Reestablishing fire-adapted communities to riparian forests in the ponderosa pine zone

Abstract

Ecological research has implicated the practice of fire exclusion as a major contributor to forest health problems in the semiarid ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) zone of the Inland West (Mutch and others 1993; Sampson and others 1994). Prior to 1900, frequent, low-intensity fires occurred on upland forests in this forest zone at intervals of 5 to 30 years. With fire exclusion, dense understories and thickets of conifers have developed, producing stands that are highly susceptible to a variety of insect and disease epidemics-and severe wildfires. These concerns have led to proposals and a few operational programs to reintroduce fire on a large scale to restore these forests (Kilgore and Curtis 1987; Lolo National Forest 1994; Williams 1995).

Parent Publication

• The use of fire in forest restoration

Citation

Arno, Matthew K. 1996. Reestablishing fire-adapted communities to riparian forests in the ponderosa pine zone. In: Hardy, Colin C.; Arno, Stephen F., eds. The use of fire in forest restoration. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-341. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. p. 42-43.