Canopy fire modeling is based largely upon the use of canopy bulk density, a three-2 dimensional ... more Canopy fire modeling is based largely upon the use of canopy bulk density, a three-2 dimensional crown measure, as a fuel metric. We propose and test a model that relies on a 3 two-dimensional crown measure, which is simpler to conceptualize and easier to obtain 4 remotely. We compare the model with its three-dimensional equivalent, with two 5 contemporary fuel inputs methods. We find that the alternative fuel metric provides 6 statistically equivalent modeled outputs of canopy fire propagation 2626 FIA plots. 7
We reconstructed the historical stand structure and spatial patterning of ®re-maintained ponderos... more We reconstructed the historical stand structure and spatial patterning of ®re-maintained ponderosa pine forests in the Eastern Cascades of Washington to develop and design silvicultural prescriptions to restore historical structure and composition. The structure of the dominant overstory was inferred from the size and spatial patterning of stumps, logs, snags, and live trees (>140 years of age) within 48 0.5 ha plots. Size class distributions, basal area, and spatial distribution of historical trees were compared among plant association groups representing a range of environmental conditions. Using spatial point pattern analysis, we found that signi®cant clumping at ®ne scales (0±15 m) existed historically. Spatial patterning of present day and historical trees of four comparable plots suggests that while strong clumping exists in present day stands, the largest trees today exhibit less clumping than did large historical trees. Historical SDI (260) for dominant overstories was nearly the same as threshold for serious beetle mortality (263) for ponderosa pine. Cut-tree marking was carried out within 15 m radius circles, as guided by the spatial patterning analysis, and using a sliding scale of trees per circle by quadratic mean diameter. # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. 0378-1127/99/$ ± see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. P I I : S 0 3 7 8 -1 1 2 7 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 3 7 3 -9
The restoration of natural fire regimes has emerged as a primary management objective within fire... more The restoration of natural fire regimes has emerged as a primary management objective within fire-prone forests in the interior western US. However, this objective becomes contentious when perceived to be in conflict with the conservation of rare wildlife species. For example, the integration of fire ecology in disturbance-prone forests of eastern Washington with the recovery of the Northern spotted owl has been described as a management dilemma. We intersected modeled spotted owl habitat with mapped priority fuels treatment areas in order to determine the magnitude of the potential conflict between fuels management and owl conservation. Our results show that there is considerable overlap within dry forests between high suitability spotted owl habitat and moderate-high priority fuels treatment areas (34% overlap). However, there is also considerable overlap of lower suitability spotted owl habitat with moderate-high priority fuels treatment areas (35% overlap) providing opportunities to accomplish multiple management objectives if one considers a landscape perspective. We propose that a conservation strategy for the Northern spotted owl in the eastern Cascades consider the following: emphasize landscape restoration of dry forests within which spotted owl habitat is embedded; landscapes considered for restoration need to be large enough to accomodate the effects of fire disturbances and still retain sufficient habitat to support spotted owl populations; and include adaptive management allowing for adequate monitoring and feedback for managers to make needed adjustments.
We examined the initial response of avian nest success to mechanical thinning, prescribed fire, a... more We examined the initial response of avian nest success to mechanical thinning, prescribed fire, and thinning/ prescribed fire combination treatments, designed to reduce fuel loads, at study sites throughout the continental USA as part of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) Project. We modeled the daily nest survival of ground-, shrub-, tree-, and snag-nesting bird species to test for effects of: (1) overall treatment (2) specific treatment category (i.e., burn, thin, thin/burn); (3) time since treatment; and (4) study site. Of the 7 species examined, only 2 had top models that included effects of the FFS treatments, the remainder had either constant survival rates, or rates that varied only by study site. The Eastern Towhee had top models that included effects of treatment and study site, while the Red-bellied Woodpecker had top models that included effects of treatment category, time since treatment, and study site. All estimates of treatment, treatment category, and study site were statistically weak with confidence intervals including zero. The lack of clear response patterns observed in this study is likely a consequence of the variability inherent across forest types and taxonomic groups we examined. Forest managers should use our results cautiously and also be encouraged to facilitate opportunities for studies of avian nest survival as a function of fire-surrogate treatments that are regional specific, encompass longer time frames and larger spatial scales.
