The Rim Fire

Maintaining the existing Callitris stands in the unburnt area of Mount Pilot may be used to prevent potential forest fires

The Great Idaho Fire of 1910, however, burned some three million acres and killed at least 85 people, and the subsequent political outcry led the Forest Service to focus increasingly not just on timber harvesting but also on wildfire suppression. Yet the early proponents of scientific forestry didn’t properly understand the role of fires in woodland ecology. Forest fires are a natural occurrence and serve an important function in maintaining the health of western forests. Shade-intolerant trees, such as ponderosa pines, lodgepole pines, and giant sequoias, require periodic fires to clear areas in which they can regenerate, and once fires were suppressed, these trees were invaded by species such as the Douglas fir. (Lodgepole pines actually require fires to propagate their seeds.)

To make matters worse California is in the middle of a devastating drought, causing many forest fires. But these trees remain unfazed, as a matter of fact fire is an innate part of this ecosystems, many animals depend on fires for survival like the black-backed woodpecker who their main source of food are tree inhabiting beetles. When the bark is chard this helps the woodpecker find its food easier. Unlike a lot of other trees sequoias need fire to reproduce. The fire also does 3 things for the sequoias: it heats up and opens the cones releasing seeds, second,the fire makes and opening in the canopy of the trees to allow sunlight to shine through, and finally, the fire gives the sequoias seeds a nutrient rich place to grow (Yosemite, 2017). When winter comes around the ice pack covers the seeds allowing the seeds to be in the right condition to start the process of germination. In the episode they talk to a forest ecologist that works for the U.S geological survey, his job is to monitor the trees response to the drought and in recent years by recording the water content in the clippings they have found that the water content is decreasing. Which is a warning sign that the tree might be dying or under stress from the drought. When a sequoia is healthy is clippings are green and have a higher water content, but since the water content is decreasing that the amount of water to keep the cells at an

The Pinus palustris, or more commonly referred to as longleaf pine trees, were once the dominant tree type in the Southeastern United States and has been further exterminated at about 97% of its original range (Frost 1995). When you think of fire, you typically will think of destruction, but with the right fire regime in certain ecosystems it can actually help the area become more successful. Due to the degradation of the longleaf pine forests, prescribed burning has become a necessary factor to keep the forests successful (Lavoie et al., 2014). The biodiversity of the longleaf pin ecosystem depends on a lot of rainfall, porous, sandy soils, and a cycle of fires (Greenberg, 2002). Longleaf pine trees have a tolerance of and ability to regenerate in a high frequency fire regime (Loudermilk et al., 2011). Once longleaf pines grow above the height most fires tend to be, they have a high survival chance where as if they were in the shrub state, then they would be burned from being exposed and lack of structure maturity. Most longleaf pines will grow in an area where there are also hardwoods growing

The Appalachians span over a distance of 1,600 miles, ranging across 14 states, from Newfoundland in the North, to Alabama in the South. The Appalachians are the oldest chain of mountains on the North American continent. With forest, comes forest fires, some natural and some prescribed by humans. In order to reduce the calamitous damage caused by natural wildfires, the technique of prescribed fires is used. This is done by diminishing the amounts of trees, shrubs, and brush in the intended area. By doing this, new native plant growth is encouraged and it helps maintain some plant and animal species that depend on the periodic fires. With this man made force comes numerous effects on vegetation, wildlife, and the human impact.

As the Premier of Ontario, I have finally made the decision about the forests of Temagami. By going through everybody’s needs and wants, I have decided that not the old growth pine forests but instead, the regular forest trees are the ones that are going to be cut down for Temagami’s economy. Since cutting down no trees is not an option, the best choice left is to let our old growth trees live. Old growth forests are home to more than half of the world’s red and white pine trees. Only a tiny fraction of these forests is left and if we keep on cutting them down, we are going to lose them all. Those trees are already suffering because of the wild weather conditions in that region. Also, this way, we can leave the regular forests for the loggers

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (n.d.). U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service :: Fire Management - Wildland Urban Interface. Retrieved May 29, 2016, from https://www.fws.gov/fire/living_with_fire/wildland_urban_interface.shtml

