Monitoring The Impacts of Wildfire, Fire Suppression, and Post-burn Restoration on Exotic Weed Invasion Description: Invasive plant species are one of the greatest threats to wildlands in the United States. Disturbance creates conditions favorable for exotic species invasion of native plant communities. These conditions include increased bare soil, reduced competition, and increased light and nutrient levels. The fires of 2000 created these conditions on nearly 1.5 million acres in Regions 1 and 4, and the fires of 2000 thus set the stage for an unprecedented expansion of established weeds and invasion of new weed species. This could lead to altered plant and animal communities, altered successional pathways, altered fire regimes, reduced or eliminated T&E species, and reduced herbivore-carrying capacities. The extent and importance of this threat was recognized in "An Assessment of the 2000 Fire Season in the Northern and Intermountain Regions" where it was estimated that nearly 460,000 acres of state and national forests and grasslands may be vulnerable to post-fire weed invasion; nearly $17 million was proposed for weed treatment funds in 2001 and $5 million in 2002-2005. This represents the second largest funding project in 2001 (20 percent) and the third largest funding project for the next five years (10 percent). This proposal represents an integrated effort between the National Forest System (the Kootenai, Salmon-Challis, and Nez Perce National Forests) and the Rocky Mountain Research Station (Fire Effects Project/Fire Sciences Laboratory) with collaborative ties to independently funded studies conducted by RM-4151/Bozeman Laboratory and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. The Fire Laboratory will concentrate on the Bitterroot National Forest, the Bozeman Laboratory will concentrate on the Helena National Forest, and the ALWRI will concentrate on the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. The studies will be conducted at a variety of spatial scales potentially ranging from paired watersheds in the Bitterroot (in conjunction with other planned RMRS watershed, wildlife, and restoration projects), to intra-forest, inter-forest, and regional comparisons. The study will examine the interaction between wildfire and weeds with the goal of improving the efficiency of weed detection and effectiveness of weed control on burned wildlands. We will concentrate on three general questions: Have wildfires and fire suppression resulted in new invasive species (e.g. yellow star thistle, rush skeleton weed, orange hawk weed, meadow hawk weed, tansy ragwort)? Are the weed responses predicted in Fire Assessment accurate (i.e., roaded dry, open forest, dry shrubland and grassland communities most susceptible to invasive weeds)? Are invasive plant treatments effective? New invasive species: Because wildfires create ideal habitats for weeds, and out-of-state vehicles (used for fire suppression, restoration, and salvage logging activities) can transport weed seeds and propagules over large distances, there is a strong potential for the introduction and spread of new invasive species in burned areas. These new weed species are the greatest threat to burned areas, and their early detection and eradication is the highest priority for invasive weed control (Assessment pIV-30). To detect these new weeds: Susceptible areas (such as fire camps, staging areas, heliports) will be surveyed by weed crews on the Bitterroot, Helena, Kootenai, and Salmon-Challis National Forests. Susceptible areas on the Bitterroot and Helena will be monitored using permanent plots (see below). If new weeds are found, they will be treated; data on the origination of suppression, restoration, and salvage crews will be collected to determine whether these crews were the probable source for weed introduction. A probability of new weed introduction will be determined. Predicted weed response: Although the Fire Assessment predicts that roaded dry, open forest, dry shrubland, and grassland communities are most susceptible to invasive weeds, riparian areas are very susceptible to weed invasion, heavily traveled areas in wilderness areas (such as trails and riparian corridors) are very susceptible to weed invasion, new weed species (such as tansy ragwort and orange hawkweed) prefer more mesic forests, fire severity may be more important for susceptibility to weed invasion, or fire suppression, restoration, and salvage logging activities may secondarily alter the habitat, transport weed seeds, and change the predicted weed response. To test these predictions: Weed crews on the Bitterroot, Helena, Kootenai, Nez Perce, and Salmon-Challis National Forests will collect geo-referenced data (such as habitat type, fire severity, weed species, population size, percentage cover bare soil, percentage canopy cover, etc.) on weed occurrences. These data will be spatially analyzed