The Origin of Basal Scars in the British Columbia Interior White Pine Type

Molnar, A. C.; McMinn, R. G.

doi:10.5558/tfc36050-1

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…Presumed fire scars were pennant shaped and extended from the soil surface for several meters up the trunk (Weaver andClements 1938, Molnor andMcMinn 1960). I sampled scarred trees from areas known to have burned in 1870, 1886, and 1949.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfires in Northern Yellowstone National Park

Houston

1973

Ecology

165

103

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A sample of 40 fire-scarred trees was used to reconstruct the frequency and size of fires during the past 300-400 years in northern Yellowstone National Park. Best estimates of frequency suggested mean intervals of about 20-25 years between fires, after adjustments had been made for the recent influence of modern man. Agreement in fire dates over wide areas suggested the occurrence of 8 or 10 extensive fires in the past 300-400 years. Euro-American man has substantially reduced the natural fire frequency for about 80 years and has thus contributed to changes in plant succession.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfires in Northern Yellowstone National Park

Houston

1973

Ecology

165

103

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“…Lodgepole and whitebark pine with single fire scars were found frequently, but multiscarred trees were uncommon. Care was taken to distinguish fire scars from scrape scars, bear-feeding scars, and other forms of injury (Molnor and McMinn 1960).…”

Section: Fire Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire and Landscape Diversity in Subalpine Forests of Yellowstone National Park

Romme¹

1982

Ecological Monographs

622

472

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Fire history was determined by fire scar analysis in a 73—km2 subalpine watershed in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Evidence was found for 15 fires since 1600, of which 7 were major fires that burned >4 ha, destroyed the existing forest, and initiated secondary succession. Most of the upland forest area was burned by large, destructive fires in the middle and late 1700's. Fires since then have been small and have occurred at long intervals. Fire frequency in this area is partly controlled by changes in the fuel complex during succession. Fuels capable of supporting a crown fire usually do not develop until a stand is 300—400 yr old, and ignitions prior to that time usually extinguish naturally before covering more than a few hectares. Thereafter a destructive crown fire is likely whenever lightning ignites small fuels during warm, dry, windy weather. On the extensive subalpine plateaus of Yellowstone National Park there appears to be a natural fire cycle of 300—400 yr in which large areas burn during a short period, followed by a long, relatively fire—free period during which a highly flammable fuel complex again develops. The 73—km2 study area appears to be about midway between major fire events in this cycle. This, rather than human fire suppression, apparently is the major reason for the small number and size of fires in the area during the last 180 yr. On the basis of the fire history data, the sequence of vegetation mosaics during the last 200 yr was reconstructed for the watershed. Indices of landscape diversity were computed for each reconstruction, treating forest types and successional stages as taxa and incorporating components of richness, evenness, and patchiness. Landscape diversity was highest in the early 1800's following the large fires in the 1700's, then declined in the late 1800's during a 70—yr period when no major fires occurred and the landscape was dominated by even—aged forests developing on the areas burned in the 1700's. Landscape diversity has increased somewhat during the last half—century as a result of two small fires and the effects of the mountain pine beetle. These landscape reconstructions for the last 200 yr suggest that the Yellowstone subalpine ecosystem is a nonsteady—state system characterized by long—term, cyclic changes in landscape composition and diversity. Such cyclic patterns may significantly influence wildlife habitat, streamflow, nutrient cycling, and other ecological processes and characteristics within the Park, and they may be an important consideration in judging whether recent ecological changes are natural or man induced. The landscape reconstructions were also made using a simulation model based on hypothetical fire management policies of total fire exclusion and selective fire control (permitting only small fires to burn). These hypothetical management policies generally reduced the richness and patchiness of the landscape compared to the natural fire regime, but they increased the evenness and reduced the magnitude of periodic fluctuations in overa...

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“…In northwest California, extensive damage has been observed on redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) (Glover 1955). Additional reports indicate a preference for white spruce (Picea glauca) on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska (Lutz 1951), western white pine (Pinus monticola) in interior British Columbia (Molnar and McMinn 1960), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) in Maine (Zeedyk 1957), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) in Yellowstone Park (Contor 1957), and subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) in Montana (Tisch 1961 (Volland 1976 (Volland 1976 We located and measured 108 bear-stripped trees, 96 (89%) of which had fresh (same year) injuries (Table 1). None of the trees showed scars from feeding during more than one year.…”

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confidence: 99%