Woody debris and tree regeneration dynamics following severe wildfires in Arizona ponderosa pine forests

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Roccaforte ◽  
Peter Z. Fulé ◽  
W. Walker Chancellor ◽  
Daniel C. Laughlin
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Regeneration Dynamics ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests

Severe forest fires worldwide leave behind large quantities of dead woody debris and regenerating trees that can affect future ecosystem trajectories. We studied a chronosequence of severe fires in Arizona, USA, spanning 1 to 18 years after burning to investigate postfire woody debris and regeneration dynamics. Snag densities varied over time, with predominantly recent snags in recent fires and broken or fallen snags in older fires. Coarse woody debris peaked at > 60 Mg/ha in the time period 6–12 years after fire, a value higher than previously reported in postfire fuel assessments in this region. However, debris loadings on fires older than 12 years were within the range of recommended management values (11.2–44.8 Mg/ha). Overstory and regeneration were most commonly dominated by sprouting deciduous species. Ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson var. scopulorum Engelm.) overstory and regeneration were completely lacking in 50% and 57% of the sites, respectively, indicating that many sites were likely to experience extended periods as shrublands or grasslands rather than returning rapidly to pine forest. More time is needed to see whether these patterns will remain stable, but there are substantial obstacles to pine forest recovery: competition with sprouting species and (or) grasses, lack of seed sources, and the forecast of warmer, drier climatic conditions for coming decades.

Double whammy: high-severity fire and drought in ponderosa pine forests of the Southwest

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 570-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Savage ◽  
Joy Nystrom Mast ◽  
Johannes J. Feddema
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Type Model ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Pine Regeneration ◽  
Drought Conditions

We examine regeneration dynamics across landscapes under extreme climate conditions and a human-altered fire regime in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex Lawson & C. Lawson) forests of the American Southwest. Our research asks how well these forests recover when unprecedented conditions of a high-severity fire regime combine with historical drought conditions. Tree recruitment is documented at five sites in New Mexico after high-severity fires that burned forests in the drought that prevailed from ∼1945 to 1958. We develop a water-balance type model to evaluate how altered microclimate conditions in the years after a fire and during a drought may inhibit ponderosa pine regeneration in comparison with drought conditions alone. We empirically identify two pathways of forest recovery following high-severity fires during drought: recovery to nonforest types, either dense shrubfields or shrubs in grasslands (four sites) or recovery to hyperdense forest (one site). Model simulations predict fewer favorable opportunities for germination, fewer periods favorable for seedling establishment, shortening of favorable establishment periods, and more adverse conditions because of later spring and earlier fall hard freezes. Our research suggests that a specific climate window critical to the capacity of southwestern ponderosa pine trees to regenerate is narrowed by a synchronous occurrence of high-severity fire and drought.

scholarly journals How resilient are southwestern ponderosa pine forests after crown fires?

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Savage ◽  
Joy Nystrom Mast
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Natural Fires ◽  
Crown Fires ◽  
Regeneration Response ◽  
And Function

The exclusion of low-severity surface fire from ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson) forests of the Southwest has changed ecosystem structure and function such that severe crown fires are increasingly causing extensive stand mortality. This altered fire regime has resulted from the intersection of natural drought cycles with human activities that have suppressed natural fires for over a century. What is the trajectory of forest recovery after such fires? This study explores the regeneration response of ponderosa pine and other species to crown fires that occurred in the region from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s. We address two main questions: (1) What is the success of ponderosa regeneration and establishment, and (2) Can these sites, burned in stand-destroying fires, be "captured" by other species on the scale of decades? Two main trajectories of recovery were found: (1) establishment of unnaturally dense ponderosa pine stands vulnerable to further crown fire and (2) establishment of nonforested grass or shrub communities.