Severe wildfires create pulses of dead trees that influence future fuel loads, fire behavior, and... more Severe wildfires create pulses of dead trees that influence future fuel loads, fire behavior, and fire effects as they decay and deposit surface woody fuels. Harvesting fire-killed trees may reduce future surface woody fuels and related fire hazards, but the magnitude and timing of post-fire logging effects on woody fuels have not been fully assessed. To address this issue, we sampled surface woody fuels within 255 coniferous forest stands that burned with high fire severity in 68 wildfires between 1970 and 2007 in eastern Washington and Oregon, USA. Sampling included 96 stands that were logged after wildfire and 159 stands that were not logged. Most forest stands sampled were dominated by ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) or Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) prior to wildfire and historically supported low and mixed-severity fire regimes. In unlogged stands, woody fuel loads were low initially, but then increased and peaked 10-20 years following wildfire. In logged stands, small and medium diameter woody fuel loads peaked immediately after logging, whereas large diameter woody fuel loads peaked 10-20 years after wildfire. Relative to unlogged stands, post-fire logging initially increased surface woody fuel loads, increasing small diameter fuel loads by up to 2.1 Mg/ha during the first 5 years after fire and increasing medium diameter fuel loads by up to 5.8 Mg/ha during the first 7 years after fire. Logging subsequently reduced surface woody fuel loads, reducing large diameter fuel loads by up to 53 Mg/ha between 6 and 39 years after wildfire, reducing medium diameter fuel loads by up to 2.4 Mg/ha between 12 and 23 years after wildfire, and reducing small diameter fuel loads by up to 1.4 Mg/ha between 10 and 28 years after wildfire. Logging also reduced rotten, large diameter fuel loads by up to 24 Mg/ha between 20 and 39 years after wildfire. Our study suggests that post-fire logging can significantly reduce future surface woody fuel levels in forests regenerating following wildfires. The magnitude of woody fuel reduction depends, however, on the volume and sizes of wood removed, logging methods, post-logging fuel treatments, and the amount of coarse woody debris left on-site to support wildlife habitat, erosion control, and other competing management objectives.
Land managers in the western US are beginning to understand that early 20th century forests displ... more Land managers in the western US are beginning to understand that early 20th century forests displayed complex patterns of composition and structure at several different spatial scales, that there was interplay between patterns and processes within and across scales, and that these conditions have been radically altered by management. Further, they know that restoring integrity (see Definition of Terms) of these conditions has broad implications for the future sustainability (see Definition of Terms) of native species, ecosystem services, and ecological processes. Many are looking for methods to restore (see Definition of Terms) more natural landscape patterns of habitats and more naturally functioning disturbance regimes; all in the context of a warming climate. Attention is turning to evaluating whole landscapes at local and regional scales, deciphering recent changes in trajectories, and formulating landscape prescriptions that can restore ecological functionality and improve landscape resilience (see Definition of Terms). The business of landscape evaluation and developing landscape prescriptions is inherently complex, but with the advent of decision support systems, software applications are now available to conduct and document these evaluations. Here, we review several published landscape evaluation and planning applications designed with the Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) software, and present an evaluation we developed in support of a
We monitored the short-term (>3 years) response of land birds to forest restoration treatments in... more We monitored the short-term (>3 years) response of land birds to forest restoration treatments in Ponderosa pine forests located on the east slope of the North Cascade Range. Restoration treatments were designed to create stand structure and composition similar to pre-settlement forests, which were influenced by a frequent fire regime. Overall, avian community composition was changed as a result of the treatments. Cassin's Finch, Chipping Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler were found at higher densities in treated stands, whereas Mountain Chickadee, Western Tanager, and Red-breasted Nuthatch had higher densities in untreated stands. White-headed Woodpecker and Western Bluebird were only detected in the treated stands. Brown-headed Cowbird showed no response to treatments. We detected changes in the density of four of five foraging guilds in response to restoration treatments. Tree seedeaters, low understory and ground insectivores, and aerial insectivores all increased in density in treated stands. Overall, bark insectivores showed no density response to treatments. Tree foliage insectivore density was lower in treated than in untreated stands. Overall avian density, density of neotropical migrants, and density of some focal species were higher in treated stands. Monitoring should be continued to understand the longer-term (5-10 year) responses of land birds and to guide future forest restoration efforts.
The canopy bulk density metric is used to describe the fuel available for combustion in crown fir... more The canopy bulk density metric is used to describe the fuel available for combustion in crown fire models. We propose modifying the Van Wagner crown fire propagation model, used to estimate the critical rate of spread necessary to sustain active crown fire, to use foliar biomass per square metre instead of canopy bulk density as the fuel input. We tested the efficacy of our proposed model by comparing predictions of crown fire propagation with Van Wagner's original data. Our proposed model correctly predicted each instance of crown fire presented in the seminal study. We then tested the proposed model for statistical equivalence to the original Van Wagner model using two contemporary techniques to parameterize canopy bulk density. We found the proposed and original models to be statistically equivalent when canopy bulk density was parameterized using the method incorporated in the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (difference < 0.5 km h −1 , α = 0.05, n = 2626), but not when parameterized using the method of Cruz and others. Use of foliar biomass per unit area in the proposed model makes for more accurate and easily obtained fuel estimates without sacrificing the utility of the Van Wagner model.
