Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard
Restoration of pine forests has become a priority for managers who are beginning to embrace ideas of highly heterogeneous forest structures that potentially encourages high levels of regeneration. This study utilizes stem-mapped stands to assess how simulated regeneration timing and magnitude influe...
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doaj-d2d8c2b67d074632b13a46e45862f1c32020-11-24T22:54:31ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072016-07-017713710.3390/f7070137f7070137Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire HazardWade T. Tinkham0Chad M. Hoffman1Seth A. Ex2Michael A. Battaglia3Jarred D. Saralecos4Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80524-1472, USADepartment of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80524-1472, USADepartment of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80524-1472, USARocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USADepartment of Forest Management, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USARestoration of pine forests has become a priority for managers who are beginning to embrace ideas of highly heterogeneous forest structures that potentially encourages high levels of regeneration. This study utilizes stem-mapped stands to assess how simulated regeneration timing and magnitude influence longevity of reduced fire behavior by linking growth and yield model outputs to a crown fire prediction model. Treatment longevity was assessed as return time to within 10% of pre-treatment predicted wind speeds for the onset of passive (Torching) and active (Crowning) crown fire behavior. Treatment longevity in terms of Torching and Crowning was reduced 5 years for every 550 and 150 seedlings ha−1, respectively. Introducing regeneration as a single pulse further reduced Torching treatment longevity 10 years compared to other regeneration distributions. Crowning treatment longevity increased at higher site indices, where a 6 m increase in site index increased longevity 4.5 year. This result was contrary to expectations that canopy openings after treatments would close faster on higher productivity sites. Additionally, Torching longevity was influenced by the rate of crown recession, were reducing the recession rate decreased longevity in areas with higher site indices. These dependencies highlight a need for research exploring stand development in heterogeneous sites.http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/7/7/137TorchingCrowningfire modelingfire behaviorseedlingscrown fuels |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Wade T. Tinkham Chad M. Hoffman Seth A. Ex Michael A. Battaglia Jarred D. Saralecos |
spellingShingle |
Wade T. Tinkham Chad M. Hoffman Seth A. Ex Michael A. Battaglia Jarred D. Saralecos Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard Forests Torching Crowning fire modeling fire behavior seedlings crown fuels |
author_facet |
Wade T. Tinkham Chad M. Hoffman Seth A. Ex Michael A. Battaglia Jarred D. Saralecos |
author_sort |
Wade T. Tinkham |
title |
Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard |
title_short |
Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard |
title_full |
Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard |
title_fullStr |
Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard |
title_sort |
ponderosa pine forest restoration treatment longevity: implications of regeneration on fire hazard |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Forests |
issn |
1999-4907 |
publishDate |
2016-07-01 |
description |
Restoration of pine forests has become a priority for managers who are beginning to embrace ideas of highly heterogeneous forest structures that potentially encourages high levels of regeneration. This study utilizes stem-mapped stands to assess how simulated regeneration timing and magnitude influence longevity of reduced fire behavior by linking growth and yield model outputs to a crown fire prediction model. Treatment longevity was assessed as return time to within 10% of pre-treatment predicted wind speeds for the onset of passive (Torching) and active (Crowning) crown fire behavior. Treatment longevity in terms of Torching and Crowning was reduced 5 years for every 550 and 150 seedlings ha−1, respectively. Introducing regeneration as a single pulse further reduced Torching treatment longevity 10 years compared to other regeneration distributions. Crowning treatment longevity increased at higher site indices, where a 6 m increase in site index increased longevity 4.5 year. This result was contrary to expectations that canopy openings after treatments would close faster on higher productivity sites. Additionally, Torching longevity was influenced by the rate of crown recession, were reducing the recession rate decreased longevity in areas with higher site indices. These dependencies highlight a need for research exploring stand development in heterogeneous sites. |
topic |
Torching Crowning fire modeling fire behavior seedlings crown fuels |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/7/7/137 |
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