Articles

Oak, Fire, and Global Change in the Eastern USA: What Might the Future Hold?

The pace of environmental and socioeconomic change over the past 100 years has been rapid. Changes in fire regimes, climate, and land use have shaped the structure and function of most forest ecosystems, inclu...

Authors: James M. Vose and Katherine J. Elliott

Fire Effects on Wildlife in the Central Hardwoods and Appalachian Regions, USA

Fire is being prescribed and used increasingly to promote ecosystem restoration (e.g., oak woodlands and savannas) and to manage wildlife habitat in the Central Hardwoods and Appalachian regions, USA. However,...

Authors: Craig A. Harper, W. Mark Ford, Marcus A. Lashley, Christopher E. Moorman and Michael C. Stambaugh

Natural Canopy Damage and the Ecological Restoration of Fire-Indicative Groundcover Vegetation in an Oak-Pine Forest

An important goal of restoring fire to upland oak-dominated communities that have experienced fire exclusion is restoring groundcover plant species diversity and composition indicative of fire-maintained habit...

Authors: J. Stephen Brewer

Hardwood-Pine Mixedwoods Stand Dynamics following Thinning and Prescribed Burning

Restoration of hardwood-pine (Pinus L.) mixedwoods is an important management goal in many pine plantations in the southern Cumberland Plateau in north-central Alabama, USA. Pine plantations have been relatively ...

Authors: Callie Jo Schweitzer, Daniel C. Dey and Yong Wang

Scale Dependence of Oak woodland Historical Fire Intervals: Contrasting the barrens of Tennessee and Cross timbers of Oklahoma, USA

Characterization of scale dependence of fire intervals could inform interpretations of fire history and improve fire prescriptions that aim to mimic historical fire regime conditions. We quantified the tempora...

Authors: Michael C. Stambaugh, Richard P. Guyette, Joseph M. Marschall and Daniel C. Dey

Suites of Fire-Adapted traits of Oaks in the Southeastern USA: Multiple Strategies for Persistence

Fire is integral to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems of the southeastern USA and is a strong selective force on plant species. Among woody plants, oak species (Quercus spp. L) have diverse life history t...

Authors: J. Morgan Varner, Jeffrey M. Kane, J. Kevin Hiers, Jesse K. Kreye and Joseph W. Veldman

Repeated Application of Fuel Reduction Treatments in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA: Implications for Achieving Management Goals

Fire and resource managers of the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA, have many questions about the use of prescribed fire and mechanical treatments to meet various land management objectives. Three common ob...

Authors: Thomas A. Waldrop, Donald L. Hagan and Dean M. Simon

Northern Long-Eared Bat Day-Roosting and Prescribed Fire in the Central Appalachians, USA

The northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis Trovessart) is a cavity-roosting species that forages in cluttered upland and riparian forests throughout the oak-dominated Appalachian and Central Hardwoods re...

Authors: W. Mark Ford, Alexander Silvis, Joshua B. Johnson, John W. Edwards and Milu Karp

Fire in the History of Mettler’s Woods

Authors: Murray F. Buell, Helen F. Buell and John A. Small

Sowing the Seeds of Fire and Oak in the Eastern US: A Tribute to Buell et al. 1954

A 323-year-old white oak (Quercus alba L.) tree in Mettler’s Woods in central New Jersey, USA, was the subject of the Buell et al. 1954 paper. They identified six fire scars formed between 1641 and 1711, with a m...

Authors: Marc D. Abrams

Fire in Eastern north American Oak Ecosystems: Filling the Gaps

This special issue of Fire Ecology is focused on the fire ecology of eastern USA oak (Quercus L.) forests, woodlands, and savannas. The papers were presented as part of the Fifth Fire in Eastern Oak Forests Confe...

