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Fire Ecology [Jump to publications]

Because infrequent, large disturbances, such as fire, cause significant impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and provide a challenge for resource management planning, lab biologists are studying fire ecology at the landscape to regional scale. Currently, most fire effects data are from small-scale studies (a few hectares or less) that attempt to predict vegetation response at large scales. Extrapolating small-scale data to large-scale leaves room for considerable error, and resource managers have few reliable data to which they can refer when making decisions. The FAME Lab and cooperators from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station are developing approaches that will bridge this gap by: (1) identifying methods for scaling up fire effects information while minimizing error, and (2) combining fire modeling techniques with GIS and a decision support system to provide a planning tool for resource management. These new approaches will allow resource managers to use straightforward analytical tools for predicting vegetation and fuel transitions caused by fire and climate on public lands.

The role of fire disturbance at large scales has been investigated through various studies. Changes in fire frequency and size may be particularly critical in determining the abundance and distribution of vegetation in an altered climate during the next century. Although there is considerable literature on fire effects, most of it was collected at a small scale. FAME Lab biologists have identified the problems associated with "scaling up" ecological data (e.g., from a forest stand to a larger landscape) for predicting fire effects on vegetation, especially in the context of large- scale models. An approach was developed for modeling transitions between vegetation types for increased fire frequencies at large spatial scales. This technique is providing an important component for state-of-the-art simulation models (e.g., MAPSS) that predict the impacts of climate change on vegetation at the continental scale. Techniques are also being developed to predict vegetation transitions over time in the context of an operational planning model and GIS database for applications in resource management. This database combines the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Managment Project GIS coverages with a georefereced fire history database developed by Heyerdahl et al. (1995).
Fire Ecology Publications

McKenzie, D., S.M. O’Neill, N. Larkin, and R.A. Norheim. 2005. Integrating models to predict regional haze from wildland fire. Ecological Modelling, in review.

McKenzie, D., A.E. Hessl, and Lara-Karena B. Kellogg. 2005. Using neutral models to identify constraints on low-severity fire regimes. Landscape Ecology, in press.

Peterson, D.L., M.C. Johnson, J.K. Agee, T.B. Jain, D. McKenzie, and E.D. Reinhardt. 2005. Forest structure and fire hazard in dry forests of the western United States. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-628. Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR.

McKenzie, D., Z.M. Gedalof, D.L. Peterson, and P. Mote. 2004. Climatic change, wildfire, and conservation. Conservation Biology 18:890-902.

McKenzie, D. 2004. La historia del fuego y su relación con el clima. Chapter 1 in: L. Villers-Ruiz and J López-Blanco, eds. Incendios forestales en México: métodos de evaluación. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, DF.

McKenzie, D., S. Prichard, A.E. Hessl, and D.L. Peterson. 2004. Empirical approaches to modelling wildland fire in the Pacific Northwest: methods and applications to landscape simulations. Chapter 7 in A.J. Perera, L. Buse, and M.G. Weber, eds., Emulating Natural Forest Landscape Disturbances. Columbia University Press, New York, NY.

Hessl, A.E., D. McKenzie, and R. Schellhaas. 2004. Drought and Pacific Decadal Oscillation linked to fire occurrence in the inland Pacific Northwest. Ecological Applications 14:425-442.

McKenzie, D., and A.E. Hessl. 2003. A neutral model of low-severity fire regimes. IN Proceedings of the 2002 Fire Conference, USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PSW-XXX. (in press).

McKenzie, D., D.L. Peterson, and J.K. Agee. 2000. Fire frequency in the Columbia River Basin: building regional models from fire history data.  Ecological Applications 10: 1497-1516.

Peterson, D.L., S.J. Prichard, and D. McKenzie. 2000. Disturbance in Mountain Forests. In Price, M., ed. Forests in Sustainable Mountain Development: a State-of-Knowledge Report for 2000. CAB International, Oxford, England. Pages 51-59.

McKenzie, D., D.L. Peterson, and J.K. Agee. 2000. Spatial variation in fire frequency in the Columbia River Basin. Proceedings of the Joint Fire Sciences Conference, Boise, ID.

Schmoldt, D.L., D.L. Peterson, R.E. Keane, J.M. Lenihan, D. McKenzie, D.R. Weiss, and D.V. Sandberg. 1999. Assessing the effects of fire disturbance on ecosystems : a scientific agenda for research and management.  USDA Forest Service Paper PNW-GTR-455. Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR.

McKenzie, D. 1998. Fire, vegetation, and scale: toward optimal models for the Pacific Northwest. Northwest Science 72: 49-65.

Schmoldt, D.L. and D.L. Peterson. 1997. Using the AHP in a workshop setting to elicit and prioritize fire research needs. In Proceedings of the ASPRS/ACSM/RT97 Conference. American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, Bethesda, MD.

McKenzie, D., D.L. Peterson, and E. Alvarado. 1996. Extrapolation problems in modeling fire effects at large spatial scales: a review. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 6(4):165-76.

McKenzie, D., D.L. Peterson, and E. Alvarado. 1996. Predicting the effect of fire on large-scale vegetation patterns in North America. USDA Forest Service Research Paper PNW-489. Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR.

Little, R.L., D.L. Peterson, and L.L. Conquest. 1994. Regeneration of subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) following fire: effects of climate and other factors. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 24:934-944.

Peterson, D.L., S.S. Sackett, L.J. Robinson, and S.K. Haase. 1994. The effects of repeated prescribed burning on Pinus ponderosa growth. International Journal of Wildland Fire 4:239-247.

Peterson, D.L, M.J. Arbaugh, G.H. Pollock, and L.J. Robinson. 1991. Postfire growth of Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus contorta in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire 1:63-71.

Peterson, D.L. and M.J. Arbaugh. 1989. Estimating postfire survival of Douglas-fir in the Cascade Range. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 19:530-533.

Potts, D.F., D.L. Peterson, and H.R. Zuuring. 1989. Estimating postfire water production in the Pacific Northwest. USDA Forest Service Research Paper PSW-197. Pacific Southwest Research Station, Berkeley, CA.

Ryan, K.C., D.L. Peterson, and E.D. Reinhardt. 1988. Modeling long-term fire-caused mortality in Douglas-fir. Forest Science 34:190-199.

Peterson, D.L. and M.J. Arbaugh. 1986. Postfire survival in Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine: comparing the effects of crown and bole damage. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 16:1175-1179.

Peterson, D.L. and K.C. Ryan. 1986. Modeling postfire conifer mortality for long-range planning. Environmental Management 10:797-808.

Peterson, D.L. 1985. Evaluating the effects of air pollution and fire on tree growth by tree ring analysis. Pages 124-131 in L.R. Donoghue and R.E. Martin, eds., Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Fire and Forest Meteorology, Detroit, MI, Society of American Foresters, Bethesda, MD.

Peterson, D.L. and P.J. Flowers. 1984. Estimating postfire changes in production and value of northern Rocky Mountain-Intermountain rangelands. USDA Forest Service Research Paper PSW-173. Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Berkeley, CA.

Peterson, D.L. 1983. Estimating postfire timber damage with a simulation model. Pages 159-162 in Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of Fire and Forest Meteorology, Fort Collins, CO. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA.

Peterson, D.L. 1983. Predicting fire-caused mortality in four northern Rocky Mountain conifers. Pages 276-280 in Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters National Convention, Portland, OR. Society of American Foresters, Bethesda, MD.
Fire and Mountain Ecology Lab   College of Forest Resources   University of Washington   Seattle WA   98195-2100
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