Fire Ecology & Effects
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Collectively, the data analyzed in this study demonstrate that good condition ungrazed Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities exhibited resilience following fire and maintained a native-dominated mosaic of shrubs, bunchgrasses, and forbs. Further, unburned control plots were dominated by woody vegetation and exhibited losses in herbaceous understory, possibly indicating that they are outside of their natural fire return interval.
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This report discusses development of the Rangeland Vegetation Simulator (RVS) and new models for estimating understory conditions in forested landscapes. The RVS is calibrated on 112 unique sites and enables simulation of ecological dynamics, production and fuels in either a spatially explicit manner or as a processor of inventory data much like the FVS. Validation of the RVS, in this inaugural development, suggests significant promise for its use to describe vegetation and fuel data when the structure and composition are given, but its ability to describe succession is limited and in some cases unrealistic.
The premier outputs of the vegetation simulator are:
1) Standing biomass, carbon, and annual production of herbs and shrubs (including standing dead herbaceous material).
2) Vegetation structure, composition, and seral stage
3) Fuelbed properties (1, 10, 100, 1000 hr fuel) and fire behavior fuel models
4) Response of these attributes to herbivory and fire
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This study provides quantitative evidence linking long-term declines of sage-grouse to chronic effects of wildfire. Projected declines may be slowed or halted by targeting fire suppression in remaining areas of intact sagebrush with high densities of breeding sage-grouse.
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This technical manual provides regional accounts of historical and current uses of fire, and then discusses fire effects on wildlife and the challenges of using prescribed fire in each system.
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This paper reports that community results from burn treatments can mean an increase in patchy spatial distribution of ectomycorrhiza (EMF). Quick initiation of EMF recolonization is possible depending on the size of high intensity burn patches, proximity of low and unburned soil, and survival of nearby hosts. The importance of incorporating mixed fire effects in fuel management practices will help to provide EMF refugia for ponderosa pine forest regeneration.
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This research suggests that widespread environmental change within sagebrush ecosystems, especially the fire-cheatgrass cycle (e.g., invasion of cheatgrass and increased fire frequency) and human land disturbances, are directly and indirectly influencing ground squirrels and badgers.
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This Missoula Fire Lab webpage provides links to and descriptions of the many fire modeling applications they have developed.
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This synthesis presents an ecohydrologic perspective on the effects of fire on rangeland runoff and erosion through a review of scientific literature spanning many decades. Objectives are: (1) to introduce rangeland hydrology and erosion concepts necessary for understanding hydrologic impacts of fire; (2) to describe how climate, vegetation, and soils affect rangeland hydrology and erosion; and (3) to use examples from literature to illustrate how fire interacts with key ecohydrologic relationships. The synthesis is intended to provide a useful reference and conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating impacts of fire on rangeland runoff and erosion.
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The Great Basin Bibliography provides access to publication titles and articles relevant to the Great Basin region.
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The primary purpose of this guide is to serve as a tool for communicating potential particulate matter (PM2.5) levels during wildfire events using visual representation. Examples of visibility impairment under various levels of smoke concentration and humidity have been modeled using the WinHaze program.