|
|
| Fire
|
|
|
| PATTERNS OF WHITE PINE REGENERATION AFTER FIRE |
| Research Description - White pine is an important species
that regenerates after fire, helps in reducing soil erosion, and sets the stage
for the development of commercially valuable forest types. White pine is also
susceptible to white pine blister rust that can kill seedlings and adult trees.
Researchers are working on identifying and selecting sources of white pine seeds that
display hardiness and resistance to the pathogen so that they may be used in efforts to
restore burned areas. |
| National Fire Plan Key Point – B (Rehabilitation
and Restoration) |
| Team Lead Scientist – Anna
Schoettle; aschoettle@fs.fed.us, 970-498-1333 |
| Research Approach – Apply
ecological, physiological, genetic and meta-population approaches
to improve our ability to develop and assess potential management
and conservation options for white pine ecosystems. |
|
|
|
|
| USE OF REMOTE SENSING TO EXAMINE
DISEASE EFFECTS ON FUEL PATTERNS |
| Research Description –
Forests impacts by insects and diseases are more susceptible
to wildfires. Researchers are using satellite imagery to look
at the impacts of these disturbances in determining the distribution
of fire hazard and spread of wildfire. This information will
be incorporated into an expert opinion model that can be used
to help managers make operational decisions about management
options. |
| National Fire Plan Key Point
– C (Hazardous Fuels Reduction) |
| Team Lead Scientist – John
Lundquist, jlundquist@fs.fed.us;
970-498-1095 |
| Research Approach – We
developed methods to generate sub-stand resolution spatial models
of various components of fuel loading by linking field data
to satellite imagery, linked these images to fire spread model,
developed methods to quantify the relative importance of different
types of disturbances, which generate fuels and assessed the
relative importance of diseases, and examine how marketing and
promotional business tools and concepts might be usefully integrated
into this process. |
| |
|
|
|
| MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES FOR
FIRE DEPENDENT ECOSYSTEMS IN COLORADO AND THE BLACK HILLS |
| Research Description –Fire
suppression and exclusion throughout the Central Rocky Mountains
have resulted in conditions that make the risk of catastrophic
fires likely. Researchers are gathering information on the types
and methods of fuel reduction alternatives that would be best
suited to treating these high fuel levels to restore a more
natural mix of ecological conditions and reintroduce fire as
a management tool. |
| National Fire Plan Key Point
– C (Hazardous Fuels Reduction) |
| Team Lead Scientist – Linda
Joyce; ljoyce@fs.fed.us,
970-498-2560 |
| Research Approach – Information
and knowledge will be developed (1) on the role of natural disturbances
and forest management activities in maintaining healthy forests
ecosystems in the West; (2) on the ecological response of these
fire-suppressed ecosystems to natural disturbances of insects,
disease, and timber management treatments, including regeneration
patterns, seedling establishment, endemic levels of insects
and disease, and responses in the forests’ nutrient and
carbon dynamics. Additionally, we will focus on the development
of effective and cost-efficient vegetation manipulation techniques
to mimic the fire disturbances when fire is not a viable alternative
by establishing benchmarks for the current ecosystem processes,
determining the direction of change in these ecological processes,
and the development and testing of management treatments to
maintain a broader spectrum of ecological conditions along the
Front Range and Black Hills and develop and test where possible,
management techniques that make fire a viable option for resource
management. |
|
|
|
|
| ROLE OF WILDLAND FIRE AND SUBSEQUENT
INSECT ATTACK ON PONDEROSA PINE MORTALITY |
| Issues are the impacts of insects and fire on
recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystems after fire. |
| Develop guidelines for field personnel to determine
whether a tree will live or die in the near-term future in relation
to the amount of damage caused by fire or the probability of
fire-injured trees being killed by insects. |
| Cooperative study with Region 2 Forest Health
Management, Region 3, Forest Health Protection, Region 1 Forest
Health Protection and Rocky Mountain Research Station, funded
through the Special Technology and Development Program. |
| To help define the impact of insects on western forest ecosystems for managing vegetation. |
| Forest Service Special Technology and Development
Program |
Forest Health Management in the Rocky Mountains
|
|
|
| RECOVERY OF MANAGED PONDEROSA
PINE STAND AFTER THE HAYMAN FIRE AT THE MANITOU EXPERIMENTAL
FOREST |
| Research Description –
The Hayman Fire in 2002 burned through two long-term research
studies at the Manitou Experimental Forest. Post-fire recovery
studies have been overlain on the ponderosa pine regeneration
study which was established in 1982. At the start of the study,
two overstory treatments were imposed on two soil preparation
treatments and half of the area was planted with pine and half
were left to follow natural regeneration. Seed production and
seedling initiation has been followed for each of the 20 years
since establishment. |
| National Fire Plan Key Point
– C (Hazardous Fuels Reduction) |
| Team Lead Scientist – Linda
Joyce; ljoyce@fs.fed.us, 970-498-2560, and Wayne Shepperd, wshepperd@fs.fed.us
, 970-498-1259 |
| Research Approach: Describe and
quantify the recovery of the long-term study plots on the Manitou
Experimental Forest |
|
Manitou Experimental Forest Ponderosa Pine Regeneration Study |
Hayman
Fire Case Study Analysis |
|
|
| IMPROVING MODEL ESTIMATES OF
SMOKE CONTRIBUTION TO REGIONAL HAZE |
| Research Description - Evaluating
potential contributions of smoke dispersion, transport and deposition
to regional haze from wildland and prescribed fire is difficult
and costly, especially for Class I areas. This study adapts
and develops existing monitoring systems to measure pollutants
contributing to regional haze, ozone, and nitrogen deposition.
These systems will be robust, low-cost and useful for sampling
in remote areas, making them beneficial for both local plume
dispersion measures and regional haze assessments. This study
was funded by the Joint Fire Sciences. |
| Joint Fire Science Study |
| Co-Investigator: Robert Musselman;
rmusselman@fs.fed.us, 970-498-1239. |
| Research Approach: Adapt the
various existing filter pack, denuder and passive monitoring
systems for remote site smoke sampling systems to measure pollutants
contributing to regional haze, ozone, and nitrogen deposition.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