Changes in vegetation and fuels were evaluated from measurements taken before and after fuel redu... more Changes in vegetation and fuels were evaluated from measurements taken before and after fuel reduction treatments (prescribed fire, mechanical treatments, and the combination of the two) at 12 Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) sites located in forests with a surface fire regime across the conterminous United States. To test the relative effectiveness of fuel reduction treatments and their effect on ecological parameters we used an informationtheoretic approach on a suite of 12 variables representing the overstory (basal area and live tree, sapling, and snag density), the understory (seedling density, shrub cover, and native and alien herbaceous species richness), and the most relevant fuel parameters for wildfire damage (height to live crown, total fuel bed mass, forest floor mass, and woody fuel mass).
Contemporary land managers are beginning to understand that landscapes of the early 20th century ... more Contemporary land managers are beginning to understand that landscapes of the early 20th century exhibited complex patterns of compositional and structural conditions at several different scales, and that there was interplay between patterns and processes within and across scales. Further, they understand that restoring integrity of these conditions has broad implications for the future sustainability of native species, ecosystem services, and ecological processes. Many too are hungry for methods to restore more natural landscape patterns of habitats and more naturally functioning disturbance regimes; all in the context of a warming climate. Attention is turning to evaluating whole landscapes at local and regional scales, deciphering their changes and trajectories, and formulating scaleappropriate landscape prescriptions that will methodically restore ecological functionality and improve landscape resilience. Here, we review published landscape evaluation and planning applications designed in EMDS. We show the utility of EMDS for designing transparent local landscape evaluations, and we reveal approaches that have been used thus far. We begin by briefly reviewing six projects from a global sample, and then review in greater depth four projects we have developed with our collaborators. We discuss the goals and design of each project, its methods and utilities, what worked well, what could be improved and , Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 135 related research opportunities. It is our hope that this review will provide helpful insights into how spatial decision support technologies may be used to evaluate and plan for local and perhaps larger-scale landscape restoration projects.
Canopy fire modeling is based largely upon the use of canopy bulk density, a three-2 dimensional ... more Canopy fire modeling is based largely upon the use of canopy bulk density, a three-2 dimensional crown measure, as a fuel metric. We propose and test a model that relies on a 3 two-dimensional crown measure, which is simpler to conceptualize and easier to obtain 4 remotely. We compare the model with its three-dimensional equivalent, with two 5 contemporary fuel inputs methods. We find that the alternative fuel metric provides 6 statistically equivalent modeled outputs of canopy fire propagation 2626 FIA plots. 7
We reconstructed the historical stand structure and spatial patterning of ®re-maintained ponderos... more We reconstructed the historical stand structure and spatial patterning of ®re-maintained ponderosa pine forests in the Eastern Cascades of Washington to develop and design silvicultural prescriptions to restore historical structure and composition. The structure of the dominant overstory was inferred from the size and spatial patterning of stumps, logs, snags, and live trees (>140 years of age) within 48 0.5 ha plots. Size class distributions, basal area, and spatial distribution of historical trees were compared among plant association groups representing a range of environmental conditions. Using spatial point pattern analysis, we found that signi®cant clumping at ®ne scales (0±15 m) existed historically. Spatial patterning of present day and historical trees of four comparable plots suggests that while strong clumping exists in present day stands, the largest trees today exhibit less clumping than did large historical trees. Historical SDI (260) for dominant overstories was nearly the same as threshold for serious beetle mortality (263) for ponderosa pine. Cut-tree marking was carried out within 15 m radius circles, as guided by the spatial patterning analysis, and using a sliding scale of trees per circle by quadratic mean diameter. # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. 0378-1127/99/$ ± see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. P I I : S 0 3 7 8 -1 1 2 7 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 3 7 3 -9
The restoration of natural fire regimes has emerged as a primary management objective within fire... more The restoration of natural fire regimes has emerged as a primary management objective within fire-prone forests in the interior western US. However, this objective becomes contentious when perceived to be in conflict with the conservation of rare wildlife species. For example, the integration of fire ecology in disturbance-prone forests of eastern Washington with the recovery of the Northern spotted owl has been described as a management dilemma. We intersected modeled spotted owl habitat with mapped priority fuels treatment areas in order to determine the magnitude of the potential conflict between fuels management and owl conservation. Our results show that there is considerable overlap within dry forests between high suitability spotted owl habitat and moderate-high priority fuels treatment areas (34% overlap). However, there is also considerable overlap of lower suitability spotted owl habitat with moderate-high priority fuels treatment areas (35% overlap) providing opportunities to accomplish multiple management objectives if one considers a landscape perspective. We propose that a conservation strategy for the Northern spotted owl in the eastern Cascades consider the following: emphasize landscape restoration of dry forests within which spotted owl habitat is embedded; landscapes considered for restoration need to be large enough to accomodate the effects of fire disturbances and still retain sufficient habitat to support spotted owl populations; and include adaptive management allowing for adequate monitoring and feedback for managers to make needed adjustments.
