Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Effects of Fire on Flora
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United States Department of Agriculture Wildland Fire in Forest Service Rocky Mountain Ecosystems Research Station General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-42- volume 2 Effects of Fire on Flora 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 The volumes in “The Rainbow Series” will be published from 2000 through 2001. To order, check the box or boxes below, fill in the address form, and send to the mailing address listed below. Or send your order and your address in mailing label form to one of the other listed media. Your order(s) will be filled as the volumes are published. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 1. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on fauna. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 2. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on flora. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 3. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on cultural resources and archeology. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 4. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on soil and water. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 5. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on air. Send to: ________________________________________________________________________________ Name ________________________________________________________________________________ Address Fort Collins Service Center Telephone (970) 498-1392 FAX (970) 498-1396 E-mail rschneider/[email protected] Web site http://www.fs.fed.us/rm Mailing Address Publications Distribution Rocky Mountain Research Station 240 W. Prospect Road Fort Collins, CO 80526-2098 Wildland Fire in Ecosystems Effects of Fire on Flora Editors James K. Brown, Research Forester, Systems for Environmen- tal Management, Missoula, MT 59802 (formerly with Fire Sci- ences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. De- partment 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 Brad C. Hawkes, Fire Research Officer, Canadian Forestry System, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Vernon, TX Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5 76385 Greg A. Hoch, Graduate Research Assistant, Division of Stephen F. Arno, Research Forester (Emeritus), Fire Sci- Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506 ences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Melanie Miller, Fire Ecologist, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807 National Office of Fire and Aviation, Boise, ID 83705 Brent L. Brock, Research Associate, Division of Biology, Ronald L. Myers, Director of National Fire Management Pro- Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506 gram, The Nature Conservancy, Tall Timbers Research Sta- Patrick H. Brose, Research Forester, Northeastern Research tion, Tallahassee, FL 32312 Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Irvine, Marcia G. Narog, Ecologist, Riverside Forest Fire Laboratory, PA 16329 Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Department of Agri- James K. Brown, Research Forester, Systems for Environ- culture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507 mental Management, Missoula, MT 59802 (formerly with Fire William A. Patterson III, Professor, Department of Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. and Wildlife Management, University of Massachusetts, Department of Agriculture, Forest Service) Amherst, MA 01003 Luc C. Duchesne, Research Scientist, Canadian Forestry Timothy E. Paysen, Research Forester, Riverside Forest Fire Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste Marie, ON P6A Laboratory, Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Depart- 5M7 ment of Agriculture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507 James B. Grace, Research Ecologist, National Wetlands Kevin C. Ryan, Project Leader of Fire Effects Unit, Fire Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lafayette, LA 70506 Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Gerald J. Gottfried, Research Forester, Southwest Forest Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807 Sciences Complex, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Stephen S. Sackett, Research Forester (Emeritus), Riverside Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Forest Fire Laboratory, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Sally M. Haase, Research Forester, Riverside Forest Fire U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA Laboratory, Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Depart- 92507 ment of Agriculture, Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507 Dale D. Wade, Research Forester, Forestry Sciences Labora- Michael G. Harrington, Research Forester, Fire Sciences tory, Southern Research Station, U.S. Department of Agricul- Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Depart- ture, Forest Service, Athens, GA 30602 ment of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807 Ruth C. Wilson, Professor of Biology, California State Univer- sity, 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. ii Contents________________________________________________ Page Page Summary ........................................................................... vi Chapter 4: Fire in Eastern Ecosystems ........................ 53 by Dale D. Wade, Brent L. Brock, Patrick H. Brose, Chapter 1: Introduction and Fire Regimes ..................... 1 James B. Grace, Greg A. Hoch, and William A. by James K. Brown Patterson III Flora and Fuel Volume ........................................................ 2 Understory Fire Regimes .................................................