What is fire ecology?
Fire ecology is more of a science, while fire management is both a science and. an art. It does not take place in isolation of society, society’ s values or resource. management objectives. As ...
What is the importance of Science in fire management?
FIRE ECOLOGY Perhaps the image most often associated with wildland fire is one of destruction. While it is true that fire has a great potential for the destruction of homes, wildlife, and even human life, fire is just one of many natural forces within ecosystems. Fire Behavior Fire behavior is most often described by intensity and spread.
What is the joint fire science program?
Module 2: Fire Ecology forests of that region. This was one of the first times fire was perceived by credible science as having a benefit to ecosystems and not entirely negative or harmful. Fire ecology was born with this understanding. The scientists would have used the words “ecosystem” and “ecology” then,
What is a fire regime in geography?
Fire Ecology (cont.) STUDENT PAGE Fire as a Renewal Agent Both fire and decomposition result in the breakdown of organic material into nutrients that are returned to the soil. Those nutrients can be recycled and used for new plant growth. In dry climates, moisture that aids decomposition is low, thus making fire critical for restoring nutrient levels
What is meant by fire ecology?
Fire ecology is a branch of ecology that focuses on the origins of wildland fire and it's relationship to the environment that surrounds it, both living and non-living. A wildland fire is defined as any fire that is burning in a natural environment.
What is the role of fire ecology?
Fire Ecology Fire ecologists recognize that fire is a natural process that is often integral to the life history of plants and animals in the ecosystem. Station scientists study fire effects on ecosystems, fire history, how plants and animals depend on or adapt to fire, and fire regimes.
What is the cause of fire ecology?
In chaparral communities in Southern California, for example, some plants have leaves coated in flammable oils that encourage an intense fire. This heat causes their fire-activated seeds to germinate (an example of dormancy) and the young plants can then capitalize on the lack of competition in a burnt landscape.
What are the four components of a fire regime?
Climate drives variation in fire regimes through fuel amount, fuel condition, fire weather and ignition patterns. Fire is a major environmental factor in Australian landscapes.26-Aug-2021
What is the role of fire in ecology both beneficial and destructive?
With fewer plants absorbing water, streams are fuller, benefiting other types of plants and animals. Fire kills diseases and insects that prey on trees and provides valuable nutrients that enrich the soil. More trees die each year from insect infestation and disease than from fire.
How does fire affect ecological succession?
The size of the area burned by a stand-consuming fire can influence recolonization if plants are unable to regenerate by sprouting. Seed carri- ers, such as wind or animals, may not provide adequate distribution of seeds if the burned area is extensive.
When did fire ecology start?
Briefly, between 1916 and 1919, Roy Headley, the Assistant District Forester for California, implemented a program to allow low intensity fires to spread in remote areas unless they threatened high value timber or improvements.
What altered fire regimes?
Alteration in fire regimes is considered a major threat that has contributed to the extinction of 6 mammal species , and is a significant pressure on 35 threatened and 22 near threatened mammal species identified in The action plan for Australian mammals 2012 (Woinarski et al. 2014).
What is fire interval?
Fire return interval (or fire interval): The time between fires in a defined area, usually at the scale of a point, stand or relatively small landscape area.
What is forest fire regime?
A 'fire regime' is the term given to the general pattern in which fires naturally occur in a particular ecosystem over an extended period of time. Scientists classify fire regimes using a combination of factors including frequency, intensity, size, pattern, season, and severity.
What is fire ecology?
Fire ecology is a branch of ecology that concentrates on the origins of wildland fire and its relationship to the nonliving (abiotic) and living (biotic) environment (together making up the ecosystem). We also propose that the definition of fire ec ology applies to the relationship of a structure fire to its environment.
What are some examples of fire-dependent species?
Examples of fire-dependent species are whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) in the alpine forests of the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains, and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) found in the southeast (eastern Texas, Virginia, and Florida). Being fire-adapted means plants and animals have behaviors, physical features, and/or characteristics enabling them to live, survive, and sometimes thrive with repeated fire. Examples of fire-adapted species include ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), western larch (Larix occidentalis), and snowbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus).
What is the term for the alteration of a plant's structure or function?
Adaptation: An alteration in structure or function of a plant or animal that helps it change over the course of successive generations in order to be better suited to live in its environment.
What is consensus on fire management?
(1993, Island Press), states, “Consensus on fire management, however, requires the incorporation of human values, and most past fire management policies have been derived from the view of fire only as a threat, rather than from
What are humans connected to?
Humans are a part of the biosphere and connected to most ecological systems around the planet. We have become one of the significant disturbance factors. We can plant vegetation where it would not likely migrate and plant
What are the components of wildland fire?
Fire will generally burn uphill faster than downhill. The steeper the slope and the higher the fuel load, the faster the fire will burn, especially with wind driving the burning. The next topographic component is the breaks in steep terrain.
