Challenges in the Application of Historical Range of Variation to Conservation and Land Management

Natural range of variation for yellow pine and mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades, and Modoc and Inyo National Forests, California, USA

“…NRV/HRV assessments are tools used by managers to bring insights from historical ecology to resource management (Hayward et al 2012). NRV/HRV characterizes variations in ecosystem function, structure, and composition over scales of time and space.…”

Principles and practices for the restoration of ponderosa pine and dry mixed-conifer forests of the Colorado Front Range

“…The HRV is the range of conditions and processes that characterized ecological systems historically; it describes how ecological systems operated-how they developed over space and time and how they responded to natural disturbances-before the introduction of new disturbance phenomena that occurred with Euro-American settlement (Aplet and Keeton 1999;Egan and Howell 2001;Harrod et al 1999;Moore et al 1999;Morgan et al 1994;Romme et al 2012;Veblen et al 2012). Central to the concept of HRV is the notion that ecological systems are dynamic-not static-and are characterized by a complex range of conditions that can shift in time and space but are fundamentally self-sustaining (Hayward et al 2012;Keane et al 2009;Landres et al 1999). Implicit in the HRV is the premise that ecological systems were resilient in structure and function to climatic fluctuations and natural disturbances historically, and therefore an understanding of the HRV can help to confer resilience in contemporary ecological systems.…”

“…Beyond providing an important conceptual framework, the HRV can and should be empirically derived for individual landscapes and treatment areas to inform the restoration process (Hayward et al 2012;Romme et al 2012;Veblen 2003). We encourage planners and managers to gather as much historical information as possible for their landscapes and treatment areas, including photos (e.g., and historical written accounts (e.g., Jack 1900; see Appendix A).…”

“…The key point is that restoration planning and implementation follows a hierarchically structured process across spatial scales and recognizes important interactions and feedbacks that occur across scales (Hayward et al 2012;Lindenmayer et al 2008). Restoration should begin with a landscape-scale planning process that identifies high-priority treatment areas that, if treated, will advance landscape restoration goals.…”

Cambial Phenology Informs Tree-Ring Analysis of Fire Seasonality in Coastal Plain Pine Savannas

“…Such understanding also should help to interpret the roles of anthropogenic and lightning fire, topics of intense interest and debate in North America and globally (Slocum et al 2007, Bowman et al 2009, Whitlock et al 2010, Bowman et al 2011, Benali et al 2017. Further, understanding of historical fire seasonality can provide important context for ecologically relevant land management decisions and, when practical, can guide ecological fire management on modern landscapes (Hayward et al 2012, Ryan et al 2013, Fill et al 2015.…”