Prescribed fire effects on bark beetle activity and tree mortality in southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Breece, Carolyn R.; Kolb, Thomas E.; Dickson, Brett G.; McMillin, Joel D.; Clancy, Karen M.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.08.026

Cited by 95 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Although prescribed fire and wildlandfire use (the management of naturally ignited fires to achieve resource benefits) are economical means of reducing fuel loads (24), fire was implemented only half as much within the WUI compared to across the West, reflecting the challenge of burning near communities. Overall, there is an urgent need for broadscale monitoring both of fire-mitigation efficacy (directly within stands and with respect to nearby communities) and of nontarget ecological effects of such treatments, such as increased mortality of presettlement trees (25,26) and increased abundance of nonnative plants (27,28).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of National Fire Plan treatments near the wildland–urban interface in the western United States

Schoennagel

Nelson

Theobald

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

131

102

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Because of increasing concern about the effects of catastrophic wildland fires throughout the western United States, federal land managers have been engaged in efforts to restore historical fire behavior and mitigate wildfire risk. During the last 5 years (2004 -2008), 44,000 fuels treatments were implemented across the western United States under the National Fire Plan (NFP). We assessed the extent to which these treatments were conducted in and near the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where they would have the greatest potential to reduce fire risk in neighboring homes and communities. Although federal policies stipulate that significant resources should be invested in the WUI, we found that only 3% of the area treated was within the WUI, and another 8% was in an additional 2.5-km buffer around the WUI, totaling 11%. Only 17% of this buffered WUI is under federal ownership, which significantly limits the ability of federal agencies to implement fire-risk reduction treatments near communities. Although treatments far from the WUI may have some fire mitigation benefits, our findings suggest that greater priority must be given to locating treatments in and near the WUI, rather than in more remote settings, to satisfy NFP goals of reducing fire risk to communities. However, this may require shifting management and policy emphasis from public to private lands. fire mitigation ͉ hazardous fuels reduction ͉ Healthy Forest Restoration Act ͉ prescribed fire ͉ thinning

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of National Fire Plan treatments near the wildland–urban interface in the western United States

Schoennagel

Nelson

Theobald

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

131

102

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“…However, moderate char was not clearly associated with either live or dead cambium for species with thick bark. Breece (2006;Breece and others 2008) also reported an ambiguous relationship between bark char codes and cambium kill for ponderosa pine.…”

Section: First Order Tree Responses To Heat Injurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigating old tree mortality in long-unburned, fire-dependent forests: a synthesis

Hood¹

2010

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This report synthesizes the literature and current state of knowledge pertaining to reintroducing fire in stands where it has been excluded for long periods and the impact of these introductory fires on overstory tree injury and mortality. Only forested ecosystems in the United States that are adapted to survive frequent fire are included. Treatment options that minimize large-diameter and old tree injury and mortality in areas with deep duff and methods to manage and reduce duff accumulations are discussed. Pertinent background information on tree physiology, properties of duff, and historical versus current disturbance regimes are also discussed.

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“…For example, Hayes et al [29] showed that levels of D. brevicomis-caused tree mortality in P. ponderosa forests in California can be predicted (Adjusted R 2 > 0.90) at large spatial scales by simply measuring stand density, specifically the basal area of all tree species. In the last decade, numerous studies have examined the effects of fuel-reduction and forest-restoration treatments on the amount, distribution and causes of tree mortality in P. ponderosa (e.g., [24,25,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]). Most were conducted on small experimental plots for a relatively short period of time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resiliency of an Interior Ponderosa Pine Forest to Bark Beetle Infestations Following Fuel-Reduction and Forest-Restoration Treatments

Fettig

McKelvey

2014

Forests

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Mechanical thinning and the application of prescribed fire are commonly used to restore fire-adapted forest ecosystems in the Western United States. During a 10-year period, we monitored the effects of fuel-reduction and forest-restoration treatments on levels of tree mortality in an interior ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws., forest in California. Twelve experimental plots, ranging in size from 77-144 ha, were established to create two distinct forest structural types: mid-seral stage (low structural diversity; LoD) and late-seral stage (high structural diversity; HiD). Following harvesting, half of each plot was treated with prescribed fire (B). A total of 16,473 trees (8.7% of all trees) died during the 10-year period. Mortality was primarily attributed to bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) (10,655 trees), specifically fir engraver, Scolytus ventralis LeConte, mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, western pine beetle, D. brevicomis LeConte, pine engraver, Ips pini (Say), and, to a much lesser extent, Jeffrey pine beetle, D. jeffreyi Hopkins. Trees of all ages and size classes were killed, but mortality was concentrated in the smaller-diameter classes (19-29.2 and 29.3-39.3 cm at 1.37 m in height). Most mortality occurred three to five years following prescribed burns. Higher levels of bark beetle-caused tree mortality were observed on LoD + B (8.7%) than LoD (4.2%). The application of these and other results to the OPEN ACCESSForests 2014, 5 154 management of interior P. ponderosa forests are discussed, with an emphasis on the maintenance of large trees.

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Prescribed fire effects on bark beetle activity and tree mortality in southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Cited by 95 publications

References 36 publications

Implementation of National Fire Plan treatments near the wildland–urban interface in the western United States

Implementation of National Fire Plan treatments near the wildland–urban interface in the western United States

Mitigating old tree mortality in long-unburned, fire-dependent forests: a synthesis

Resiliency of an Interior Ponderosa Pine Forest to Bark Beetle Infestations Following Fuel-Reduction and Forest-Restoration Treatments

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