Authors: J. Morgan Varner, Mary A. Arthur, Stacy L. Clark, Daniel C. Dey, Justin L. Hart and Callie J. Schweitzer

Firestick Ecology: Fairdinkum Science in Plain English. 2015. By Vic Jurskis. Connor Court Publishing, Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia. 325 pages. Hardcover. AU$34.95. ISBN: 978-1-925138-74-0

Authors: Lachlan McCaw

The Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System: Functionality for Fuels Treatment Planning

The Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS) is a web-based software and data integration framework that organizes fire and fuels software applications into a single online application. IFT...

Authors: Stacy A. Drury, H. Michael Rauscher, Erin M. Banwell, ShihMing Huang and Tami L. Lavezzo

Ignition Patterns Influence Fire Severity and Plant Communities in Pacific Northwest, USA, Prairies

In the prairies of the Pacific Northwest, USA, fire has been reintroduced as a tool for reducing non-native, invasive plant cover and promoting the growth and establishment of native plant communities. Head fi...

Authors: R. Adam Martin and Sarah T. Hamman

Fuel Moisture Differences in a Mixed Native and Non-Native Grassland: Implications for Fire Regimes

Non-native plants have far-reaching effects on many terrestrial ecosystems. There are several examples of non-native species altering fire regimes, either by increasing or decreasing the potential intensity an...

Authors: Amy C. Livingston and J. Morgan Varner

Patterns and Trends in Burned Area and Fire Severity from 1984 to 2010 in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico

Yellow pine (Pinus spp. L.) and mixed conifer (YPMC) forests of California, USA (Alta California), have been negatively affected since Euro-American settlement by a century or more of logging, fire exclusion, and...

Authors: Hiram Rivera-Huerta, Hugh D. Safford and Jay D. Miller

A New Method Comparing Snowmelt Timing with Annual Area Burned

The interactions between climate and wildland fire are complex. To better understand these interactions, we used ArcMap 10.2.2 to examine the relationships between early spring snowmelt and total annual area b...

Authors: Donal S. O’Leary III, Trevor D. Bloom, Jacob C. Smith, Christopher R. Zemp and Michael J. Medler

Mechanisms Enabling a Fire Sensitive Plant to Survive Frequent Fires in South-West Australian Eucalypt Forests

A fire sensitive plant, Banksia quercifolia R.Br., that often occurs as thickets embedded in forest landscapes in south-west Australia was exposed to repeated broad-scale fires at short intervals. Fire severity a...

Authors: Neil Burrows and Ted Middleton

Does Prescribed Fire Promote Resistance to Drought in Low Elevation Forests of the Sierra Nevada, California, USA?

Prescribed fire is a primary tool used to restore western forests following more than a century of fire exclusion, reducing fire hazard by removing dead and live fuels (small trees and shrubs). It is commonly ...

Authors: Phillip J. van Mantgem, Anthony C. Caprio, Nathan L. Stephenson and Adrian J. Das

The Passing of the Lolo Trail

Authors: Elers Koch

Introduction to the Article by Elers Koch: The Passing of the Lolo Trail

In 1935, Elers Koch argued in a Journal of Forestry article that a minimum fire protection model should be implemented in the backcountry areas of national forests in Idaho, USA. As a USDA Forest Service Supervis...

Authors: Andrew J. Larson

Current International Perspectives on Wildland Fires, Mankind and the Environment. 2015. Edited by Brigitte Leblon and Martin E. Alexander. Nova Science Publishers Inc., Hauppauge, New York, USA. 271 pp. Hardcover. US$166.50. ISBN: 978-1-63463-682-7

Authors: Ernesto Alvarado

Faunal Responses to Fire in Chaparral and Sage Scrub in California, USA

Impact of fire on California shrublands has been well studied but nearly all of this work has focused on plant communities. Impact on and recovery of the chaparral fauna has received only scattered attention; ...

Authors: Elizabeth F. van Mantgem, Jon E. Keeley and Marti Witter

A Case Study Comparison of LANDFIRE Fuel Loading and Emissions Generation on a Mixed Conifer Forest in Northern Idaho, USA

The use of fire as a land management tool is well recognized for its ecological benefits in many natural systems. To continue to use fire while complying with air quality regulations, land managers are often t...

