Research Database
Displaying 101 - 120 of 129
Influence of climate and environment on post-fire recovery of mountain sagbrush
Year: 2013
In arid and semi-arid landscapes around the world, wildfire plays a key role in maintaining species diversity. Dominant plant associations may depend upon particular fire regime characteristics for their persistence. Mountain shrub communities in high-elevation landscapes of the Intermountain West, USA, are strongly influenced by the post-fire recovery dynamics of the obligate-seeding shrub, mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle). This species is a short-distance disperser with a short-lived seedbank, leading to highly variable post-fire recovery…
Publication Type: Journal Article
American Voters' Views of Wildfires
Year: 2013
Forty-four percent (44%) of voters see uncontrollable wildfires as a serious problem. Equal numbers of voters say wildfires in the country are worse than they were five years ago as say they are about the same. On a personal level, a majority of voters are either more worried about wildfires affecting their own personal safety than they were five years ago, or worried the same amount. A majority of voters say that forest fires are unpredictable and dangerous and should be contained and extinguished as soon as they are discovered.
Publication Type: Report
Sagebrush steppe recovery after fire varies by development phase of Juniperus occidentalis woodland
Year: 2013
Woodland ecosystems of the world have been changed by land use demands, altered fire regimes, invasive species and climate change. Reduced fire frequency is recognised as a main causative agent for Pinus–Juniperus L. (piñon–juniper) expansion in North American woodlands. Piñon–juniper control measures, including prescribed fire, are increasingly employed to restore sagebrush steppe communities. We compared vegetation recovery following prescribed fire on Phase 2 (mid-succession) and Phase 3 (late-succession) Juniperus occidentalis Hook. (western juniper) woodlands in Oregon. The herbaceous…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Management of cheatgrass fuel loading in the shrub-steppe
Year: 2013
The fire risk experiment was in plant communities that spanned the range of B. tectorum cover. Bromus tectorum cover was grouped into five classes. Each replicate is comprised of 8 to 18 plots in the three lowest B. tectorum cover classes and 2 to 6 plots at the two highest cover classes. A replicate is a collection of plots where the risk of fire was determined as the proportion of plots that burned. Each class has four replicates. We used 176 square plots, 10 m on a side. Two hundred twenty six plots, 10 m on a side, were used to related B. tectorum cover…
Publication Type: Presentation
Conditions favouring Bromus tectorum dominance of endangered sagebrush steppe ecosystems
Year: 2013
Ecosystem invasibility is determined by combinations of environmental variables, invader attributes, disturbance regimes, competitive abilities of resident species and evolutionary history between residents and disturbance regimes. Understanding the relative importance of each factor is critical to limiting future invasions and restoring ecosystems. We investigated factors potentially controlling Bromus tectorum invasions into Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis communities across 75 sites in the Great Basin. We measured soil texture, cattle grazing intensity, gaps among perennial plants…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Building community-agency trust in fire affected communities in Australia and the United States
Year: 2013
As a result of the increasing environmental and social costs of wildfire, fire management agencies face ever-growing complexity in their management decisions and interactions with the public. The success of these interactions with community members may be facilitated through building community–agency trust in the process of providing public input opportunities and community engagement and education activities. Without trust, the public may become frustrated in their interactions with the agency and withhold support for management decisions. This study takes a comparative case approach using…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Social Science at the WUI: A Compendium of Research Results to Create Fire-Adapted Communities
Year: 2013
Over the past decade, a growing body of research has been conducted on the human dimensions of wildland fire. Building on a relatively small number of foundational studies, this research now addresses a wide range of topics including mitigation activities on private lands, fuels reduction treatments on public land, community impacts and resident behaviors during fire, acceptance of approaches to postfire restoration and recovery, and fire management policy and decision making. As this research has matured, there has been a recognition of the need to examine the full body of resulting…
Publication Type: Report
Changes in development near public forest lands in Oregon and Washington, 1974-2005: Implications for management
Year: 2013
Development owing to population increases over the last 30 years has greatly affected forested lands in the United States. To assess and compare increases in development, we counted changes in the number of structures on a systematic grid of photointerpreted points around public forest land in Washington and Oregon. Areas bordering public forest land are showing substantial increases in development, with the number of structures on private lands near almost all types of public forest more than doubling between the 1970s and 2000s. Lands bordering Washington’s Department of Natural Resources…
Publication Type: Report
The effects of large wildfires on employment and wage growth and volatility in the western United States
Year: 2013
We examined the effect of large wildfires on economic growth and volatility in the western United States. We matched wildfire data with quarterly employment and earnings growth data to assess the specific effect of wildfire on employment and wage growth in western US counties. Wildfires generally tended to exhibit positive effects on employment and wage growth in the quarter(s) during which suppression efforts were active. However, this effect transitioned to increased economic volatility following a wildfire. The effect of wildfire also varied by the type of county in which wildfire occurred…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Wildfire, Wildlands, and People: Understanding and preparing for wildfire in the wildland-urban interface
Year: 2013
Fire has historically played a fundamental ecological role in many of America’s wildland areas. However, the rising number of homes in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), associated impacts on lives and property from wildfire, and escalating costs of wildfire management have led to an urgent need for communities to become "fire-adapted." We present maps of the conterminous United States that illustrate historical natural fire regimes, the wildland-urban interface, and the number and location of structures burned since 1999. We outline a sampler of actions, programs, and community planning and…
Publication Type: Report
Using native annual plants to restore post-fire habitats in western North America
Year: 2013
Increasing fire frequencies and uncharacteristic severe fires have created a need for improved restoration methods across rangelands in western North America. Traditional restoration seed mixtures of native perennial mid- to late-seral plant species may not be suitable for intensely burned sites that have been returned to an early-seral condition. Under such conditions, native annual plant species are likely to be more successful at becoming established and competing with exotic annual plant species, such as Bromus tectorum L., for resources. We used a field study in Colorado and Idaho, USA,…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Does seeding after wildfires in rangelands reduce erosion or invasive species?
