What is a biological legacy? give examples.
Organic material left behind after a major disturbance.
- Organisms
- Organic matter
- Structure (Physical arrangement of structural aspects of ecosystem)
- Patterns (Pattern of disaster can leave some areas undamaged)
What are the 3 types of Fires
- Ground fire
- Surface fire
- Crown fire
Give some characteristics of a ground fire
- Slow
- Consume OM
- Flames absent or small
Give some characteristics of a surface fire
- Slow to moderate speed
- Consumes twigs, branches, CWD on FF
- Flames 30cm to several meters
Give some characteristics of a crown fire
- Fast moving, up to 200m/min
- Consume crown layer fuels
- Usually happens with surface fire but can be intermittent, active or independent
- Flames rise up to 200m
Fires impact on a site is largely dependent on…
- Frontal fire intensity
- Residence time (How long did the fire burn in a given area)
Fires effect on a landscape are mainly due to…
- Fire Size
- Fire Frequency
What BGCZ are high severity fires likely to occur and how often?
- Boreal forests
- Lodgepole pine
- CDF
- ESSF
- 60-1000 year intervals
Which BGCZ are likely to experience low severity fires and how often?
- PP and IDF
- 5-25 year intervals
What are the 4 fire regimes? explain each briefly
- Fire Independent (fire free or rare/ alpine, wetlands)
- Fire Dependent (Fire required, common/ grasslands, Pl)
- Fire Initiated (Infrequent, catastrophic/ Larch, CDF, CwHw)
- Fire Maintained (Frequent, light intensity/ PP, IDF)
Why is natural disturbance important to silviculture?
It provides foresters with a model to be used in ecosystem based management. Monitoring areas post disturbance gives an accurate representation of the successional stages that take place.
Describe fire independent regime and give an example of an ecosystem that it takes place in.
Fire free or very rare.
-Occurs in AT or wetland areas
What factors dictate the effects of fire at the landscape level?
Fire size
Fire Frequency
Describe Fire dependent regime and give an ecosystem example
Fires common (required) -Grasslands and Lodgepole pine forests
Describe the fire initiated regime and give an ecosystem example
Infrequent (catstrophic or stand initiating)
-Lw, Coastal Douglas Fir, CedarHemlock
Describe the fire maintained regime and give an ecosystem example
Frequent, low intensity fires
-PP, IDF