Authors: Josh Hyde, Eva K. Strand, Andrew T. Hudak and Dale Hamilton

Recovery of Tall Open Eucalypt Forest in South-Western Australia following Complete Crown Scorch

We investigated the response of overstorey and mid-storey trees in tall open forest of Eucalyptus diversicolor F. Muell., Eucalyptus jacksonii Maiden, and Corymbia calophylla (Lindl.) K.D. Hill & L.A.S. Johnson o...

Authors: Lachlan McCaw and Ted Middleton

Approximation of Fire-Return Intervals with Point Samples in the Southern Range of the Coast Redwood Forest, California, USA

A legacy of past fires is evident in the form of blackened basal hollows found throughout the southern range of the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [D. Don] Endl.) forest. A deeper look reveals cambial scars ...

Authors: Gregory A. Jones and Will Russell

Variability in Fire Prescriptions to Promote Wildlife Foods in the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem

Prescribed fire is commonly used to restore and maintain the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystem (LLPE). A key function of the LLPE is the provisioning of food for wildlife. Despite the plethora of li...

Authors: Marcus A. Lashley, M. Colter Chitwood, Craig A. Harper, Christopher S. DePerno and Christopher E. Moorman

Soil Carbon and Nutrient Recovery after High-Severity Wildfire in Mexico

Fire severity can increase above historical levels due to factors such as human-derived fire suppression and climate change. Studies about the effects of high-severity fires on soil carbon and nutrients in pin...

Authors: Shatya D. Quintero-Gradilla, Felipe García-Oliva, Ramón Cuevas-Guzmán, Enrique J. Jardel-Peláez and Angelina Martínez-Yrizar

Simulating Grassland Prescribed Fires Using Experimental Approaches

Small-scale fire approaches, like burn boxes, burn tables, and propane burners, are often used to facilitate experimental control over fire and allow greater replication. We compared characteristics of grassla...

Authors: Katherine C. Kral, Ryan F. Limb, Torre J. Hovick, Devan A. McGranahan, Aaron L. Field and Peter L. O’Brien

Lichen Community Response to Prescribed Burning and Thinning in Southern Pine Forests of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA

The effects of prescribed burning and thinning on lichen communities is a poorly understood aspect of biodiversity conservation, despite the widespread use of these practices to achieve conservation-oriented l...

Authors: David G. Ray, Jason W. Barton and James C. Lendemer

Present Studies and History of Burning in Greece

Authors: L. G. Liacos

Introduction to Leonidas G. Liacos’ Article

Authors: Vasilios P. Papanastasis

Impacts of Fire on Snowshoe Hares in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Forest fires fundamentally shape the habitats available for wildlife. Current predictions for fire under a warming climate suggest larger and more severe fires may occur, thus challenging scientists and manage...

Authors: Ellen Cheng, Karen E. Hodges and L. Scott Mills

Pile Burning Effects on Soil Water Repellency, Infiltration, and Downslope Water Chemistry in the Lake Tahoe Basin, USA

Thinning of conifers followed by pile burning has become a popular treatment to reduce fuel loads in the Lake Tahoe Basin, USA. However, concern has been voiced about burning within or near riparian areas beca...

Authors: Ken R. Hubbert, Matt Busse, Steve Overby, Carol Shestak and Ross Gerrard

Fire Enhances Whitebark Pine Seedling Establishment, Survival, and Growth

Periodic fire is thought to improve whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) regeneration by reducing competition and creating openings, but the mechanisms by which fire affects seedling establishment are poorly...

Authors: Judy L. Perkins

Principles of Effective USA Federal Fire Management Plans

Federal fire management plans are essential implementation guides for the management of wildland fire on federal lands. Recent changes in federal fire policy implementation guidance and fire science informatio...

Authors: Marc D. Meyer, Susan L. Roberts, Robin Wills, Matthew Brooks and Eric M. Winford

Vegetation Response to Burn Severity, Native Grass Seeding, and Salvage Logging

As the size and extent of wildfires has increased in recent decades, so has the cost and extent of post-fire management, including seeding and salvage logging. However, we know little about how burn severity, ...

