Influence of bark beetle-caused mortality on fuel loadings and crown fire hazard in southwestern ponderosa pine stands

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Hoffman, Chad M. Mcmillin, Joel D. Sieg, Carolyn Hull Fulé, Peter Z.
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	cHAD M. HoffMAn1 Joel D. McMillin2 cArolyn Hull sieg3 Peter Z. fulé4 Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) are important biotic agents of conifer mortality in forests of western North America (Furniss and Carolin 1977) and play an important role in the disturbance ecology of these ecosystems (Fettig and others 2007). Bark beetle outbreaks affect subsequent fire behavior in part by influencing the spatial distribution and state of fuels [see review by Jenkins and others (2008)]. Crown fire hazard following a bark beetle outbreak likely varies as a function of time (Romme and others 2006) with increased risk of crown fire initiation immediately following outbreak, reduced crown fire spread and initiation after needle drop, and increased crown fire initiation and spread after snags fall. There is a paucity of “scientifically and statistically sound studies” on this topic; therefore, a better understanding of the fate of fuels after bark beetle outbreaks is needed to develop management options related to treating fuels (Negrón and others 2008). Furthermore, because rates of needle drop, tree fall, and surface fuel decomposition vary across elevation gradients and forest types (Cahill 1977, Jenkins and others 2008), it is important to quantify relationships between bark beetle outbreaks and potential fire behavior across this variability. In contrast to higher-elevation forest types, relationships between bark beetle outbreaks, fuel loading, and fire behavior have not been reported for ponderosa pine forests (Jenkins and others 2008).
Starting Page	241
Ending Page	246
Page Count	6
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Volume Number	167
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://www.srs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs167/gtr_srs167_241.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article