Spatially explicit measurements of forest structure and fire behavior following restoration treatments in dry forests

Ziegler, Justin P.; Hoffman, Chad; Battaglia, Michael A.; Mell, William E.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.12.002

Cited by 86 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Furthermore, the reduction in the perimeter–area ratio suggests that the prevalence of canopy edges has been reduced, indicating increased homogeneity. These results concur with other studies that detected high levels of forest complexity prior to treatment (Cadry ; Ziegler ). In stands with diverse canopy patch sizes prior to treatment, restoration should aim to retain a full range of canopy patch sizes while decreasing total canopy cover.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Have we been successful? Monitoring horizontal forest complexity for forest restoration projects

Dickinson

Pelz

Giles

et al. 2015

Restoration Ecology

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Forest management today often seeks to restore ecological integrity and enhance human well‐being by increasing forest complexity, resilience, and functionality. However, effective and financially expedient monitoring of forest complexity is challenging. In this study, we developed a practical and inexpensive technique to measure horizontal forest complexity. This monitoring method uses intuitively understandable data (imagery) and facilitates stakeholder participation in the adaptive management process within collaborative projects. We used this technique to determine if current restoration projects are successfully achieving their spatial restoration goals. We focused on the Colorado Front Range Landscape Restoration Initiative (CFRLRI) as a representative of the typical collaborative restoration projects underway in formerly fire‐dependent dry conifer forests. The developed monitoring method is practical and cost‐effective by using free aerial imagery to map, quantify, and analyze the distribution of canopy cover pre‐ and post‐treatment. We found the CFRLRI has successfully reduced canopy cover (from 44 to 26% on average) and increased some aspects of horizontal forest complexity. The application of these monitoring techniques has allowed the CFRLRI collaborative group to objectively quantify changes to horizontal forest complexity, and has facilitated stakeholder communication about forest spatial patterns. These methods could be adapted for use by other similar forest restoration projects around the world by utilizing increasingly available satellite or aerial imagery.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Have we been successful? Monitoring horizontal forest complexity for forest restoration projects

Dickinson

Pelz

Giles

et al. 2015

Restoration Ecology

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“…In contrast, our low aggregation cases, in which the level of aggregation was no more than random, are probably fairly comparable to some contemporary forests with more homogeneous conditions, either as a result of regularly spaced thinning treatments (for 30% canopy cover cases) or as a result of fire suppression or other land use practices (for 60% canopy cover cases). The broad reduction in fire behavior between our 60% and 30% canopy cover cases, regardless of aggregation pattern, agrees with a number of other studies that demonstrate reduction in fire behavior as a result of fuel treatments [36], including a recent physics-based fire modeling study in similar fuels [63], and reinforces the idea presented in that paper that fuel treatments with aggregated patterns are likely similar to more conventional treatment approaches in reducing fire behavior. Our study showed sensitivity to wind speed, suggesting that fuel treatments are likely limited in their effectiveness under more severe conditions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Numerical Investigation of Aggregated Fuel Spatial Pattern Impacts on Fire Behavior

Parsons

Linn

Pimont

et al. 2017

Land

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Landscape heterogeneity shapes species distributions, interactions, and fluctuations. Historically, in dry forest ecosystems, low canopy cover and heterogeneous fuel patterns often moderated disturbances like fire. Over the last century, however, increases in canopy cover and more homogeneous patterns have contributed to altered fire regimes with higher fire severity. Fire management strategies emphasize increasing within-stand heterogeneity with aggregated fuel patterns to alter potential fire behavior. Yet, little is known about how such patterns may affect fire behavior, or how sensitive fire behavior changes from fuel patterns are to winds and canopy cover. Here, we used a physics-based fire behavior model, FIRETEC, to explore the impacts of spatially aggregated fuel patterns on the mean and variability of stand-level fire behavior, and to test sensitivity of these effects to wind and canopy cover. Qualitative and quantitative approaches suggest that spatial fuel patterns can significantly affect fire behavior. Based on our results we propose three hypotheses: (1) aggregated spatial fuel patterns primarily affect fire behavior by increasing variability; (2) this variability should increase with spatial scale of aggregation; and (3) fire behavior sensitivity to spatial pattern effects should be more pronounced under moderate wind and fuel conditions.

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“…Our observed intraspecific aggregation among all species supports the idea that aggregation is the predominant pattern in ponderosa pine-dominated forests [2,6]. After stand-replacing fire, both topography and intraspecific interactions played roles in formation of aggregation.…”

Section: Intraspecific Spatial Patternssupporting

confidence: 84%

Tree Regeneration Spatial Patterns in Ponderosa Pine Forests Following Stand-Replacing Fire: Influence of Topography and Neighbors

Ziegler

Hoffman

Fornwalt

et al. 2017

Forests

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Shifting fire regimes alter forest structure assembly in ponderosa pine forests and may produce structural heterogeneity following stand-replacing fire due, in part, to fine-scale variability in growing environments. We mapped tree regeneration in eighteen plots 11 to 15 years after stand-replacing fire in Colorado and South Dakota, USA. We used point pattern analyses to examine the spatial pattern of tree locations and heights as well as the influence of tree interactions and topography on tree patterns. In these sparse, early-seral forests, we found that all species were spatially aggregated, partly attributable to the influence of (1) aspect and slope on conifers; (2) topographic position on quaking aspen; and (3) interspecific attraction between ponderosa pine and other species. Specifically, tree interactions were related to finer-scale patterns whereas topographic effects influenced coarse-scale patterns. Spatial structures of heights revealed conspecific size hierarchies with taller trees in denser neighborhoods. Topography and heterospecific tree interactions had nominal effect on tree height spatial structure. Our results demonstrate how stand-replacing fires create heterogeneous forest structures and suggest that scale-dependent, and often facilitatory, rather than competitive, processes act on regenerating trees. These early-seral processes will establish potential pathways of stand development, affecting future forest dynamics and management options.

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Spatially explicit measurements of forest structure and fire behavior following restoration treatments in dry forests

Cited by 86 publications

References 78 publications

Have we been successful? Monitoring horizontal forest complexity for forest restoration projects

Have we been successful? Monitoring horizontal forest complexity for forest restoration projects

Numerical Investigation of Aggregated Fuel Spatial Pattern Impacts on Fire Behavior

Tree Regeneration Spatial Patterns in Ponderosa Pine Forests Following Stand-Replacing Fire: Influence of Topography and Neighbors

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