What is fire regime?
Fire regime refers to the nature of fire occurring over long periods (generally hundreds of years) and to the prominent immediate effects of fire that generally characterize an ecosystem.
Why is fire important?
Fire is an important and necessary part of the life cycle of many forests. Fire promotes a healthy forest ecosystem consisting of mixed-aged trees, which allows for a self-sustaining cycle of life and death. Fire clears dead trees and dry leaf litter, thereby opening up the forest floor for new growth. Fire also aids in recycling nutrients. Fire’s mineral-rich ash nourishes the soil and provides an ideal environment for the germination of many seeds and the regeneration of certain plants.
How does weather affect fires?
Weather greatly influences when fires occur and how they spread. Hot temperatures and dry winds can dry out trees and grasses, making them available as fuel for a fire to consume. Wildfires do not usually occur when the fuels (trees, shrubs, and grasses) are wet and cold.
What is the NPS Fire Ecology Program?
The National Park Service’s (NPS) Fire Management Program has grown in scope and complexity over the past decade. Changes in federal policy, new political initiatives, and increased planning requirements, have all resulted in a greater need for scientific information that supports fire management activities. In recognition of this need, the NPS made the commitment to fund (within the existing budgetary allocation) national, regional, and field-level fire ecologists and fire effects monitors to provide scientific capabilities for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting fire effects monitoring data and using fire ecology information and monitoring results for adaptive management.
How does communication help in fire ecology?
Communication is important not only to advertise success stories, but also more importantly to ensure that adaptive management is being implemented effectively. Analysis of monitoring data, and its communication through reports, presentations and informal discussion, is one of the primary means of communication. Fire ecologists should work with NPS Fire Communication and Education staff to assist with communication of results and success stories. Articles may be submitted to the fire ecology and fire management newsletters, scientific journals, and “popular” publications. Communication is not limited to written reports and articles, but should include utilization of intranet and internet web sites, presentations at scientific meetings as well as presentations at more informal meetings.
What is FEAT in NPS?
NPS Fire Ecologists and Fire Effects Monitors will primarily use the Fire Ecology Assessment Tool (FEAT) software to collect, store, and analyze fire effects monitoring plot data.
What is fire effects monitoring?
The NPS Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) program consists of networks that monitor a wide range of natural resources within parks Moreover, resource management staff in individual parks may conduct specific types of monitoring.
What are non fire treatments?
Non-fire treatments include manual, mechanical, chemical, and biological controls to manipulate vegetation and/or remove fuels to change fire behavior and/or reduce the likelihood of ignition or fire spread. RM-18 Chapter 10 describes the process for planning and implementing non-fire treatments. Documentation of non-fire treatment activities is required in NFPORS. The minimum required data for monitoring non-fire treatments (and needed for NFPORS) is treatment type, project initiation and completion dates, location, objectives, and FRCC pre- and post-treatment.
What is NPS burn severity assessment?
Initial and extended burn severity assessments are a nationally approved NPS fire effects monitoring protocol. The information these assessments provide can meet the criteria defined by levels 2, 3, or 4 monitoring depending upon the extent to which the assessments are conducted. The Joint NPS-U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Burn Severity Mapping Project addresses the need to quantify fire effects on NPS lands in order to develop an archive of fire history. This archive includes all fire types: wildfire, prescribed and wildland fire use. The goal is to monitor by means of standardized geographic databases employing consistent measures of "burn severity", defined as the magnitude of ecological change caused by fire.
What is a long term monitoring plan for prescribed fires?
Long-term monitoring of prescribed fire is required to document that overall programmatic objectives are being met and undesired effects are not occurring. It often includes the continuation of level 3 monitoring over a longer period. Monitoring frequency is based on a pre-defined interval appropriate to both the vegetation and fuels complex and the anticipated duration of treatment impacts. Level 4 monitoring requires a data stewardship plan to ensure effective long-term management and use of data (see section I. Data Management for more information).
How does fire affect ecosystems?
One of the overall benefits of wildland fire is that it is a catalyst for enhancing an ecosystem’s ability to sustain nutrient and water cycles and promote biological diversity . Wildland fires burning in their natural regimes reinitiate succession of vegetation communities. They foster new plant growth, which in turn, supports diverse wildlife habitats.
What is fire regime?
Fire regime refers to the patterns of fire that occur over long periods of time, and the immediate effects of fire in the ecosystem in which it occurs. There are many ways to define a fire regime. Fire regime is a function of the frequency of fire occurrence, fire intensity and the amount of fuel consumed. The frequency is determined largely by the ecosystem characteristics, the duration and character of the weather (whether the season is drier or wetter than normal, etc.) and ignition sources. The intensity of a fire is determined by the quantity of fuel available, the fuel’s combustion rates and existing weather conditions. Interactions between frequency and intensity are influenced by wind, topography and fire history. There are many other factors that can come into play when talking of fire regimes, though this simple definition will work for most cases.
