Pre-fire and post-fire surface fuel and cover measurements collected in the south-eastern United States for model evaluation and development – RxCADRE 2008, 2011 and 2012

Ottmar, Roger D.; Hudak, Andrew T.; Prichard, Susan J.; Wright, Clinton S.; Restaino, Joseph C.; Kennedy, Maureen C.; Vihnanek, Robert E.

doi:10.1071/wf15092

Cited by 33 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Although environmental conditions can influence mortality rates, this ecosystem can experience a stand-replacing fire if suppression occurs for only a few years. Fuel consumption measurements taken by Ottmar et al (2016) at Ichauway and similar southeastern forests, which were 30% for woody AGB and 77% for litter, were the prescribed fire scenario consumption values. Also, we set a conservative lower boundary for wildfire frequency at a 20-yr interval.…”

Section: Model Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 98%

Quantifying carbon and species dynamics under different fire regimes in a southeastern U.S. pineland

et al. 2019

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Forests have a prominent role in carbon sequestration and storage. Climate change and anthropogenic forcing have altered the dominant characteristics of some forested ecosystems through changes to their disturbance regimes, particularly fire. Ecosystems that historically burned frequently, like pinelands in the southeastern United States, risk changes in their structure and function when the fire regime they require is altered. Although the carbon storage potential in an unburned southeastern U.S. forest would be larger, this scenario is unrealistic due to the likelihood of wildfire. Additionally, fire exclusion can have negative consequences on these forests health, biodiversity, and species endemism. There is a need, specifically for the southeast, to estimate carbon and species dynamics based on the differences between various fire regimes, and particularly the differences between prescribed fire and wildfire. These are important factors to consider given that prescribed fire is a common tool used in the southeast, and wildfires are ever more present. Field data from an experimental Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) forest of southwest Georgia were used to parametrize the forest landscape model LANDIS-II. The model simulated how carbon and species dynamics differ under a fire exclusion, a prescribed fire, and multiple wildfire scenarios. All scenarios except fire exclusion resulted in net emissions to the atmosphere, but prescribed fire produced the least carbon emissions from fire and maintained the most stable aboveground biomass compared to wildfire scenarios. Removing fire for approximately a century was necessary to obtain an average stand-level biomass greater than that of prescribed fire and net emissions less than that of prescribed fire. The prescribed fire scenario produced a longleaf pine-dominated forest, the exclusion scenario converted to predominantly oak species Quercus virginiana (live oak), Q. stellata (post oak), and Q. margaretta (sand post oak), while scenarios with intermediate wildfire regimes supported a mix of other fire-facilitator hardwoods and pine species, such as Q. incana (bluejack oak) and Pinus elliotti (slash pine). Overall, this study supports prescribed fire regimes in southeastern U.S. pinelands to both minimize carbon emissions and preserve native biodiversity.

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Section: Model Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 98%

Quantifying carbon and species dynamics under different fire regimes in a southeastern U.S. pineland

et al. 2019

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“…The reason that fine-scale spatially explicit post-fire mortality has been understudied is the requirement for a study site of sufficient size where the trees and fuel have been mapped pre-fire, where the trees' fate can be determined after fire, and where measurements of tree mortality (or survival) are repeated post-fire. Examining spatial neighborhoods of tree mortality and the heterogeneity of fire effects requires large, mapped plots, almost certainly >1 ha [33], with sizes ≥10 ha more likely to elucidate subtle spatially explicit phenomena [34] and to provide information at operationally relevant scales [35]. There has been considerable success with 4 ha plots [24,36], which seem to constitute a practical minimum from the perspective of the requirements of point pattern analysis [37] or actual forest structural heterogeneity [38].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Implicit in suggestions for large plots is the concomitant suggestion for collaborating across multiple fire science disciplines, with respect to sampling designs, as well as analysis and publication of the large data sets generated. The success of the multidisciplinary RxCADRE study [35] provides a template for incorporating large, spatially explicit, long-term forest plots into fire science research.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Fire 2018, 1,5 We envision combining the large spatial extent, high-resolution, and long-term approach of the ForestGEO network [2] with the multidisciplinary approach and focus on generating data to validate process-based models of RxCADRE [35]. Logistical constraints make it unlikely that any one principal investigator would manage more than 2-3 large plots, and the strengths of the approach are strongest with a culture of cooperation [2,35].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Logistical constraints make it unlikely that any one principal investigator would manage more than 2-3 large plots, and the strengths of the approach are strongest with a culture of cooperation [2,35]. Additionally, the time-appropriate release of uniformly collected data in purely open access venues would allow better synthesis across forest types.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Advancing Fire Science with Large Forest Plots and a Long-Term Multidisciplinary Approach

