Fire ecology of Montana forest habitat types east of the Continental Divide

Abstract

BRUCE D. CLAYTON earned an A.B. degree in botany and zoology from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1972, and a Ph.D. in plant ecology from the University of Montana in 1978. This report is based in part on a preliminary draft, of reduced scope, prepared by Dr. Clayton under Forest Service contract 43-0346-8-00050, RELATIONSHIP OF MAJOR TREE SPECIES TO FIRE This section is devoted to a discussion of each important tree species in east side forests with regard to its resistance or susceptibility to fire and its role as a successional component of forest communities. Particular attention is given to special adaptations to fire, such as corky bark, serotinous cones, or seeds that require mineral soil for germination. UNDERGROWTH RESPONSE TO FIRE This section is a summary of the effect of fire on the response of important understory grass, forb, and shrub species. Particular attention is given to fire-adaptive traits or survival strategies that determine whether fire generally increases or decreases species cover in the immediate postfire period. GENERALIZED FOREST SUCCESSION The succession diagram and associated text represent a simplified, synthetic oveniew of fire's role in succession for all habitats of each Fire Group. For clarity, no literature references are given in this section since it is intended to serve as a graphic and uncomplicated presentation of the material covered earlier in the chapter. The diagram in each of these sections represents a visual summary of the effects that fires of varying intensity can have on the habitat types. Secondary succession begins with the lowest seral form, but the diagram can be used from any stage of stand development. In habitat types with aggressive seral conifers, the shrub/herb stage is short lived. Numerous facts that may influence the vegetation on the landscape have been neglected in order to emphasize the potential influences of fire and fire suppression. The conifer species are symbolized in order to simplify the diagrams. The symbols are defined as follows: A bies lasiocarpa, subalpine fir (ABLA) Junipmsscopulorum, Rocky Mountain juniper (JUSC) Lark lyallii, alpine larch (LALY) Picea engelmannii, Engelmann spruce (PICEA) Pinus albicaulis, whitebark pine (PIAL) Pinus contorts, lodgepole pine (PICO) Pinusji'exilis, limber pine (PIFL) Pinusponderosa, ponderosa pine (PIPO) Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas-fir (PSME) SUCCESSIONAL PATHWAYS This section provides a more detailed discussion of potential forest succession than the previous section. It is a synthesis of confirmed knowIedge and unconfirmed speculation that forms a complex series of hypotheses about the many possible influences fire may have on the vegetation of the Fire Groups. The flow charts follow the method suggested by Kessell and Fischer (1981). FLRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS This section suggests how the preceding information can be used to develop fire management plans that support land and resource management objectives. The discussion is intended to be suggestive, not dogmatic. Each i...

Fire ecology of the forest habitat types of northern Idaho

“…They listed the habitat type series that occur in northern Idaho, from lowest to highest fuel loadings, as follows: whitebark pine, Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, grand fir, western redcedar, and western hemlock. Brown and Bevins (1986) attempted to relate loadings of litter, 0 to 1 inch woody fuels, herbs, and shrubs to specific fire groups for Montana (Fischer and Bradley 1987;Fischer and Clayton 1983), but found that variation within fire groups was greater than differences between groups. When knowledge of potential fire behavior for a particular site is needed, to run BE-HAVE, for example, a fuel model (Anderson 1982) is often the best way to quantify fuels.…”

“…Other reports in the series describe fire groups for eastern and western Montana (Fischer and Clayton 1983;Fischer and Bradley 1987), central Idaho (Crane and Fischer 1986), eastern Idaho and western Wyoming (Bradley and others 1992a), and Utah (Bradley and others 1992b). Correspondence among fire groups from different geographic areas is shown in appendix C.…”

Effects of fire management of southwestern natural resources

“…Some excellent fire ecology information and fire management guidelines using species attributes and fire characteristics for specific forest habitat types in Idaho and Montana have been published (Crane and Fischer 1986, Fischer and Clayton 1983, Kessell and Fischer 1981.…”

Proceedings-symposium on whitebark pine ecosystems: Ecology and management of a high-mountain resource; 1989 March 29-31; Bozeman, MT

“…Whitebark has a thin bark making it susceptible to fire injury from hot surface fires, but because of its open stand and low fuel characteristics it survives most surface fires. Subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce have properties that make them very vulnerable to fires of even low intensity (Crane and Fisher 1986;Fisher and Clayton 1983).…”