Vascular cambium necrosis in forest fires: using hyperbolic temperature regimes to estimate parameters of a tissue-response model

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 757 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Dickinson ◽  
J. Jolliff ◽  
A. S. Bova
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Acer Rubrum ◽  
Tissue Response ◽  
Vascular Cambium ◽  
Red Maple ◽  
Fixed Temperature ◽  
Temperature Regimes

Hyperbolic temperature exposures (in which the rate of temperature rise increases with time) and an analytical solution to a rate-process model were used to characterise the impairment of respiration in samples containing both phloem (live bark) and vascular-cambium tissue during exposures to temperatures such as those experienced by the vascular cambium in tree stems heated by forest fires. Tissue impairment was characterised for red maple (Acer rubrum), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) samples. The estimated temperature dependence of the model’s rate parameter (described by the Arrhenius equation) was a function of the temperature regime to which tissues were exposed. Temperatures rising hyperbolically from near ambient (30°C) to 65°C produced rate parameters for the deciduous species that were similar at 60°C to those from the literature, estimated by using fixed temperature exposures. In contrast, samples from all species showed low rates of impairment, conifer samples more so than deciduous, after exposure to regimes in which temperatures rose hyperbolically between 50 and 60°C. A hypersensitive response could explain an early lag in tissue-impairment rates that apparently caused the differences among heating regimes. A simulation based on stem vascular-cambium temperature regimes measured during fires shows how temperature-dependent impairment rates can be used to predict tissue necrosis in fires. To our knowledge, hyperbolic temperature exposures have not been used to characterise plant tissue thermal tolerance and, given certain caveats, could provide more realistic data more efficiently than fixed-temperature exposures.

A field experiment informs expected patterns of conifer regeneration after disturbance under changing climate conditions

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 1607-1616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica T. Rother ◽  
Thomas T. Veblen ◽  
Luke G. Furman
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Colorado Front Range ◽  
Front Range ◽  
Average Growth ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Treatment Type

Climate change may inhibit tree regeneration following disturbances such as wildfire, altering post-disturbance vegetation trajectories. We implemented a field experiment to examine the effects of manipulations of temperature and water on ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seedlings planted in a low-elevation, recently disturbed setting of the Colorado Front Range. We implemented four treatments: warmed only (Wm), watered only (Wt), warmed and watered (WmWt), and control (Co). We found that measures of growth and survival varied significantly by treatment type. Average growth and survival was highest in the Wt plots, followed by the Co, WmWt, and Wm plots, respectively. This general trend was observed for both conifer species, although average growth and survival was generally higher in ponderosa pine than in Douglas-fir. Our findings suggest that warming temperatures and associated drought are likely to inhibit post-disturbance regeneration of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir in low-elevation forests of the Colorado Front Range and that future vegetation composition and structure may differ notably from historic patterns in some areas. Our findings are relevant to other forested ecosystems in which a warming climate may similarly inhibit regeneration by dominant tree species.

scholarly journals Ponderosa Pine Regeneration, Wildland Fuels Management, and Habitat Conservation: Identifying Trade-Offs Following Wildfire

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Donovan ◽  
Caleb Roberts ◽  
Carissa Wonkka ◽  
David Wedin ◽  
Dirac Twidwell
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Habitat Conservation ◽  
Fuels Management ◽  
Management Objectives ◽  
Pine Regeneration ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forest

Increasing wildfires in western North American conifer forests have led to debates surrounding the application of post-fire management practices. There is a lack of consensus on whether (and to what extent) post-fire management assists or hinders managers in achieving goals, particularly in under-studied regions like eastern ponderosa pine forests. This makes it difficult for forest managers to balance among competing interests. We contrast structural and community characteristics across unburned ponderosa pine forest, severely burned ponderosa pine forest, and severely burned ponderosa pine forest treated with post-fire management with respect to three management objectives: ponderosa pine regeneration, wildland fuels control, and habitat conservation. Ponderosa pine saplings were more abundant in treated burned sites than untreated burned sites, suggesting increases in tree regeneration following tree planting; however, natural regeneration was evident in both unburned and untreated burned sites. Wildland fuels management greatly reduced snags and coarse woody debris in treated burned sites. Understory cover measurements revealed bare ground and fine woody debris were more strongly associated with untreated burned sites, and greater levels of forbs and grass were more strongly associated with treated burned sites. Wildlife habitat was greatly reduced following post-fire treatments. There were no tree cavities in treated burned sites, whereas untreated burned sites had an average of 27 ± 7.68 cavities per hectare. Correspondingly, we found almost double the avian species richness in untreated burned sites compared to treated burned sites (22 species versus 12 species). Unburned forests and untreated burned areas had the same species richness, but hosted unique avian communities. Our results indicate conflicting outcomes with respect to management objectives, most evident in the clear costs to habitat conservation following post-fire management application.

