Historical high-severity fire patches in mixed-conifer forests
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Volume
45
Issue
11
Publisher
NRC Research Press
Publication Date
10-2-2017
First Page
1587
Last Page
1596
Abstract
Two ends of the fire regime spectrum are a frequent low-intensity fire regime and an infrequent high-intensity fire regime, but intermediate fire regimes combine high- and low-severity fire over space and time. We used fire-scar and tree-age data to reconstruct fire regime attributes of mixed-conifer and aspen forests in the North Rim area of Grand Canyon National Park, with a goal of estimating patch sizes of historical high-severity fire and comparing them with modern patch sizes. We used three methods based on (i) aspen groves, (ii) even-aged stands, and (iii) inverse distance weighting, to estimate occurrence and patch sizes of historical high-severity fire. Evidence of high-severity fire was common in the 1800s, and high-severity fire years were associated with drought. High-severity fire patch sizes likely ranged from 10−1 to 102 ha. However, the forest is quite young, and we cannot rule out a historical large high-severity fire that could have reinitiated much of the 1400 ha study area. Fire scars, which are indicative of low-severity fire, were also common. Historical fire was likely heterogeneous across the landscape. Maintaining heterogeneity of fire severity, size, and frequency would promote heterogeneity of forest structure and composition and resilience to future disturbances.
Recommended Citation
Yocom Kent, L.L., P.Z. Fulé, W.A. Bunn, and E.G. Gdula. 2015. Historical high-severity fire patches in mixed-conifer forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 45(11): 1587-1596.