Authors: Penelope Morgan, Marshell Moy, Christine A. Droske, Sarah A. Lewis, Leigh B. Lentile, Peter R. Robichaud, Andrew T. Hudak and Christopher J. Williams

Calibration and Validation of Immediate Post-Fire Satellite-Derived Data to Three Severity Metrics

Since 2007, the USDA Forest Service’s Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC) has been producing fire severity data within the first 30 to 45 days after wildfire containment (i.e., initial assessments [IA]),...

Authors: Jay D. Miller and Brad Quayle

The Desert Grassland, Past and Present

Authors: Robert R. Humphrey

Introduction to Robert R. Humphrey’s Article

Authors: Mitchel P. McClaran

The Effects of Ash and Black Carbon (Biochar) on Germination of Different Tree Species

Forest fires generate large amounts of ash and biochar, or black carbon (BC), that cover the soil surface, interacting with the soil’s constituents and its seedbank. This study concerns reproductive ecology as...

Authors: Otilia Reyes, Joeri Kaal, Diego Arán, Raquel Gago, Javier Bernal, Juan García-Duro and Margarita Basanta

Predicting Burned Areas of Forest Fires: an Artificial Intelligence Approach

Forest fires importantly influence our environment and lives. The ability of accurately predicting the area that may be involved in a forest fire event may help in optimizing fire management efforts. Given the...

Authors: Mauro Castelli, Leonardo Vanneschi and Aleš Popovič

Assessment of Experiential Education in Prescribed Burning for Current and Future Natural Resource Managers

Acquiring experiential prescribed fire education is difficult for college students. In order to evaluate the effects of instruction on students, we surveyed those who were taking or had completed Oklahoma Stat...

Authors: J. Derek Scasta, John R. Weir and David M. Engle

Relative Bark Thickness is Correlated with Tree Species Distributions along a Fire Frequency Gradient

The probability of stem survival after fire is strongly influenced by energy allocation to bark because bark thickness affects heat transfer during fire. Greater relative investment in inner bark versus outer ...

Authors: Jennifer L. Schafer, Bradley P. Breslow, Matthew G. Hohmann and William A. Hoffmann

Fire Regime, Climate, and Vegetation in the Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina

Wildfires are a primary disturbance in the Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina, with approximately 2 152 000 ha burned between 1993 and 2012. However, little is known about the spatial and temporal patterns of fires...

Authors: Juan P. Argañaraz, Gregorio Gavier Pizarro, Marcelo Zak and Laura M. Bellis

Fire Emissions and Carbon Uptake in Severely Burned Lenga Beech (Nothofagus pumilio) Forests of Patagonia, Argentina

Forest wildfires are recognized as sources of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases (GHG) that, altering the dynamics between terrestrial and atmospheric carbon (C) exchange, influence global climate. In central Andean ...

Authors: Maria Lila Bertolin, Maria Florencia Urretavizcaya and Guillermo Emilio Defossé

Ecological Implications of Fine-Scale Fire Patchiness and Severity in Tropical Savannas of Northern Australia

Understanding fine-scale fire patchiness has significant implications for ecological processes and biodiversity conservation. It can affect local extinction of and recolonisation by relatively immobile fauna a...

Authors: Sofia L. J. Oliveira, Manuel L. Campagnolo, Owen F. Price, Andrew C. Edwards, Jeremy Russell-Smith and José M. C. Pereira

The Characterization of Fires in Relation to Ecological Studies

Authors: A. G. McArthur and N. P. Cheney

Introduction to McArthur and Cheney’s Article

Authors: Neil Burrows

Minimal Persistence of Native Bunchgrasses Seven Years after Seeding following Mastication and Prescribed Fire in Southwestern Oregon, USA

Seeding of native grasses is widely used to restore plant communities and prevent establishment of introduced species following wildfire and prescribed burns. However, there is a lack of long-term data to eval...

Authors: Laura M. Busby and Darlene Southworth