scholarly journals Variability in Mixed Conifer Spatial Structure Changes Understory Light Environments

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery B. Cannon ◽  
Wade T. Tinkham ◽  
Ryan K. DeAngelis ◽  
Edward M. Hill ◽  
Mike A. Battaglia
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Conifer Forests ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Regeneration Dynamics ◽  
Wide Range

In fire-adapted conifer forests of the Western U.S., changing land use has led to increased forest densities and fuel conditions partly responsible for increasing the extent of high-severity wildfires in the region. In response, land managers often use mechanical thinning treatments to reduce fuels and increase overstory structural complexity, which can help improve stand resilience and restore complex spatial patterns that once characterized these stands. The outcomes of these treatments can vary greatly, resulting in a large gradient in aggregation of residual overstory trees. However, there is limited information on how a range of spatial outcomes from restoration treatments can influence structural complexity and tree regeneration dynamics in mixed conifer stands. In this study, we model understory light levels across a range of forest density in a stem-mapped dry mixed conifer forest and apply this model to simulated stem maps that are similar in residual basal area yet vary in degree of spatial complexity. We found that light availability was best modeled by residual stand density index and that consideration of forest structure at multiple spatial scales is important for predicting light availability. Second, we found that restoration treatments differing in spatial pattern may differ markedly in their achievement of objectives such as density reduction, maintenance of horizontal and tree size complexity, and creation of microsite conditions favorable to shade-intolerant species, with several notable tradeoffs. These conditions in turn have cascading effects on regeneration dynamics, treatment longevity, fire behavior, and resilience to disturbances. In our study, treatments with high aggregation of residual trees best balanced multiple objectives typically used in ponderosa pine and dry mixed conifer forests. Simulation studies that consider a wide range of possible spatial patterns can complement field studies and provide predictions of the impacts of mechanical treatments on a large range of potential ecological effects.

Historical (1860) forest structure in ponderosa pine forests of the northern Front Range, Colorado

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 1462-1473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Brown ◽  
Michael A. Battaglia ◽  
Paula J. Fornwalt ◽  
Benjamin Gannon ◽  
Laurie S. Huckaby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Land Use Impacts ◽  
Quadratic Mean ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Northern Colorado

Management of many dry conifer forests in western North America is focused on promoting resilience to future wildfires, climate change, and land use impacts through restoration of historical patterns of forest structure and disturbance processes. Historical structural data provide models for past resilient conditions that inform the design of silvicultural treatments and help to assess the success of treatments at achieving desired conditions. We used dendrochronological data to reconstruct nonspatial and spatial forest structure at 1860 in fourteen 0.5 ha plots in lower elevation (∼1900–2100 m) ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) forests across two study areas in northern Colorado. Fires recorded by trees in two or more plots from 1667 to 1859 occurred, on average, every 8–15 years depending on scale of analysis. The last fire recorded in two or more plots occurred in 1859. Reconstructed 1860 stand structures were very diverse, with tree densities ranging from 0 to 320 trees·ha−1, basal areas ranging from 0.0 to 17.1 m2·ha−1, and quadratic mean diameters ranging from 0.0 to 57.5 cm. All trees in 1860 were ponderosa pine. Trees were significantly aggregated in 62% of plots in which spatial patterns could be estimated, with 10% to 90% of trees mainly occurring in groups of two to eight (maximum, 26). Current stands based on living trees with a diameter at breast height of ≥4 cm are more dense (range, 175–1010 trees·ha−1) with generally increased basal areas (4.4 to 23.1 m2·ha−1) and smaller trees (quadratic mean diameters ranging from 15.7 to 28.2 cm) and contain greater proportions of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.). This is the first study to provide detailed quantitative metrics to guide restoration prescription development, implementation, and evaluation in these and similar ponderosa pine forests in northern Colorado.