How does fire affect soil?
Disadvantages: Fire can cause soil damage, especially through combustion in the litter layer and organic material in the soil. This organic material helps to protect the soil from erosion. When organic material is removed by an essentially intense fire, erosion can occur. Heat from intense fires can also cause soil particles to become hydrophobic. Rainwater then tends to run off the soil rather than to infiltrate through the soil. This can also contribute to erosion. In actuality, the negative effects of fires on soils are often exaggerated, and many fairly intense fires in western United States forests cause little soil damage. There is also the potential for alien plants to become established after fire in previously uninfested areas.
How do trees record fires?
Trees record their history through a system of growth rings that develop on the trees each year. When a fire goes through an area, the growth rings of that particular tree may be scarred. On live trees this is called a fire scar. Fire scars can also be seen on dead trees. Tree origin dates (calculated from the total number of rings) can also tell when fires occurred, in that fires gave way for these new trees to develop. The study of growth rings is called dendrochronology. Utilizing dendrochronology, we can determine when fires have occurred in the past, and sometimes determine their intensity and direction as well as other information about the weather patterns in that era.
What are the vegetation types in Colorado?
Fire played a major role in shaping the composition, structure, and function of the vegetation types throughout Colorado - particularly those of the Ponderosa pine, pinyon juniper woodland, mountain shrublands, and sagebrush grasslands at lower elevations in Colorado (Covington et al., 1994; Romme et al., 1994; Crane, 1982) and the high-elevation subalpine forests, which are composed mainly of subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, and aspen in the central mountains in Colorado. However, the ecological changes brought about by traditional land management practices that have resulted in the exclusion of fire have greatly altered conditions in many of the plant communities and greatly affected many species occurring in Colorado (Uncompahgre Field Office Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment 1999, White River Fire Use Fire Management Plan).
What is the field of fire ecology?
The field of fire ecology seeks to understand when fires occurred in the past, how plants and animals in various environments respond and adapt to fire, and how fires and their effects may change in the future.
Why is fire research important?
Fire research is also important for forecasting fire behavior and spread across the landscape for suppression tactics, planning fuels reduction treatments, and fire season preparedness.
What is FFI in fire?
FFI is a monitoring software tool designed to assist managers with collection, storage, and analysis of ecological information. This database management system was developed to support immediate and long-term monitoring and reporting of fire effects, and its use encourages cooperative, interagency information sharing.
What is FFI in fire science?
FFI is a monitoring software tool designed to assist managers with collection, storage, and analysis of ecological information.
Why are national parks important?
Parks are highly valued as study sites because the land has been protected, in some cases for more than 100 years. Research projects may be funded by a variety of sources both internal and external to the agency.
What are the IPM categories?
These categories are buildings, recreational facilities, fuel management, rangeland/agricultural land, and natural lands. Table 3-1 identifies treatment actions associated with each management category under the IPMP, and where relevant, method of application, anticipated annual acres of treatment, and type and amount of pesticide used in a typical future year. It is important to note that the District would implement the treatment actions in an integrated manner, so while a specific treatment action is identified for a management category in Table 3-1, other treatment actions identified for the site may be implemented on a year-to-year basis according to the site conditions observed.
What is the primary objective of the proposed IPMP?
The primary objective of the proposed IPMP is to control damage from pests through formal and consistent implementation of IPM principles to protect and restore the natural environment and provide for human safety and enjoyment while visiting and working on District lands. Specific objectives of the proposed IPMP include:
What is Midpen responsible for?
Midpen is not responsible for any expenses which proposers may incur in preparing and submitting the proposal. Midpen will not be liable for any costs incurred by the proposers that are related to the RFPQ process; this includes production of the proposal, interviews/presentations, travel and accommodations. Midpen reserves the right to request or negotiate modifications to the proposals that are deemed appropriate. All proposals received from proposers in response to this Request for Proposal will become the property of Midpen and will not be returned to the proposers. In the event of contract award, all documentation produced as part of the contract will become the exclusive property of Midpen. Midpen reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive minor irregularities. Midpen also reserves the right to seek new proposals or re-advertise if responses have not been satisfactory or for any other reason.
What is Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District?
The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) is pleased to announce the opportunity to provide fire ecological services in support of the creation and development of a Prescribed Fire Program.
Is a proposal confidential?
proposals are confidential or proprietary. This can present problems in participating in a public agency RFPQ process. All proposals, strategies, supporting information, rate schedules and other information and documents are presumptively public records under the California Public Records Act (Gov’t Code section 6250 et seq.), subject to prompt disclosure upon request by any member of the public.
Does Midpen require presentations?
Midpen reserves the right to conduct in-person interviews or require presentations of any or all proposers prior to the selection. Midpen reserves the right to request more detailed information from one or more proposers to provide for a reliable comparison between proposals.