scholarly journals Managing Wildfire for Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Restoration in western North America

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Keane
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Ecosystem Restoration ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Wildfire Management ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Pine Trees

Wildfire in declining whitebark pine forests can be a tool for ecosystem restoration or an ecologically harmful event. This document presents a set of possible wildfire management practices for facilitating the restoration of whitebark pine across its range in Western North America. These management actions are designed to enhance whitebark pine resilience and health, while also being effective wildfire management measures. The actions are presented by the three phases of the wildfire continuum: Before, during, and after a wildfire. Current pre-wildfire restoration actions, such as mechanical thinning’s, prescribed burning, and fuel treatments, can also be designed to be fuel treatment activities that allow more effective suppression of wildfires when needed. Three wildfire strategies can be implemented while the wildfire is burning—full suppression, partial suppression, and wildland fire use (letting some fires burn under acceptable conditions)—for protecting valuable whitebark pine trees and for ecosystem restoration. Finally, post-wildfire activities include planting rust-resistant seedlings and monitoring effects of the wildfires. Recommended wildfire management practices for the wildfire continuum are specified by region, site type, and stand type in the last section of this paper.

Bayes Nets as a method for analysing the influence of management actions in fire planning

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 909 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Penman ◽  
O. Price ◽  
R. A. Bradstock
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Relative Reduction ◽  
Holistic Model ◽  
Bayes Nets ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Fire Planning ◽  
In Fire

Wildfire can result in significant economic costs with inquiries following such events often recommending an increase in management effort to reduce the risk of future losses. Currently, there are no objective frameworks in which to assess the relative merits of management actions or the synergistic way in which the various combinations may act. We examine the value of Bayes Nets as a method for assessing the risk reduction from fire management practices using a case study from a forested landscape. Specifically, we consider the relative reduction in wildfire risk from investing in prescribed burning, initial or rapid attack and suppression. The Bayes Net was developed using existing datasets, a process model and expert opinion. We compared the results of the models with the recorded fire data for an 11-year period from 1997 to 2000 with the model successfully duplicating these data. Initial attack and suppression effort had the greatest effect on the distribution of the fire sizes for a season. Bayes Nets provide a holistic model for considering the effect of multiple fire management methods on the risk of wildfires. The methods could be further advanced by including the costs of management and conducting a formal decision analysis.

Estimating US federal wildland fire managers’ preferences toward competing strategic suppression objectives

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 212 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Calkin ◽  
Tyron Venn ◽  
Matthew Wibbenmeyer ◽  
Matthew P. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Cost Containment ◽  
Choice Experiment ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Stated Preference ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Ceteris Paribus ◽  
Current Management ◽  
Wildfire Management

Wildfire management involves significant complexity and uncertainty, requiring simultaneous consideration of multiple, non-commensurate objectives. This paper investigates the tradeoffs fire managers are willing to make among these objectives using a choice experiment methodology that provides three key advancements relative to previous stated-preference studies directed at understanding fire manager preferences: (1) a more immediate relationship between the instrument employed in measuring preferences and current management practices and operational decision-support systems; (2) an explicit exploration of how sociopolitical expectations may influence decision-making and (3) consideration of fire managers’ relative prioritisation of cost-containment objectives. Results indicate that in the current management environment, choices among potential suppression strategies are driven largely by consideration of risk to homes and high-value watersheds and potential fire duration, and are relatively insensitive to increases in cost and personnel exposure. Indeed, when asked to choose the strategy they would expect to choose under current social and political constraints, managers favoured higher-cost suppression strategies, ceteris paribus. However, managers indicated they would personally prefer to pursue strategies that were more cost-conscious and proportionate with values at risk. These results confirm earlier studies that highlight the challenges managerial incentives and sociopolitical pressures create in achieving cost-containment objectives.

Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae): Toxicology, Ecology, Control, and Management

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Ralphs ◽  
Kirk C. McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Population Cycles ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Resistant Plant ◽  
Control And Management ◽  
Gutierrezia Sarothrae ◽  
Ecological Concern

AbstractBroom snakeweed is a native weed widely distributed on rangelands of western North America. It often increases to near monocultures following disturbance from overgrazing, fire, or drought. This paper presents an up-to-date review of broom snakeweed toxicology, seed ecology, population cycles, succession, and management. The greatest ecological concern is that broom snakeweed displaces desirable forage for livestock or wildlife and greatly reduces biodiversity. It also is toxic and can cause abortions in all species of livestock. Propagation usually is pulse-driven in wet years, allowing large expanses of even-aged stands to establish and dominate plant communities. Snakeweed can be controlled by prescribed burning or spraying with herbicides. A weed-resistant plant community dominated by competitive grasses can prevent or minimize its reinvasion.

Status, Distribution, and Conservation of Native Freshwater Fishes of Western North America

2007 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Freshwater Fishes ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Length Frequency ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Roundtail Chub

ABSTRACT Roundtail chub <em>Gila robusta</em> were collected during spring and fall 2003 in the lower Salt and Verde rivers to determine population size and size structure. We collected and passive integrated transpondertagged 262 roundtail chub using a combination of experimental gill nets and canoe electrofishing. The majority of roundtail chub were collected in the upper 16 km of the study area. Length-frequency distributions indicate that the population is comprised almost entirely of large adults with minimal recruitment. The estimated population size of roundtail chub in the lower Salt and Verde rivers during 2003 is 1,657 (95% confidence interval = 1,097–2,742), which represents a 74% decrease from 3 years ago. Based on these results, we conclude that the roundtail chub population in the lower Salt and Verde rivers is declining rapidly due to low recruitment and high natural mortality.We recommend that immediate management actions be taken to ensure the persistence of this population of roundtail chub.

scholarly journals Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) in Western North America

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e0167986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun-Jun Liu ◽  
Richard Sniezko ◽  
Michael Murray ◽  
Ning Wang ◽  
Hao Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Population Structure ◽  
North America ◽  
Pinus Albicaulis ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Western North America

EMERGENCE OF DENDROCTONUS RUFIPENNIS (COLEOPTERA: SCOLYTIDAE) FROM BURIED LOGS

1982 ◽  
Vol 114 (6) ◽  
pp. 539-541
Author(s):  
L. Safranyik ◽  
D.A. Linton
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Forest Industry ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Dendroctonus Rufipennis ◽  
Spruce Beetle ◽  
Logging Residue ◽  
Wet Climate

The spruce beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby), causes periodic, widespread mortality of mature spruce (Picea spp.) in western North America (Massey and Wygant 1954; Schmid and Frye 1977). In British Columbia, logging of infested stands and felling of trap trees are the commonly recommended methods for preventing or suppressing spruce beetle outbreaks. Implicit in these methods is the requirement of treating infested logging residue, and removal for processing of trap trees after the attack period of the spruce beetle. The usual treatment for infested logging residue, prescribed burning, is difficult to carry out in most years because of the generally wet climate of spruce forests during the growing season and the fall period. The forest industry questioned whether burying infested logging residue would be effective in preventing emergence by the spruce beetle. The work described herein addressed this question.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document