We examined the initial response of avian nest success to mechanical thinning, prescribed fire, a... more We examined the initial response of avian nest success to mechanical thinning, prescribed fire, and thinning/ prescribed fire combination treatments, designed to reduce fuel loads, at study sites throughout the continental USA as part of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) Project. We modeled the daily nest survival of ground-, shrub-, tree-, and snag-nesting bird species to test for effects of: (1) overall treatment (2) specific treatment category (i.e., burn, thin, thin/burn); (3) time since treatment; and (4) study site. Of the 7 species examined, only 2 had top models that included effects of the FFS treatments, the remainder had either constant survival rates, or rates that varied only by study site. The Eastern Towhee had top models that included effects of treatment and study site, while the Red-bellied Woodpecker had top models that included effects of treatment category, time since treatment, and study site. All estimates of treatment, treatment category, and study site were statistically weak with confidence intervals including zero. The lack of clear response patterns observed in this study is likely a consequence of the variability inherent across forest types and taxonomic groups we examined. Forest managers should use our results cautiously and also be encouraged to facilitate opportunities for studies of avian nest survival as a function of fire-surrogate treatments that are regional specific, encompass longer time frames and larger spatial scales.
Severe wildfires create pulses of dead trees that influence future fuel loads, fire behavior, and... more Severe wildfires create pulses of dead trees that influence future fuel loads, fire behavior, and fire effects as they decay and deposit surface woody fuels. Harvesting fire-killed trees may reduce future surface woody fuels and related fire hazards, but the magnitude and timing of post-fire logging effects on woody fuels have not been fully assessed. To address this issue, we sampled surface woody fuels within 255 coniferous forest stands that burned with high fire severity in 68 wildfires between 1970 and 2007 in eastern Washington and Oregon, USA. Sampling included 96 stands that were logged after wildfire and 159 stands that were not logged. Most forest stands sampled were dominated by ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) or Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) prior to wildfire and historically supported low and mixed-severity fire regimes. In unlogged stands, woody fuel loads were low initially, but then increased and peaked 10-20 years following wildfire. In logged stands, small and medium diameter woody fuel loads peaked immediately after logging, whereas large diameter woody fuel loads peaked 10-20 years after wildfire. Relative to unlogged stands, post-fire logging initially increased surface woody fuel loads, increasing small diameter fuel loads by up to 2.1 Mg/ha during the first 5 years after fire and increasing medium diameter fuel loads by up to 5.8 Mg/ha during the first 7 years after fire. Logging subsequently reduced surface woody fuel loads, reducing large diameter fuel loads by up to 53 Mg/ha between 6 and 39 years after wildfire, reducing medium diameter fuel loads by up to 2.4 Mg/ha between 12 and 23 years after wildfire, and reducing small diameter fuel loads by up to 1.4 Mg/ha between 10 and 28 years after wildfire. Logging also reduced rotten, large diameter fuel loads by up to 24 Mg/ha between 20 and 39 years after wildfire. Our study suggests that post-fire logging can significantly reduce future surface woody fuel levels in forests regenerating following wildfires. The magnitude of woody fuel reduction depends, however, on the volume and sizes of wood removed, logging methods, post-logging fuel treatments, and the amount of coarse woody debris left on-site to support wildlife habitat, erosion control, and other competing management objectives.