Sites were constructed at Robertson fields (41°39'32.1"N 80°08'56.0"W) at Allegheny College and the Ernst Trail (41°36'55.5"N 80°09'53.0"W) in the town of Meadville, Bousson Environmental Research Reserve (41°35'48.9"N 80°02'35.9"W) in the town of Guys Mills, and the Erie National Wildlife Refuge (41°37'31.1"N 79°57'38.3"W) in Randolph Township. Each location was sampled twice throughout the study period. The Ernst trail and Boussoun Environmental Research Reserve sites were both located using a road as the edge. The Roberston fields and Erie National Wildlife sites were both located off fields of varying cover and use. At each location, there were two sites of were transects were set up. Transects would contain two 50 x 5 meter sections, the first running parallel to the forest edge and the second located 50 meters into the forest from the far edge of the first (figure). The inner transect was located at a minimum distance of 70m from another edge. In each transect, two 1x1 meter squares were placed. In this square forest type, percent canopy cover, soil temperature and soil moisture. Percent canopy cover is calculated by laying a 12.7 x 12.7 centimeter grid on the ground and counting the number of shaded squares, then multiplying that number by four to determine a percentage. Soil moisture was calculated by taking a sample of leafs and placing them in a paper bag and weighing them. Then the

Ecosystems, ever heard of what word? Ever wonder what it is or ever wondered how we are living in one? Ecosystems are a living community of organisms along with their physical environment, functioning as a unit, and for this unit to function there is a need for biodiversity of wildlife including plants and animals. Biodiversity means a variety of living organisms. These ecosystems may be like forests, prairies and oceans as well as many others. Even though they function as a unit, they may be interrupted by disaster, such as tornadoes, floods, wildfires and pollution. For this topic though, it is going to be mainly about forest wildfires, especially in California. Wildfires in California forests can affect animals and plant life. This change

This is a large concern for Yosemite National Park. Scientists have noticed in Yosemite National Park that the population of trees with large diameters has decreased in the past century. The winters have been producing less snow fall which melts and gives the trees water. Large diameter trees are more fire resistant compared to the small diameter trees. Trees with larger diameters take more time for fire to burn through. The large diameter trees were the source of seeds for regrowth in a forest since they had a higher chance of surviving the fire. When Yosemite has wildfires from now on, the more trees will be lost, will take longer to grow back the forest, and will have a loss of habit for many species (United States Geological Survey, 2009). As California is in a drought due to the warming, Yosemite is affected by the drought. The water falls there are still flowing from the snow, but the rivers and lakes in the area are decreasing. Before summer of 2015, the water level of the lake was just below three feet (AFP,

The first stop was 25 years of age, with the white ash as a dominant species. This stand had a well-developed understory, with many young seedlings and saplings. Stop number 2 was 75 years old and was dominant with sugar maple. This stop had less undergrowth than stop 1 and had older, more mature trees. Finally, stop 3 was 75-125 years of age and was also dominant in sugar maple. This stop had the least amount of understory compared to the other stops. It had the oldest trees, which were even-aged. In order to compare the stands, the stems per acre, total basal area, average diameter at breast height (DBH) and relative stand density were observed for each stand.

Forests are an irreplaceable part of Earths ecosystem. Every forest is unique due to flora and fauna which houses it. They are homes for many species from simple bacteria to big carnivore animals. Forests absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen and is a great place for recreation and biological studies. Temperate forest of northeast United States is an example of rich diversity and harmony of plants and animals. Unfortunately, constant growing of human population and demand for more land for agriculture and housing leads to deforestation and destroying of the natural habitats. Deforestation and Agriculture, are an two of many factors which have negative impact on temperate forest in northeast United States.

California is known for its big, tall, and beautiful forests. Those massive forests provide “ a wide variety of goods and services to the state of California and the world. These services include habitat for numerous plant and animal species, carbon storage for climate change mitigation, water provisioning for a myriad of industries and communities, timber for wood products, and ecotourism” (Asner, G. et. al, 2015, pg. 1). Because of the high air temperature and low precipitations, the 2012 to 2015 drought has killed the trees of the forest and that is not good because the goods and services to the state will be cut low.

It is so horrible to see all of that timber go to waste. Our society depends on timber a lot and we need so much of it to produce so many useful goods. What would happen if we did not have any timber to make homes or proved some type of shelter? We would be lost and have no where to go. Prescribed burns can prevent that great loss of timber and save a lot of trees. Although one purpose of controlled burns is to curve paths for huge forest fires, they are also used to freshen up the area. If an area of trees is left untreated from prescribed burns, the sands are expected to decline in growth (Mitchell 1). Also, to ensure a healthy forest,

Anthropogenic climate change is causing hotter and drier conditions across the southwest United States. Decades of fire suppression campaigns have led to an accumulation of ladder fuels within forests across this region. Both of these factors are now contributing to more frequent and more extreme fires in recent years. These catastrophic fires cause significant changes to ground cover along stream corridors. The loss of ground cover significantly increases the amount of sediment entering watersheds, which can alter both temperature and dissolved oxygen levels throughout the system. The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in water temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration associated with wildfire, how these changes can be controlled, how effective these controls are, and what more can be done.