Scaling rules for fire regimes Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Falk, Donald Albert Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 12:10:25 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/290135 NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI SCALING RULES FOR FIRE REGIMES by Donald Albert Falk Copyright © Donald Albert Falk 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2004 UMI Number: 3158089 Copyright 2004 by Falk, Donald Albert All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3158089 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 The University of Arizona ® Graduate College As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Donald Albert Falk entitled Scaling rules for fire regimes and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy [Q. jo'j Swetnam ll • "I Robi^chaux , .4^ D. Lawrence Venable S!3 / /Q W. V(allace Covington\ ^ ^h(lo^ Lisa J. Graumlich Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ll Dissertation Director; date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is often said, and in my case quite literally true, that science is a collective enterprise. Although the name on this dissertation is mine, I owe huge debts of gratitude to many people who made my work possible, stimulating, and enjoyable. If anything, there are so many people who have contributed to my research that it is a challenge to acknowledge everyone adequately. If the fruits of our collaboration are in any way satisfying to them, then I will have done my job. First, I thank my dissertation Committee, whose collective knowledge and experience was a source of constant inspiration and insight. My primary mentor and Co- Chair, Tom Swetnam, has inspired and guided this research from its inception, while allowing me plenty of running room to explore and develop my ideas, even when there was little reason to expect results. Rob Robichaux was an active and engaged Committee Co-Chair, whose deep insights and rigorous thinking I came to rely on during our many discussions. I was also fortunate to have three other outstanding scientists and teachers as Committee members: Larry Venable, Wally Covington, and Lisa Graumlich. Each of them contributed uniquely and significantly to my work, and was always willing to be available to discuss fine points as well as basic concepts. The influence of all of these people can be seen throughout this dissertation, and to all of them, a thousand thanks. I have stood on the shoulders of many other giants during the process of developing this research. Chris Baisan and Rex Adams were my first teachers on dendrochronology, and their encyclopedic knowledge of forest ecology has been a constant resource. Craig Allen (USGS-Biological Resources Division, Jemez Mountains Field Station) generously shared his encyclopedic knowledge of the ecology and history of the Jemez Mountains and ecosystems of southwestern North America, and has remained a valued advisor and friend. Emily Heyerdahl (USDA Forest Service, Fire Sciences Laboratory) and Peter White (University of North Carolina) hosted me during extended internships supported by the National Science Foundation; it was during these times (and our many subsequent interactions) that nascent ideas were transformed into sharper and testable realities. Pete Brown (Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research) and Don McKenzie (USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station) have also been instrumental in the development of my thinking, and always willing to share their own ideas and deep ecological understanding and passion. More recently, Brian Enquist and Bob Steidl (University of Arizona) have spent many hours helping me to push my work into new areas and new levels of rigor; I am particularly grateful to them for their role in expanding the limits of my thinking. All of these people have given generously of their time and expertise with no expectation of return other than their love of science and forests, and thus for them my appreciation is particularly deep. I have had the great fortune to associate with a number of other outstanding minds in ecology, who served as teachers, advisors, and colleagues. Special thanks to Jim Agee, Julio Betancourt, Carl Edminster, Hal Fritts, Pete Fule, Travis Huxman, Merrill Kaufmann, Ann Lynch, Guy McPherson, Dave Meko, Connie Millar, Carol Miller, Penny Morgan, Este Muldavin, Mike Rosenzweig, Melissa Savage, Paul Sheppard, Carl 5 Skinner, Nate Stephenson, Ramzi Touchan, Dean Urban, and Ed Wilson for their many generous contributions of time and ideas. I wish to acknowledge Henri Grissino-Mayer (University of Tennessee) particularly, for his work in developing and constantly improving the fire history analysis software that was essential to my dissertation, as it is to so much other contemporary work in the field. All of these people contributed significantly to my research, and continue to do so. During my time at the University of Arizona I had the privilege of learning alongside a truly remarkable group of emerging scientists, my fellow graduate students in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. These were my colleagues and fiiends during my dissertation, and all are now moving on to establish their own records as outstanding scientists. Many thanks and good wishes always to an impressively talented cohort: Linah Ababneh, Jeff Balmat, Margaret Evans, Erica Bigio, Christine Hallman, Pepe Iniquez, Mark Kaib, Kurt Kipfinueller, Ellis Margolis, Brian McGill, Kiyomi Morino, Merrick Richmond, Matt Rollins, Dan Ryerson, and Will Turner, with special appreciation to Cal Farris for valued collaboration and collegiality. My dissertation research was conducted on land managed by the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest. I have been fortunate to have the cooperation and assistance of many District staff, notably District Ranger John Peterson, fire staff Phil Neff, Marie DeGray Rodriguez, and Lance Elmore, and more recently silviculturist Andy Vigil. Kay Beeley (Bandelier National Monument) went out of her way to help us stay oriented on the ground with GPS and technical assistance, and over the years also contributed her own time and knowledge in the field. I am gratefixl for the collaboration and support of these people and organizations throughout my dissertation research, which continues as we shift into a phase of active ecological restoration. A field-based study such as this one relies on many people willing to subject themselves to the discomfort, hard work, and occasional magnificence of ecological field work. Indeed, so many people have helped out in the field that it is challenging to name them all. Foremost has been Faith Crosby (Santa Fe, NM), who took on extra responsibilities early in the project simply out of her love of the forest and her determination to see it better understood and managed. Soo-hyun Baek signed on for a few weeks of summer field work and ended up a vital part of our lab - creating, developing and managing databases and guiding us through our first summer of electronic field data collection. James Riser taught me field methods in fire history with the humor, persistence, intelligence, and insight that is familiar to anyone who knows him. Among the other bright stars in the field and laboratory have been Hanna Coy, Ari Fitzwater, and Laura Marshall, all of who stayed on with the project to make key contributions