scholarly journals Abundance of mites, but not of collembolans or nematodes, is reduced by restoration of a Pinus ponderosa forest with thinning, mastication, and prescribed fire

2022 ◽  
pp. 100190
Author(s):  
Kara Skye Gibson ◽  
Nancy Collins Johnson ◽  
Channing Laturno ◽  
Robert R. Parmenter ◽  
Anita Antoninka
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire

Reproductive output of ponderosa pine in response to thinning and prescribed burning in western Montana

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 844-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Peters ◽  
Anna Sala
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Western Montana ◽  
Cone Production

Thinning and thinning followed by prescribed fire are common management practices intended to restore historic conditions in low-elevation ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) forests of the northern Rocky Mountains. While these treatments generally ameliorate the physiology and growth of residual trees, treatment-specific effects on reproductive output are not known. We examined reproductive output of second-growth ponderosa pine in western Montana 9 years after the application of four treatments: thinning, thinning followed by spring prescribed fire, thinning followed by fall prescribed fire, and unthinned control stands. Field and greenhouse observations indicated that reproductive traits vary depending on the specific management treatment. Cone production was significantly higher in trees from all actively managed stands relative to control trees. Trees subjected to prescribed fire produced cones with higher numbers of filled seeds than trees in unburned treatments. Seed mass, percentage germination, and seedling biomass were significantly lower for seeds from trees in spring burn treatments relative to all others and were generally higher in trees from fall burn treatments. We show for the first time that thinning and prescribed-burning treatments can influence reproductive output in ponderosa pine.

Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest: bark beetle responses to differences in forest structure and the application of prescribed fire in interior ponderosa pineThis article is one of a selection of papers from the Special Forum on Ecological Studies in Interior Ponderosa Pine — First Findings from Blacks Mountain Interdisciplinary Research.

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 924-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Fettig ◽  
Robert R. Borys ◽  
Stephen R. McKelvey ◽  
Christopher P. Dabney
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Dendroctonus Brevicomis ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Low Diversity ◽  
High Diversity

Mechanical thinning and the application of prescribed fire are commonly used tools in the restoration of fire-adapted forest ecosystems. However, few studies have explored their effects on subsequent amounts of bark beetle caused tree mortality in interior ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws. var. ponderosa. In this study, we examined bark beetle responses to creation of midseral (low diversity) and late-seral stages (high diversity) and the application of prescribed fire on 12 experimental units ranging in size from 76 to 136 ha. A total of 9500 (5.0% of all trees) Pinus and Abies trees died 2 years after treatment of which 28.8% (2733 trees) was attributed to bark beetle colonization. No significant difference in the mean percentage of trees colonized by bark beetles was found between low diversity and high diversity. The application of prescribed fire resulted in significant increases in bark beetle caused tree mortality (all species) and for western pine beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte, mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, Ips spp., and fir engraver, Scolytus ventralis LeConte, individually. Approximately 85.6% (2339 trees) of all bark beetle caused tree mortality occurred on burned split plots. The implications of these and other results to sustainable forest management are discussed.

scholarly journals Mastication and Prescribed Fire Influences on Tree Mortality and Predicted Fire Behavior in Ponderosa Pine

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia L. Reiner ◽  
Nicole M. Vaillant ◽  
Scott N. Dailey
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Random Block Design ◽  
Four Blocks

Abstract The purpose of this study was to provide land managers with information on potential wildfire behavior and tree mortality associated with mastication and masticated/fire treatments in a plantation. Additionally, the effect of pulling fuels away from tree boles before applying fire treatment was studied in relation to tree mortality. Fuel characteristics and tree mortality data were gathered before and after treatments in a 25-year-old ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson) plantation. A random block design was used with three treatments plus a control at each of four blocks. Four plots were established as subsamples within each of the treatment and control sections of each block. Potential wildfire behavior for posttreatment fuel conditions was modeled for 90th and 97th percentile fire weather. Predicted rates of spread and flame lengths were higher for fuel conditions resulting from the mastication treatments than for the masticated/fire treatments or the controls. Torching and crowning indices indicated that higher windspeeds would be necessary to promote torching for areas treated with mastication/fire than for mastication or the controls. Tree mortality was 32 and 17% the first year after burning in masticated/fire and masticated/pull-back/fire plots, respectively, and 49 and 27% the second year. Our potential wildfire behavior results indicate that the risk of crown fire can be somewhat reduced by mastication and further reduced if mastication is followed up with prescribed fire to consume surface fuels. However, moderate levels of tree mortality seem inevitable when burning masticated fuels in a plantation and may only marginally be reduced by pulling fuels away from tree boles, which increases treatment costs.