Conifer seed predation in harvested and burned dry Douglas-fir forests in southern British Columbia

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1548-1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Huggard ◽  
André Arsenault
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Seed Predation ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Forest Litter ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Clear Cut

Consumption of seeds of Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) was measured in dry Douglas-fir forest at the Opax Mountain Silvicultural Systems site and a nearby burned area as one component of understanding limited natural regeneration in these sites. Seeds were placed in plots surrounded by a physical barrier to invertebrates, enclosed in mesh impermeable to small mammals, covered by litter, or unprotected in clear-cut, partially harvested, uncut, and burned areas and monitored for three several-day sessions in 2 years. Daily survival rates of unprotected seeds of both species were equally low: 0.63 in uncut forest, 0.45 in partially harvested and clear-cut sites, and 0.03 in the burned area. Experimental reductions of coarse woody debris reduced seed predation moderately in patch cuts but not in uncut forest. Litter cover or selective exclosure of ground-dwelling invertebrates reduced seed losses only slightly, whereas small mammal exclosures eliminated most seed loss. Deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner) are likely the most important seed predators. High rates of seed predation in dry Douglas-fir forests likely limit natural regeneration in harvested and burned stands.

scholarly journals Trends in Snag Populations in Drought-Stressed Mixed-Conifer and Ponderosa Pine Forests (1997–2007)

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Ganey ◽  
Scott C. Vojta
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Class Composition

Snags provide important biological legacies, resources for numerous species of native wildlife, and contribute to decay dynamics and ecological processes in forested ecosystems. We monitored trends in snag populations from 1997 to 2007 in drought-stressed mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosaDougl.exLaws) forests, northern Arizona. Median snag density increased by 75 and 90% in mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forests, respectively, over this time period. Increased snag density was driven primarily by a large pulse in drought-mediated tree mortality from 2002 to 2007, following a smaller pulse from 1997 to 2002. Decay-class composition and size-class composition of snag populations changed in both forest types, and species composition changed in mixed-conifer forest. Increases in snag abundance may benefit some species of native wildlife in the short-term by providing increased foraging and nesting resources, but these increases may be unsustainable in the long term. Observed changes in snag recruitment and fall rates during the study illustrate the difficulty involved in modeling dynamics of those populations in an era of climate change and changing land management practices.

A 35,000 Year Vegetation and Climate History from Potato Lake, Mogollon Rim, Arizona

1993 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Scott Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Climate History ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Engelmann Spruce ◽  
Summer Temperatures ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
Central Arizona ◽  
Vegetation And Climate

AbstractA new record from Potato Lake, central Arizona, details vegetation and climate changes since the mid-Wisconsin for the southern Colorado Plateau. Recovery of a longer record, discrimination of pine pollen to species groups, and identification of macrofossil remains extend Whiteside's (1965) original study. During the mid-Wisconsin (ca. 35,000-21,000 yr B.P.) a mixed forest of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and other conifers grew at the site, suggesting a minimum elevational vegetation depression of ca. 460 m. Summer temperatures were as much as 5°C cooler than today. During the late Wisconsin (ca. 21,000-10,400 yr B.P.), even-cooler temperatures (7°C colder than today; ca. 800 m depression) allowed Engelmann spruce alone to predominate. Warming by ca. 10,400 yr B.P. led to the establishment of the modern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest. Thus, the mid-Wisconsin was not warm enough to support ponderosa pine forests in regions where the species predominates today. Climatic estimates presented here are consistent with other lines of evidence suggesting a cool and/or wet mid-Wisconsin, and a cold and/or wet late-Wisconsin climate for much of the Southwest. Potato Lake was almost completely dry during the mid-Holocene, but lake levels increased to near modern conditions by ca. 3000 yr B.P.

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