Treesearch

Fire is a natural component of earth's ecosystems. Fire has impacted most landscapes of the Americas, having left evidence of its passing in trees, soils, fossils, and cultural artifacts (Andreae 1991; Benton and Reardon 2006; Biswell 1989; Bowman and others 2009; Boyd and others 2005; Cochrane and others 1999; DeBano and others 1998; Jurney and others 2004; Kilgore and Taylor 1979; Moore 1972; Nevle and Bird 2008; Pausas and Keeley 2009; Scott 2000, 2009; Swetnam and Anderson 2008; Swetnam and Betancourt 1990, 1998). Fires burn throughout a range of intensities from smoldering flameless...

Coleogyne ramosissima Torr. (blackbrush) is a dominant xerophytic shrub species in the ecotone between the warm and cold deserts of interior western North America. Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) were used to survey genetic diversity and population genetic structure at 14 collection sites across the species range. Analysis revealed significant population differentiation (FST = 0.103, p < 0.0001) and reasonably high levels of genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity; HE = 0.26), a surprising result for a putative paleoendemic species. Model-based Bayesian clustering,...

We evaluated the historical and projected trends in climate and vegetation relevant to the Coronado National Forest in southeast Arizona, USA. We then applied this information in an assessment of the vulnerability of 30 species of terrestrial vertebrates on the Coronado National Forest to the potential effects of future climate change. We used a pilot version of a decision-support tool developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station that produces scores that represent relative measures of vulnerability to climate change as related to...

This paper reports results from a study of the flame characteristics of 22 wind-aided pine litter fires in a laboratory wind tunnel and 32 field fires in southern rough and litter-grass fuels. Flame characteristic and fire behaviour data from these fires, simple theoretical flame models and regression techniques are used to determine whether the data support the derived models. When the data do not support the models, alternative models are developed. The experimental fires are used to evaluate entrainment constants and air/fuel mass ratios in the model equations. Both the models and the...

This state-of-knowledge review provides a synthesis of the effects of fire on cultural resources, which can be used by fire managers, cultural resource (CR) specialists, and archaeologists to more effectively manage wildland vegetation, fuels, and fire. The goal of the volume is twofold: (1) to provide cultural resource/archaeological professionals and policy makers with a primer on fuels, fire behavior, and fire effects to enable them to work more effectively with the fire management community to protect resources during fuels treatment and restoration projects and wildfire suppression...

Wilderness managers need a way to quantify and monitor the effects of suppressing lightning-caused wildfires, which can alter natural fire regimes, vegetation, and habitat. Using computerized models of fire spread, weather, and fuels, it is now possible to quantify many of the hidden consequences of fire suppression. Case study watersheds in Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks were used to simulate where fires might have spread if they had not been suppressed, and what effects those fires would have had on fuels.

This article describes how understanding wilderness character leads to improved communication among staff and with the public, helping park staff make more informed decisions about park planning, management, and monitoring in wilderness. Wilderness character is defined in terms of five qualities: natural, solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation, undeveloped, untrammeled, and other features. These qualities can be used to improve wilderness stewardship and foster consistent stewardship across the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS).

Cultural resources are an integral part of wilderness and wilderness character, and all wilderness areas have a human history. This article develops a foundation for wilderness and cultural resource staffs to continue communicating with one another in order to make better decisions for wilderness stewardship. Following a discussion of relevant legislative history, we describe how cultural resources are the fifth quality of wilderness character. Examples of how cultural resources in wilderness are being managed in a variety of parks include working with tribes to manage ethnographic...

Two of the foremost conclusions from 50 years of research on wilderness visitors are that experiences are highly idiosyncratic and visitors are highly adaptable. The reasons people visit wilderness, their experiential aspirations, and their experiences in wilderness vary greatly among people and within people from visit to visit. Along with people's adaptability to the conditions they find in wilderness, this diversity challenges managers in their efforts to provide high-quality wilderness experiences. Despite the existence of extensive research literature, managers seeking to steward...

The National Park Service (NPS) Wilderness Stewardship Division, in collaboration with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute and the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program, developed a database application to facilitate tracking and trend reporting in wilderness character. The Wilderness Character Monitoring Database allows consistent, scientifically based monitoring of trends in wilderness character throughout the National Park System and, potentially, throughout the National Wilderness Preservation System. Furthermore, the database allows the Park Service to track whether wildernes...