Fire behaviour in masticated forest fuels: lab and prescribed fire experiments

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary D. Lyon ◽  
Penelope Morgan ◽  
Camille S. Stevens-Rumann ◽  
Aaron M. Sparks ◽  
Robert F. Keefe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Flame Length ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Forest Fuels ◽  
Fire Experiments

Managers masticate fuels to reduce extreme fire hazards, but the effect on fire behaviour within the resulting compact fuelbeds is poorly understood. We burned 54 masticated fuelbeds in laboratory experiments one and two growing seasons after mastication and 75 masticated fuelbeds in prescribed fire experiments one growing season after treatment in three replicate Pinus ponderosa stands. Mastication treatments reduced density of trees >5 cm diameter by 30–72% resulting in total fuel depth of 6.9–13.7 cm and surface woody fuel loading of 1.0–16.0 kg m−2. Flame length and rate of spread were low and similar for coarse and fine mastication treatments and controls. Smouldering combustion lasted 6–22 h in prescribed fire experiments where fuelbeds included duff and were well mixed by machinery, compared with <2 h in the laboratory where fuelbeds did not include duff and had varying fuel moisture. Fuel consumption in the prescribed fires was highly variable, ranging from 0 to 20 cm in depth and was less from 2-year-old fuelbeds than 1-year-old fuelbeds in laboratory burns. Compared with fine mastication treatments, coarse treatments took less time to implement and were more cost-effective. Although laboratory experiments expand our understanding of burning masticated fuels under controlled conditions, they did not readily translate to prescribed burning conditions where fuels, weather and ignition patterns were more variable. This highlights the need for more laboratory experiments and in situ research that together can be used to develop much-needed, scalable predictive models of mastication combustion.

Ponderosa pine mortality following fire in northern Arizona

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. McHugh ◽  
Thomas E. Kolb
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Variable Model ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Northern Arizona ◽  
Crown Volume

Sampling of 1367 trees was conducted in the Side wildfire (4 May 1996), Bridger-Knoll wildfire (20 June 1996) and Dauber prescribed fire (9 September 1995) in northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests (Pinus ponderosa). Tree mortality was assessed for 3 years after each fire. Three-year post-fire mortality was 32.4% in the Side wildfire, 18.0% in the Dauber prescribed fire, and 13.9% in the Bridger-Knoll wildfire. In the Dauber and Side fires, 95% and 94% of 3-year post-fire mortality occurred by year 2, versus 76% in the Bridger-Knoll wildfire. Compared with trees that lived for 3 years after fire, dead trees in all fires had more crown scorch, crown consumption, bole scorch, ground char, and bark beetle attacks. Logistic regression models were used to provide insight on factors associated with tree mortality after fire. A model using total crown damage by fire (scorch + consumption) and bole char severity as independent variables was the best two-variable model for predicting individual tree mortality for all fires. The amount of total crown damage associated with the onset of tree mortality decreased as bole char severity increased. Models using diameter at breast height (dbh) and crown volume damage suggested that tree mortality decreased as dbh increased in the Dauber prescribed fire where trees were smallest, and tree mortality increased as dbh increased in the Side and Bridger-Knoll wildfires where trees were largest. Moreover, a U-shaped dbh–mortality distribution for all fires suggested higher mortality for the smallest and largest trees compared with intermediate-size trees. We concluded that tree mortality is strongly influenced by interaction between crown damage and bole char severity, and differences in resistance to fire among different-sized trees can vary among sites.

Validating the Malheur model for predicting ponderosa pine post-fire mortality using 24 fires in the Pacific Northwest, USA

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter G. Thies ◽  
Douglas J. Westlind
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Correct Prediction ◽  
Diameter At Breast Height ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Similar Accuracy

Fires, whether intentionally or accidentally set, commonly occur in western interior forests of the US. Following fire, managers need the ability to predict mortality of individual trees based on easily observed characteristics. Previously, a two-factor model using crown scorch and bole scorch proportions was developed with data from 3415 trees for predicting the probability of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) mortality following prescribed fire. Here, we report validation of that model for broader application using data from 10 109 ponderosa pines in 17 prescribed fires and 7 wildfires, observed for 3 years post-fire, from east of the Cascade Range crest in Washington, Oregon and northern California. The overall rate of correct classification was 87.1% and the rate of correctly predicting mortality was 80.1%. Similar accuracy is reported when testing the model for small trees (<53.3-cm diameter at breast height), wildfire, prescribed fire, and when using a field guide that simplifies application of the model. For large trees (≥53.3-cm diameter at breast height), the overall rate of correct prediction was 93.6% and the rate of correctly predicting mortality was 65.2%. These results suggest the Malheur model is useful for predicting ponderosa pine mortality following fires in this region.