to determine relationships between weed occurrences and aspect, slope, elevation, habitat type, fire severity, distance from roads, trails, and streams, etc. On the Bitterroot and Helena, permanent plots will be established on low, medium, and high severity burns for the major fire groups, and data will be collected on percentage cover by species, lifeform, bare soil, canopy cover, litter and duff depth, disturbance, etc. On the Kootenai, permanent plots will be established on low, medium, and high severity burns for fire groups 4-6, and data will be collected using the previous methodology. On the Salmon-Challis, permanent plots will be established on low, medium, and high severity burns for fire groups 2-3 and sagebrush; and data will be collected using the previous methodology. Data from the Bitterroot will be compared with data collected from similar habitats in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area (ALWRI). Using the same methodology, data will be collected in fire camps, staging areas, heliports, and firelines on the Bitterroot and Helena, to determine the impact of fire suppression on weed invasion and expansion. Using the same methodology, data will be collected on BAER treatments (such as contour felling, straw wattles, straw mulch, culvert replacement) on the Bitterroot and Helena, to determine the impact of post-fire restoration on weed invasion and expansion. Using the same methodology, data will be collected on salvage logging on the Bitterroot and Helena, to determine the impact of post-fire logging on weed invasion and expansion. Weed treatment effectiveness: With $22 million being proposed for weed control in 2001-2005, it is critical that the effectiveness of weed control methods be evaluated and, if necessary, the control methods altered to reduce the impact of invasive plants. This will be achieved by: Using existing monitoring methodologies on the Bitterroot, Helena, Kootenai, and Salmon-Challis National Forests in 2001 Establishing in 2001 on the Bitterroot National Forest a demonstration study comparing various monitoring methodologies (such as photo-monitoring, frequency, density, percent cover measurements) for evaluating the effectiveness of weed control at different weed infestation rates. The recommendations of this study will be available for implementation on the forests by the 2002 field season. If monitoring results indicate poor weed control, altering the control methods to improve treatment effectiveness. This multi-year study is a collaboration between the National Forest System and the Rocky Mountain Research Station to evaluate and improve weed control efforts on lands burned by the wildfires of 2000. Intensively sampled, fine-scale, plot data on the impact of wildfire, wildfire suppression, post-fire rehabilitation, and salvage logging on weeds will be collected by RMRS and NFS crews during the 2001-2005 field seasons. These data will be supplemented by extensively sampled, large-scale data on weed occurrence, fire severity, and ecological parameters collected by forest weed control crews. This collaboration between NFS and Research will allow fire and weed interactions to be examined at varying scales and resolutions. Data will be geo-referenced and placed in a GIS format and compared with habitat type, road, and management coverages. The study will be replicated on at least two forests to evaluate whether the results will be applicable at a regional scale. Sampling methodology will be consistent with other fire/weed studies so that cross-study comparisons can be made. Expected products include establishment of permanent plots to evaluate the long-term effect of invasive weeds, workshops and publications on sampling methodologies to determine the effectiveness of weed control methods, workshops and publications on impact of fire suppression measures on new weed invasion, workshops and publications on impact of post-fire restoration and salvage logging on weed invasion, publications on predicting which habitat types are susceptible to weed invasion and which weed species are most invasive, and recommendations for mitigating the impact of wildfire on weed species. Lead Personnel: Fire Effects Project/Fire Sciences Laboratory - Steve Sutherland Kootenai NF - Lou Kuennen Nez Perce NF - Leonard Lake Salmon-Challis NF - Diane Schuldt Collaborators: Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute - Peter Landres Forestry Sciences Laboratory/Bozeman - George Markin Budget over 2001-2005: Fire Lab: Salary $252,000 Travel 60,000 Contracts 40,000 Grants 60,000 Equipment 10,000 Supplies 40,000 Overhead 57,000 Total 519,000 Nez Perce NF: Supplies $1,000 Total $1,000 Kootenai NF: Salary $33,000 Travel $6,000 Supplies $1,000 Total $40,000 Salmon-Challis NF: Salary $3,000 Contracts $35,500 Supplies $1,500 Total $40,000 Grand Total: $600,000

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