Land managers in the western US are beginning to understand that early 20th century forests displ... more Land managers in the western US are beginning to understand that early 20th century forests displayed complex patterns of composition and structure at several different spatial scales, that there was interplay between patterns and processes within and across scales, and that these conditions have been radically altered by management. Further, they know that restoring integrity (see Definition of Terms) of these conditions has broad implications for the future sustainability (see Definition of Terms) of native species, ecosystem services, and ecological processes. Many are looking for methods to restore (see Definition of Terms) more natural landscape patterns of habitats and more naturally functioning disturbance regimes; all in the context of a warming climate. Attention is turning to evaluating whole landscapes at local and regional scales, deciphering recent changes in trajectories, and formulating landscape prescriptions that can restore ecological functionality and improve landscape resilience (see Definition of Terms). The business of landscape evaluation and developing landscape prescriptions is inherently complex, but with the advent of decision support systems, software applications are now available to conduct and document these evaluations. Here, we review several published landscape evaluation and planning applications designed with the Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) software, and present an evaluation we developed in support of a
We monitored the short-term (>3 years) response of land birds to forest restoration treatments in... more We monitored the short-term (>3 years) response of land birds to forest restoration treatments in Ponderosa pine forests located on the east slope of the North Cascade Range. Restoration treatments were designed to create stand structure and composition similar to pre-settlement forests, which were influenced by a frequent fire regime. Overall, avian community composition was changed as a result of the treatments. Cassin's Finch, Chipping Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler were found at higher densities in treated stands, whereas Mountain Chickadee, Western Tanager, and Red-breasted Nuthatch had higher densities in untreated stands. White-headed Woodpecker and Western Bluebird were only detected in the treated stands. Brown-headed Cowbird showed no response to treatments. We detected changes in the density of four of five foraging guilds in response to restoration treatments. Tree seedeaters, low understory and ground insectivores, and aerial insectivores all increased in density in treated stands. Overall, bark insectivores showed no density response to treatments. Tree foliage insectivore density was lower in treated than in untreated stands. Overall avian density, density of neotropical migrants, and density of some focal species were higher in treated stands. Monitoring should be continued to understand the longer-term (5-10 year) responses of land birds and to guide future forest restoration efforts.
The canopy bulk density metric is used to describe the fuel available for combustion in crown fir... more The canopy bulk density metric is used to describe the fuel available for combustion in crown fire models. We propose modifying the Van Wagner crown fire propagation model, used to estimate the critical rate of spread necessary to sustain active crown fire, to use foliar biomass per square metre instead of canopy bulk density as the fuel input. We tested the efficacy of our proposed model by comparing predictions of crown fire propagation with Van Wagner's original data. Our proposed model correctly predicted each instance of crown fire presented in the seminal study. We then tested the proposed model for statistical equivalence to the original Van Wagner model using two contemporary techniques to parameterize canopy bulk density. We found the proposed and original models to be statistically equivalent when canopy bulk density was parameterized using the method incorporated in the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (difference < 0.5 km h −1 , α = 0.05, n = 2626), but not when parameterized using the method of Cruz and others. Use of foliar biomass per unit area in the proposed model makes for more accurate and easily obtained fuel estimates without sacrificing the utility of the Van Wagner model.
Changes in vegetation and fuels were evaluated from measurements taken before and after fuel redu... more Changes in vegetation and fuels were evaluated from measurements taken before and after fuel reduction treatments (prescribed fire, mechanical treatments, and the combination of the two) at 12 Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) sites located in forests with a surface fire regime across the conterminous United States. To test the relative effectiveness of fuel reduction treatments and their effect on ecological parameters we used an informationtheoretic approach on a suite of 12 variables representing the overstory (basal area and live tree, sapling, and snag density), the understory (seedling density, shrub cover, and native and alien herbaceous species richness), and the most relevant fuel parameters for wildfire damage (height to live crown, total fuel bed mass, forest floor mass, and woody fuel mass).
Contemporary land managers are beginning to understand that landscapes of the early 20th century ... more Contemporary land managers are beginning to understand that landscapes of the early 20th century exhibited complex patterns of compositional and structural conditions at several different scales, and that there was interplay between patterns and processes within and across scales. Further, they understand that restoring integrity of these conditions has broad implications for the future sustainability of native species, ecosystem services, and ecological processes. Many too are hungry for methods to restore more natural landscape patterns of habitats and more naturally functioning disturbance regimes; all in the context of a warming climate. Attention is turning to evaluating whole landscapes at local and regional scales, deciphering their changes and trajectories, and formulating scaleappropriate landscape prescriptions that will methodically restore ecological functionality and improve landscape resilience. Here, we review published landscape evaluation and planning applications designed in EMDS. We show the utility of EMDS for designing transparent local landscape evaluations, and we reveal approaches that have been used thus far. We begin by briefly reviewing six projects from a global sample, and then review in greater depth four projects we have developed with our collaborators. We discuss the goals and design of each project, its methods and utilities, what worked well, what could be improved and , Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 135 related research opportunities. It is our hope that this review will provide helpful insights into how spatial decision support technologies may be used to evaluate and plan for local and perhaps larger-scale landscape restoration projects.
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Papers by Richy Harrod