Lutz

Larson

Swanson

2018

Fire

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Large, spatially explicit forest plots have the potential to address currently understudied aspects of fire ecology and management, including the validation of physics-based fire behavior models and next-generation fire effects models. Pre-fire forest structures, fire-mediated mortality, and post-fire forest development can be examined in a spatial context, and value can be added to current multidisciplinary approaches by adding a long-term perspective. Here we propose that the fire science community begin to build a collaborative network of fire-related large forest dynamics plots to examine explicit spatial patterns of surface fuels, tree mortality, and post-fire regeneration throughout ecosystems with frequent-fire forests.Keywords: large forest plots; fire severity; Smithsonian ForestGEO; Yosemite Forest Dynamics Plot One of the central challenges in fire ecology and management is to validate next-generation models at ecologically and operationally relevant scales. This includes physics-based fire behavior models and physiologically informed fire effects models, as well as integration of outputs from such models with measurements of fire effects and post-fire ecosystem development. Meeting this challenge will require large field sites in which surface and canopy fuels are mapped in three-dimensional (3D) space at high resolution [1] and where medium-and long-term fire effects on community composition, structure, and fuel accumulation are measured. Here, we suggest that large, spatially explicit forest plots modeled after the Smithsonian ForestGEO network [2] are a key investment needed to meet one of the most pressing research challenges in fire science.The high-frequency, low-and moderate-severity fire regime forest types are the most appropriate ecosystems for investment in large, spatially explicit forest plots. Recent modeling studies illustrate the effects of fine-scale differences in stand structure on fire behavior (e.g., [3]), with the finding that aggregated fuel patterns (i.e., arising from spatially aggregated tree patterns) increase the variability of fire behavior. These initial results suggest a promising pathway for testing conceptual models for forest dynamics and the generation of spatial heterogeneity in frequent-fire forests [4,5]), and for the design and evaluation of fuel reduction, restoration, and climate change adaptation treatments in frequent-fire forests [6,7].Large plots in which pre-fire measurements are comprehensive and long-term fire effects are monitored can fill gaps in fire research. Potential improvements extend from the scale of ecophysiological measurements of fire on seedlings [8] to socio-ecological "firescapes" [9] and to large landscapes [10].

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A model comparison of fire return interval impacts on carbon and species dynamics in a southeastern U.S. pineland

et al. 2021

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Ecosystem process models can be used to predict forest response to disturbances at a range of scales. Selection of the spatial class of model should depend on the scale of the research or management question, and model type should depend on the ecosystem attributes of interest. In some cases, multiple classes of models could be used to address a single research question, with evaluations at each scale having potential benefits and drawbacks. This study examines two classes of models relative to how fire return intervals impact carbon and species dynamics in a southeastern U.S. pineland. A model that can be run as a global class model (ED) and a landscape class model (LANDIS-II) were parameterized with species inventory data from an experimental Pinus Palustris (longleaf pine) forest in southwest Georgia, and simulations were calibrated with literature values, then validated with eddy-covariance data from the study site. A variety of fire scenarios that included prescribed fire with a 2-yr return interval, fire exclusion, and three wildfire scenarios (20-, 50-, and 100-yr return intervals) were used for model runs. Results were compared and evaluated with regard to ecosystem carbon and species dynamics. Both models illustrated that prescribed fire provided the greatest carbon sequestration potential and most stable aboveground biomass through time when compared to the wildfire scenarios. The fire exclusion scenario for LANDIS-II was the only scenario where prescribed fire did not provide the greatest carbon sequestration potential. However, fire exclusion on the order of centuries was a condition of this outcome and the occurrence of such long fire-free periods is considered unrealistic in this fire-prone landscape. Differences between models were primarily the result of the underlying characteristics of each model class, namely the spatial resolution and number of species included. In the end, two vastly different scale models supported the conclusion that high frequency prescribed fire in southeastern U.S. pinelands stabilizes carbon and maintains species composition in an ecosystem that is a known ecological hotspot.

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Pre-fire and post-fire surface fuel and cover measurements collected in the south-eastern United States for model evaluation and development – RxCADRE 2008, 2011 and 2012

Cited by 33 publications

References 28 publications

Quantifying carbon and species dynamics under different fire regimes in a southeastern U.S. pineland

Quantifying carbon and species dynamics under different fire regimes in a southeastern U.S. pineland

Advancing Fire Science with Large Forest Plots and a Long-Term Multidisciplinary Approach

A model comparison of fire return interval impacts on carbon and species dynamics in a southeastern U.S. pineland

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