Early settlement forest structure in Black Hills ponderosa pine forests

Brown, Peter M.; Cook, Blaine

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2005.11.008

Cited by 66 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In fact, previously published reconstructed and historical data from mixed conifer forests include higher densities than the studies in their Table S1. For example, dendrochronological reconstructions of South Dakota ponderosa pine landscapes averaged > 127 trees ha −1 in 1900 (Brown & Cook, 2006), and reconstructed mixed conifer forests at Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona) averaged > 200 trees ha −1 in c. 1880 (Fulé et al, 2003).…”

Section: Comparisons With Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unsupported inferences of high‐severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: response to Williams and Baker

Fulé

Swetnam

Brown

et al. 2013

Global Ecology and Biogeography

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Reconstructions of dry western US forests in the late 19th century in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon based on General Land Office records were used by Williams & Baker (2012; Global Ecology and Biogeography, 21, 1042-1052; hereafter W&B) to infer past fire regimes with substantial moderate and high-severity burning. The authors concluded that present-day large, high-severity fires are not distinguishable from historical patterns. We present evidence of important errors in their study. First, the use of tree size distributions to reconstruct past fire severity and extent is not supported by empirical age-size relationships nor by studies that directly quantified disturbance history in these forests. Second, the fire severity classification of W&B is qualitatively different from most modern classification schemes, and is based on different types of data, leading to an inappropriate comparison. Third, we note that while W&B asserted 'surprising' heterogeneity in their reconstructions of stand density and species composition, their data are not substantially different from many previous studies which reached very different conclusions about subsequent forest and fire behaviour changes. Contrary to the conclusions of W&B, the preponderance of scientific evidence indicates that conservation of dry forest ecosystems in the western United States and their ecological, social and economic value is not consistent with a present-day disturbance regime of large, high-severity fires, especially under changing climate. KeywordsFire regime, fire severity, General Land Office survey, historical range of variability, ponderosa pine, wildfire. INTRODUCTIONA recent study in Global Ecology and Biogeography (Williams & Baker, 2012, hereafter W&B) applied historical data from General Land Office (GLO) surveys c. 1880 to reconstruct historical dry forests on four large landscapes in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon (USA). W&B described forest composition as characterized by 'abundant ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson), with lesser amounts of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), white fir (Abies concolor (Gord. & Glend.) Lindl. ex Hildebr.), grand fir (Abies grandis (Douglas ex D. Don) Lindl.), juniper (Juniperus L.), western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Louden)' . W&B infer that the presence of a certain proportion of trees below a site-specific diameter threshold is evidence of 'higher'-severity fire, a term they use to indicate a combination of 'mixed-plus high-severity fire' . They then compare the proportion of plots with evidence of 'higher'-severity fire to the distribution of fire severities estimated from satellite imagery of recent large wildfires in the western United States, concluding that modern fires are within the historical range of variability (HRV) of fire severity. They also found it 'surprising' that dry forests 'commonly thought to have been open and parklike' were heterogeneous and relatively dense. W&B conclude that current management pr...

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Section: Comparisons With Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unsupported inferences of high‐severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: response to Williams and Baker

Fulé

Swetnam

Brown

et al. 2013

Global Ecology and Biogeography

Self Cite

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“…Dendrochronology can also be used to reconstruct the historical stand structure of forests (Brown and Cook 2006;Moore and others 2004). The occurrence of highseverity fires can be determined by examining the age of trees that likely initiated in unison following such an event (Johnson and Gutsell 1994).…”

Section: Fire Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the absence of disturbance, stands in class three would have become very dense and more susceptible to crown fire spread. In more frequently disturbed forests, stands were likely multi-aged and tree density varied from 7 to almost 300 trees per acre (Brown and Cook 2006;McAdams 1995). In forests with longer intervals between disturbances, sapling density may have been as high as 8,000 trees per acre (Baker and others 2007).…”

Section: Black Hillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ponderosa pine forests in many western states currently have the potential to burn with much higher fire intensity than they would have 100 years ago (Brown and Cook 2006;Covington and others 1994;Kaufmann and others 2003). This is largely because of management and land use practices throughout the 19 th and 20 th centuries, particularly those that lead to alteration of natural fire regimes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A comprehensive guide to fuels treatment practices for ponderosa pine in the Black Hills, Colorado Front Range, and Southwest

Hunter¹,

Shepperd²,

Lentile³

et al. 2007

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“…In Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson-dominated forests of the Rocky Mountains, USA, intense land use including logging, domestic grazing, and fire suppression began at the time of European-American settlement in the mid to late 1800s (Cooper 1960;Dillon et al 2005;Veblen and Donnegan 2005). Researchers have recently begun to investigate how this past land use has altered forest overstories from the pre-settlement condition by examining early photographs, written descriptions, and scientific studies, and also by reconstructing historical stand conditions from living and remnant woody material (e.g., Brown and Cook 2006;Fulé et al 1997;Kaufmann et al 2001). Their findings suggest that past logging, grazing, and fire suppression have generally homogenized forest structure and increased stand density by removing the largest and oldest trees, encouraging tree establishment and growth, and decreasing tree mortality due to fire.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of past logging and grazing on understory plant communities in a montane Colorado forest

et al. 2008

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Throughout Pinus ponderosa-Pseudotsuga menziesii forests of the southern Colorado Front Range, USA, intense logging and domestic grazing began at the time of Euro-American settlement in the late 1800s and continued until the early 1900s. We investigated the long-term impacts of these settlement-era activities on understory plant communities by comparing understory composition at a historically logged and grazed site to that of an environmentally similar site which was protected from past use. We found that species richness and cover within functional groups rarely differed between sites in either upland or riparian areas. Multivariate analyses revealed little difference in species composition between sites on uplands, though compositional differences were apparent in riparian zones. Our findings suggest that settlement-era logging and grazing have had only minor long-term impacts on understories of upland Front Range P. ponderosa-P. menziesii forests, though they have had a greater long-term influence on riparian understories, where these activities were likely the most intense.

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Early settlement forest structure in Black Hills ponderosa pine forests

Cited by 66 publications

References 26 publications

Unsupported inferences of high‐severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: response to Williams and Baker

Unsupported inferences of high‐severity fire in historical dry forests of the western United States: response to Williams and Baker

A comprehensive guide to fuels treatment practices for ponderosa pine in the Black Hills, Colorado Front Range, and Southwest

Effects of past logging and grazing on understory plant communities in a montane Colorado forest

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