Wildland Fire in Ecosystems Effects of Fire on Flora
General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-42-volume 2
December 2000
Abstract
Brown, James K.; Smith, Jane Kapler, eds. 2000. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on flora. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 2. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 257 p.
This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on flora and fuels can assist land managers with ecosystem and fire management planning and in their efforts to inform others about the ecological role of fire. Chapter topics include fire regime classification, autecological effects of fire, fire regime characteristics and postfire plant community developments in ecosystems throughout the United States and Canada, global climate change, ecological principles of fire regimes, and practical considerations for managing fire in an ecosytem context.
Keywords: ecosystem, fire effects, fire management, fire regime, fire severity, fuels, habitat, plant response, plants, succession, vegetation.
Editors
James K. Brown, Research Forester, Systems for Environmental Management, Missoula, MT 59802 (formerly with Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service).
Jane Kapler Smith, Ecologist, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807.
Authors
R. James Ansley, Plant Physiologist, Texas A&M University System, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Vernon, TX 76385
Stephen F. Arno, Research Forester (Emeritus), Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807
Brent L. Brock, Research Associate, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
Patrick H. Brose, Research Forester, Northeastern Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Irvine, PA 16329
James K. Brown, Research Forester, Systems for Environmental Management, Missoula, MT 59802 (formerly with Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service)
Luc C. Duchesne, Research Scientist, Canadian Forestry Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste Marie, ON P6A 5M7
James B. Grace, Research Ecologist, National Wetlands Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lafayette, LA 70506
Gerald J. Gottfried, Research Forester, Southwest Forest Sciences Complex, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Sally M. Haase, Research Forester, Riverside Forest Fire Laboratory, Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507
Michael G. Harrington, Research Forester, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807
Brad C. Hawkes, Fire Research Officer, Canadian Forestry Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5
Greg A. Hoch, Graduate Research Assistant, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
Melanie Miller, Fire Ecologist, Bureau of Land Management, National Office of Fire and Aviation, Boise, ID 83705
Ronald L. Myers, Director of National Fire Management Program, The Nature Conservancy, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL 32312
Marcia G. Narog, Ecologist, Riverside Forest Fire Laboratory, Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507
William A. Patterson III, Professor, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
Timothy E. Paysen, Research Forester, Riverside Forest Fire Laboratory, Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507
Kevin C. Ryan, Project Leader of Fire Effects Unit, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807
Stephen S. Sackett, Research Forester (Emeritus), Riverside Forest Fire Laboratory, Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507
Dale D. Wade, Research Forester, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Southern Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Athens, GA 30602
Ruth C. Wilson, Professor of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407
Cover photo—Arnica and fireweed flowers, Bob Marshall Wilderness, MT, 2 years after crown fire. Photo by Melanie Miller.
Preface
In 1978, a national workshop on fire effects in Denver, Colorado, provided the impetus for the “Effects of Wildland Fire on Ecosystems” series. Recognizing that knowledge of fire was needed for land management planning, state-of-the-knowledge reviews were produced that became known as the “Rainbow Series.” The series consisted of six publications, each with a different colored cover, describing the effects of fire on soil, water, air, flora, fauna, and fuels.
The Rainbow Series proved popular in providing fire effects information for professionals, students, and others. Printed supplies eventually ran out, but knowledge of fire effects continued to grow. To meet the continuing demand for summaries of fire effects knowledge, the interagency National Wildfire Coordinating Group asked Forest Service research leaders to update and revise the series. To fulfill this request, a meeting for organizing the revision was held January 4-6, 1993, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The series name was then changed to “The Rainbow Series.” The five volume series covers air, soil and water, fauna, flora and fuels, and cultural resources.
The Rainbow Series emphasizes principles and processes rather than serving as a summary of all that is known. The five volumes, taken together, provide a wealth of information and examples to advance understanding of basic concepts regarding fire effects in the United States and Canada. As conceptual background, they provide technical support to fire and resource managers for carrying out interdisciplinary planning, which is essential to managing
wildlands in an ecosystem context. Planners and managers will find the series helpful in many aspects of ecosystem-based management, but they will also need to seek out and synthesize more detailed information to resolve specific management questions.
– The Authors
October 2000
Acknowledgments
The Rainbow Series was completed under the sponsorship of the Joint Fire Sciences Program, a cooperative fire science effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Geological Survey. We thank Marcia Patton-Mallory and Louise Kingsbury for persistence and support.
The authors wish to thank the following individuals for their suggestions, information, and assistance that led to substantial technical and editorial improvements in the manuscript: Stephen Arno, Andrew Applejohn, David Bunnell, Tammy Charron, Lisa Clark, Scott Collins, Bonni Corcoran, Luc Duchesne, Colin Hardy, Mick Harrington, Janet Howard, Bill Leenhouts, Jim Menakis, Melanie Miller, Penelope Morgan, Rob McAlpine, Carmen Mueller-Rowat, Ron Myers, Phil Omi, Pat Outcalt, Tim Paysen, Kevin Ryan, Dennis Simmerman, Jim Snyder, Peter
Stickney, Ann Murray Strome, Fred Swanson, David VanLear, Dale Wade, Phil Weatherspoon, Mike Weber, and John Zasada.
