Fire history along environmental gradients in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico: Influences of local patterns and regional processes

Brown, Peter M.; Kaye, Margot W.; Huckaby, Laurie S.; Baisan, Christopher H.

doi:10.1080/11956860.2001.11682637

Cited by 70 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Even within ponderosa pine forests, fire frequencies tend to be higher in low-elevation stands than those at higher elevations (Swetnam and Baisan, 1996;Veblen et al, 2000). At elevations of 2100-2520 m in central Colorado, Brown et al (1999) found evidence of both lowseverity surface fires and large, stand-replacing burns in ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir forests, representing a greater range of variability in fire regimes than typical of warmer ponderosa pine forests in the southwestern USA (e.g., Swetnam and Baisan, 1996;Brown et al, 2001). In addition, no fires were recorded over large parts of the Colorado study area between 1723 and 1851.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic controls on fire-induced sediment pulses in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho: a long-term perspective

Meyer

Pierce

2003

Forest Ecology and Management

104

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Fire management addressing postfire erosion and aquatic ecosystems tends to focus on short-term effects persisting up to about a decade after fire. A longer perspective is important in understanding natural variability in postfire erosion and sedimentation, the role of these processes in structuring habitat, and future expectations in light of a warming climate and environmental change. In cool high-elevation forests of northern Yellowstone National Park, stand ages indicate infrequent large stand-replacing fires. In warmer low-elevation forests of the Payette River region of Idaho, fire-scarred tree-rings record frequent low-severity fires before 1900; stand-replacing fires and resulting debris flows in recent decades are usually attributed to 20th-century fire suppression, grazing, and other land uses. In both areas, however, tree-ring records extend back only about 500 years. We use 14 C-dated geologic records to examine spatial and temporal patterns of fire-induced sedimentation and its relation to climate over the last 10 000 years. We review sedimentation processes in modern postfire events, which vary in magnitude and impact on stream systems depending on burn severity, basin geomorphology, and the timing and characteristics of postfire storms. Modern deposits also provide analogs for identification of fire-related deposits in alluvial fans. In Yellowstone, episodes of fire-induced sedimentation occurred at intervals of about 300-450 years during the last 3500 years, indicating a regime of infrequent high-severity fires. Millennial-scale variations in the fire-sedimentation record appear to relate to hemispheric-scale climatic change. Fire-related sedimentation is rare in Yellowstone during cooler episodes (e.g., the Little Ice Age $1200-1900 A.D.), probably because effectively wetter conditions prevented most fires from spreading. During some of the same cool periods, the Payette region experienced light surface fires and frequent, small pulses of fire-induced sediment. Between 900 and 1200 A.D., however, large fire-related debris flows occurred in both study areas, coincident with the Medieval Warm Period. During that time, drought may have limited grass growth in xeric Payette-region forests, restricting surface fire spread and allowing understory shrubs and trees to create ladder fuels. Although fire suppression and land-use effects are clearly involved in recent catastrophic fires in the Payette region, a warming climate and severe drought are probable contributors to major stand-replacing fires and postfire sedimentation, both past and present. Restoration and maintenance of conditions prior to European settlement may be unrealistic because of the potent influence of climate, and the incidence of severe fires will likely increase in both areas with future warming. #

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic controls on fire-induced sediment pulses in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho: a long-term perspective

Meyer

Pierce

2003

Forest Ecology and Management

104

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“…Yet, it is difficult to determine which factor is most important or how each factor has contributed to change. Fire, the subject of this review, is thought by some to have been frequent enough, before exclusion, to have maintained lowdensity piñon-juniper savannas and woodlands in some areas and to have prevented tree invasion into sagebrush and grasslands (Gottfried et al, 1995;West, 1999;Brown et al, 2001). However, in other areas, evidence of low-severity surface fire is lacking, and the natural fire regime was dominated by high-severity fires (Floyd et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Fire and restoration of piñon–juniper woodlands in the western United States: a review

Baker

Shinneman

2004

Forest Ecology and Management

124

107

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“…Weather data were obtained from the Jemez Springs National Climatic Data Center cooperative weather station (CO-OP ID 294369-2) (NCDC 2011) and were extrapolated across sites [62,63]. Historical fire frequency and size distributions were derived from fire history studies for southwestern ecosystems [18,[64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72], including local studies [41,44,73]. Vegetation species parameters were gleaned from literature, previous FireBGCv2 projects [57][58][59]66,74], and field data.…”

Section: Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vegetation species parameters were gleaned from literature, previous FireBGCv2 projects [57][58][59]66,74], and field data. We adjusted fire size and frequency parameters until the model simulated landscape fire return intervals that were consistent with available fire history records [18,[64][65][66][67][68][70][71][72]75]. We adjusted biological tree species parameters (e.g., shade tolerance, growing degree days, cone crop probability, bark thickness) until modeled spatial distributions and individual species basal area characteristics matched published estimates for southwest vegetation communities under non-managed conditions (e.g., without suppression, logging, or other activities) [69,[76][77][78].…”

Section: Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Land Management Buffer Impacts of Climate Changes and Altered Fire Regimes on Ecosystems of the Southwestern United States?

Loehman

Flatley

Holsinger

et al. 2018

Forests

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Climate changes and associated shifts in ecosystems and fire regimes present enormous challenges for the management of landscapes in the Southwestern US. A central question is whether management strategies can maintain or promote desired ecological conditions under projected future climates. We modeled wildfire and forest responses to climate changes and management activities using two ecosystem process models: FireBGCv2, simulated for the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, and LANDIS-II, simulated for the Kaibab Plateau, Arizona. We modeled contemporary and two future climates-"Warm-Dry" (CCSM4 RCP 4.5) and "Hot-Arid" (HadGEM2ES RCP 8.5)-and four levels of management including fire suppression alone, a current treatment strategy, and two intensified treatment strategies. We found that Hot-Arid future climate resulted in a fundamental, persistent reorganization of ecosystems in both study areas, including biomass reduction, compositional shifts, and altered forest structure. Climate changes increased the potential for high-severity fire in the Jemez study area, but did not impact fire regime characteristics in the Kaibab. Intensified management treatments somewhat reduced wildfire frequency and severity; however, management strategies did not prevent the reorganization of forest ecosystems in either landscape. Our results suggest that novel approaches may be required to manage future forests for desired conditions.

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Fire history along environmental gradients in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico: Influences of local patterns and regional processes

Cited by 70 publications

References 34 publications

Climatic controls on fire-induced sediment pulses in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho: a long-term perspective

Climatic controls on fire-induced sediment pulses in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho: a long-term perspective

Fire and restoration of piñon–juniper woodlands in the western United States: a review

Can Land Management Buffer Impacts of Climate Changes and Altered Fire Regimes on Ecosystems of the Southwestern United States?

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