Year: 2013
Mitigation of ecological damage caused by rangeland wildfires has historically been an issue restricted to the western United States. It has focused on conservation of ecosystem function through reducing soil erosion and spread of invasive plants. Effectiveness of mitigation treatments has been debated recently. We reviewed recent literature to conduct a meta-analysis of seeding after wildfires to determine if seedings may (1) protect ecosystems against soil erosion and (2) reduce invasion or abundance of undesirable nonnative plant species. Effectiveness of postfire seedings was examined in…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Fire Effects on the Spatial Patterning of Soil Properties in Sagebrush Steppe, USA: A Meta-Analysis
Year: 2012
Understanding effects of changes in ecological disturbance regimes on soil properties, and capacity of soil properties to resist disturbance, is important for assessing ecological condition. In this meta-analysis, we examined the resilience of surface soil properties and their spatial patterning to disturbance by fire in sagebrush steppe of North America – a biome currently experiencing increases in wildfire due to climate change. We reviewed 39 studies that reported on soil properties for sagebrush steppe with distinct microsite (undershrub and interspace) patterning that was or was not…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Identifying policy target groups with qualitative and quantitative methods: the case of wildfire risk on nonindustrial private forest lands
Year: 2012
This article identifies four types of nonindustrial private forest owners with different motivations for managing forestland in Oregon's fire-prone areas and different suitabilities for wildfire risk reduction policy approaches: “Commodity managers” (27% of owners, 40% of ownership area) are motivated to harvest and sell timber for income, to protect assets, and to perpetuate a family legacy of forestry. Policies that reinvigorate markets for small-diameter wood products could motivate these owners with markets that provide economic justification for reducing fuel. “Amenity managers” (21% of…
Publication Type: Journal Article
The Use of Seedbed Modifications and Wood Chips to Accelerate Restoration of Well Pad Sites in Western Colorado, USA
Year: 2012
Semiarid ecosystems of Western North America are experiencing a boom in natural gas development. However, these systems are slow to recover from the disturbances created. The purpose of this study was to develop improved restoration techniques on natural gas well pads in Western Colorado. This study examined effects and interactions of seedbed modifications, soil amendments, seed mixtures, and seeding methods. The experiment was conducted in pinyon-juniper and semidesert shrub plant communities on five natural gas well pads beginning in 2006. Soil and plant cover data were collected to assess…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Forest Service Spending on Large Wildfires in the West
Year: 2012
The purpose of this report is to shed light on fire suppression spending as a starting point for understanding the economic impacts of large fires. In this paper, we examined Forest Service suppression spending during and after large wildfire events to explore: (1) what the Forest Service spends money on during and after a wildfire; (2) the kinds of entities and personnel that perform that work; and (3) where funds went.
Publication Type: Report
2012 National Prescribed Fire Use Survey Report
Year: 2012
Science demonstrates that low-intensity surface fires were historically a critical ecological process in as much as 60% of North American landscapes. When applied appropriately in fire-dependent ecosystems, prescribed fire maintains forest health and function, provides habitat for wildlife populations, enhances soil and water conservation, and promotes public health and safety. Prescribed fire is also often required silviculturally to develop, maintain, and protect commercial timber stands. However, its necessary use is often misunderstood, if not unknown, by the public. Societal attitudes…
Publication Type: Report
Grass Seedling Demography and Sagebrush Steppe Restoration
Year: 2012
Seeding is a key management tool for arid rangeland. In these systems, however, seeded species often fail to establish. A recent study in Wyoming big sagebrush steppe suggested that over 90% of seeded native grass individuals die before seedlings emerged. This current study examines the timing and rate of seed germination, seedling emergence, and seedling death related to this demographic bottleneck. We seeded monocultures of two native perennial bunchgrasses, Pseudoroegenaria spicata (Pursh) Á. Löve and Elymus elymoides (Raf.) Swezey, and one introduced bunchgrass, Agropyron desertorum (…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Photo Series for Quantifying Natural Fuels Volume XI : Eastern Oregon Sagebrush - Steppe and Spotted Owl Nesting Habitat in the Pacific Northwest
Year: 2012
Three series of photographs display a range of natural conditions and fuel loadings for sagebrush-steppe types that are ecotonal with grasses, western juniper, and ponderosa pine in eastern Oregon, and one series of photographs displays a range of natural conditions and fuel loadings for northern spotted owl nesting habitat in forest types in Washington and Oregon. Each group of photos includes inventory information summarizing vegetation composition, structure, and loading; woody material loading and density by size class; forest floor depth and loading; and various site characteristics. The…
Publication Type: Report
The Effect of Large Wildfires on Local Labor Markets
Year: 2012
Although fire managers, policymakers, and communities are benefiting from better understanding of suppression costs, property losses, and community impacts of large fires, no generalizable empirical research has quantified the specific effect of large wildfires on local employment and wages. As federal spending on wildfire suppression in the United States continues to grow, an understanding of the effects of wildfires on local economies will help natural resource managers, policymakers, and communities better anticipate and make management and policy decisions that support local economies.…
Publication Type: Report