Response of ground-dwelling spider assemblages to prescribed fire following stand structure manipulation in the southern Cascade RangeThis article is one of a selection of papers from the Special Forum on Ecological Studies in Interior Ponderosa Pine — First Findings from Blacks Mountain Interdisciplinary Research.

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 969-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy E. Gillette ◽  
Richard S. Vetter ◽  
Sylvia R. Mori ◽  
Carline R. Rudolph ◽  
Dessa R. Welty
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Growth Characteristics ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Low Diversity ◽  
High Diversity

We assessed spider (Arachnida: Araneae) responses to prescribed fire following stand structure treatments in ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) stands in the Cascade Range of California. Stands were logged or left untreated to create three levels of structural diversity. We logged one treatment to minimize old-growth characteristics (low diversity) and one to enhance old-growth characteristics (high diversity) and we used unlogged Research Natural Areas (RNAs) as old-growth, highest-diversity reference stands. We conducted low-intensity prescribed fire on half of each plot following harvest. Spider assemblages in unburned, logged stands were similar to one another but diverged from those in RNAs, with increased abundance, species richness, and diversity in more structurally diverse stands. Prescribed fire, which altered habitat in the organic soil layer where many spiders forage, resulted in altered spider assemblages and population declines in most plots. Fire generally reduced spider species richness, evenness, and diversity. Several taxa were potential indicators of fire and old-growth structure, and we discovered one species and one genus that were previously unknown. There was evidence that old-growth characteristics intensified the effects of fire on spider abundance. This outcome probably results from the deep litter layers in high-diversity stands and RNAs, which constituted greater fuel loads than low-diversity stands.

Stability of the large tree component in treated and untreated late-seral interior ponderosa pine standsThis article is one of a selection of papers from the Special Forum on Ecological Studies in Interior Ponderosa Pine — First Findings from Blacks Mountain Interdisciplinary Research.

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 919-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin W. Ritchie ◽  
Brian M. Wing ◽  
Todd A. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Past History ◽  
Mature Trees ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Large Tree ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Tree Component ◽  
Old Trees

Ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) stands with late-seral features are found infrequently, owing to past management activities throughout western North America. Thus, management objectives often focus on maintaining existing late-seral stands. Observations over a 65 year period of stands with no past history of harvest showed substantial ingrowth in the smaller diameter classes and elevated rates of mortality among the largest mature trees in the stand. Adjacent stands, with combinations of thinning and prescribed fire, had far fewer high-risk mature trees and generally lower rates of mortality after treatment. Forecasts using individual-tree diameter growth and mortality models suggest that observed declines in these stands with remaining old trees and a dense understory will continue in the absence of any treatment. Increased vigor in thinned stands appeared to be offset by an increase in mortality of large trees when thinning was followed by prescribed fire.

Corrigendum to: Ponderosa pine mortality following fire in northern Arizona

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. McHugh ◽  
Thomas E. Kolb
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Variable Model ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Northern Arizona ◽  
Crown Volume

Sampling of 1367 trees was conducted in the Side wildfire (4 May 1996), Bridger-Knoll wildfire (20 June 1996) and Dauber prescribed fire (9 September 1995) in northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests (Pinus ponderosa). Tree mortality was assessed for 3 years after each fire. Three-year post-fire mortality was 32.4% in the Side wildfire, 18.0% in the Dauber prescribed fire, and 13.9% in the Bridger-Knoll wildfire. In the Dauber and Side fires, 95% and 94% of 3-year post-fire mortality occurred by year 2, versus 76% in the Bridger-Knoll wildfire. Compared with trees that lived for 3 years after fire, dead trees in all fires had more crown scorch, crown consumption, bole scorch, ground char, and bark beetle attacks. Logistic regression models were used to provide insight on factors associated with tree mortality after fire. A model using total crown damage by fire (scorch + consumption) and bole char severity as independent variables was the best two-variable model for predicting individual tree mortality for all fires. The amount of total crown damage associated with the onset of tree mortality decreased as bole char severity increased. Models using diameter at breast height (dbh) and crown volume damage suggested that tree mortality decreased as dbh increased in the Dauber prescribed fire where trees were smallest, and tree mortality increased as dbh increased in the Side and Bridger-Knoll wildfires where trees were largest. Moreover, a U-shaped dbh–mortality distribution for all fires suggested higher mortality for the smallest and largest trees compared with intermediate-size trees. We concluded that tree mortality is strongly influenced by interaction between crown damage and bole char severity, and differences in resistance to fire among different-sized trees can vary among sites.

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