therefore, selecting and sourcing the right plants for restoration sites is vital for the successful establishment of diverse and resilient native ecosystems. This presentation webinar will describe the results of recent published and unpublished research on local adaptation, successful creation of diverse regional seed admixtures, the importance of landscape context, and innovative species selection strategies and tools.
Description: Management of expanding pinyon-juniper woodlands in sagebrush habitats has become a prominent strategy for sagebrush conservation, with spatially targeted tree removal efforts designed to benefit sage-grouse increasing over the past decade. This webinar will highlight recent literature on wildlife response to pinyon-juniper management across the West, and new science and tools for considering sagebrush- and woodland-obligate songbirds, like pinyon jay, in conifer management. Knowledge gained from wildlife studies will be put into context of emerging remote sensing analyses that provide a comprehensive picture of continued woodland change.
Presenters: Jason Tack, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Habitat and Population Evaluation Team, Missoula, MT; Jeremy Maestas, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, West National Technology Support Center, Portland, OR.
CE Credits: This webinar was approved by the Society for Ecological Restoration for 1 Continuing Education Credit (CEC).
To receive credit you’ll need to reference pre-approval code 16067645 and upload your webinar certificate (automatically emailed from Joint Fire Science Program JFSP following your attendance) at ser.submittable.com
Rick Miller, Professor Emeritus, OSU, discusses the intent and goals of his latest publication, The Ecology, History, Ecohydrology, and Management of Pinyon and Juniper Woodlands in the Great Basin and Northern Colorado Plateau in the Western United States. This includes 1) Describing the the woodlands and the vast variation across the GB and CP, 2) Telling the story of their history and variables influencing woodland expansion and contraction, and 3) Interpretation of the wide variation in responses and the variables influencing ecosystem response to restoration.
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The Fuel Breaks in Sagebrush: A Multidisciplinary Webinar Series and Discussion is made up of six webinars featuring topics important to fuel breaks in the Great Basin.
3/25 – What Are Fuel Breaks, Why Are We Doing Them? (11 PDT/12 MDT)- Recording and Q & A
Purpose of fuel breaks – Jeff Rose, BLM
BLM agency/policy perspective – Jolie Pollet, BLM
USFS agency/policy perspective and how it relates to Shared Stewardship – Duncan Leao, USFS
3/31 – Ecological Considerations of Fuel Breaks (11 PDT/12 MDT)- Recording
Overview of fuel break ecological considerations – Eva Strand, University of Idaho
Control of cheatgrass and other weeds in fuel breaks – Tim Prather, University of Idaho
How to use the “Science Framework” for fuel break planning – Michele Crist, BLM
4/8 – Science Gaps, Modeling, and Efficacy (11 PDT/12 MDT)- Recording
Science and data gaps: How we’re addressing them – Doug Shinneman, USGS
Current use of fire and fuels models – Russ Parsons, USFS
SageSTEP: What are the most effective treatments for constructing fuel breaks? Lisa Ellsworth and Claire Williams, Oregon State University
4/14 – Targeted Grazing for Fuel Breaks (11 PDT/12 MDT)- Recording
Targeted grazing: A large multiregional fuel breaks project – Pat Clark, ARS
Sheep grazing success in the WUI – Lyndsey Boyer, Carson City Parks, Recreation, and Open Space
4/21 – Fuel Breaks in Practice (11 PDT/12 MDT)- Recording
A fuels treatment success story in the Pine Nut Mountains of Nevada – Keith Barker, BLM
Successes and challenges with a suite of fuel break projects – Lance Okeson, BLM
4/28 – Bringing it All Together- (11 PDT/12 MDT)- Recording
How do we move forward in an era of uncertainty: Facilitated panel Q & A – Jeremy Maestas, NRCS, Justin Boeck, BLM, and Michele Crist, BLM
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In this webinar, Matt Jolly (Research Ecologist, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station) presents the structure and function of the current version of the US National Fire Danger Rating, NFDRS2016. He shows how this system can be used to assess seasonal variations in fuel moisture and fire potential and how it can be used to quantify fire season severity anywhere in the country. Jolly demonstrates the use of FireFamily+ Version 5.0 to explore local fire weather conditions and suggests ways to use both tabular and graphical displays to communicate fire danger conditions to a variety of audiences such as firefighters, IMT members, fire management officers, line officers and the public. Finally, he introduces new spatial fire danger assessment tools and discuss the future of NFDRS.
This webinar will provide an introduction to the fundamental concepts and tools for understanding the who, what, why and how for managing prescribed fire smoke in the Southeast. Speakers from regional air quality regulation programs will discuss topics including: smoke production, smoke prediction, regional regulations, health impacts and more. Following the presentation there will be time for audience Q/A with the speakers.
A 1.5 hour webinar from the EPA Region 4, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division, SERPPAS Prescribed Fire and Air Quality Working Group, North Carolina State University, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida. Presenters: Scott Davis (EPA R4), Heidi LeSane, (EPA R4), Rick Gillam (EPA R4), Jim Boylan (GA DNR EPD), Randy Strait (NC DEQ AQ), and Jenn Fawcett (SERPPAS/NCSU)