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Fire ecology notes ppt
- 1. Fire: Ecology, Behavior & Home
- 2. Agenda 11/2/16 • Wildfire Science – Definition of wildfire – Watch a couple of wildfire science videos – Fire Triangle – Fire Behavior Triangle – Learn about how fires spread
- 3. Fire is fire! . . . Is it bad? . . . Is it good? . . . Who’s asking?
- 4. Fire is bad !
- 5. • Fire is good !
- 7. Ecological Effects of Fire Basic Premises 1. All ecosystems change over time 2. Fire is neither innately good nor bad; it is just an agent of change 3. Human perception of whether it is good or bad depends on resource objectives 4. Do people think fire is good for wildlife?
- 8. WILDFIRE • Create a mental picture • What does it look like? • What does it sound like? • What does it smell like? • How would you define it?
- 9. Definition of Wildfire: • An unplanned and uncontrolled fire spreading through vegetative fuels, at times involving structures.
- 10. Science of Wildfires • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8OrmGAIqI4
- 11. Science of Wildfire FIRE TRIANGLE What is the source of : – Oxygen – Heat – Fuel
- 12. DEMO! • Yep, time to examine the Fire Triangle.
- 13. Science of Wildfire FIRE BEHAVIOR TRIANGLE – How does weather affect occurrence and spread of wildfire? – Which types of fuel feed a wildfire? – How can topography affect the occurrence and spread of wildfire?
- 14. Look at the factors • Weather
- 15. Look at the factors • Topography - Slope Steep Slopes Legend
- 17. Look at the factors • Fuel - Vegetation Gap Data
- 18. Science of Wildfire- Types of Fuel • Light Fuels • Heavy Fuels • Ladder Fuels • Fuel Breaks
- 19. Science of Wildfire • Fire Spread- Transference of Heat – Conduction – Radiation => Surface fires – Convection => Crown fires
- 20. Fire Spread
- 21. Ember movement is the “wild card”
- 23. High Intensity Crown Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPa_yEEd4E
- 24. We have liftoff and ignition!
- 25. Agenda • Update last set of notes (Fire spread) • History of fire policy in U.S. • Leading causes of fire in Oregon • Ecological Role of Fire
- 26. History of Fire in U.S. • 1800s- BIG forest fires began argument (among conservationists) that fires threatened commercial timber supplies • 1891- U.S. Gov’t began setting aside national forest reservations • 1905- U.S. Forest Service established and given managerial control of forest reservations • 1910- “Big Blowup”- 3 million acres burned in Montana, Idaho, and Washington in only TWO days • “Big Blowup” greatly affected national conversation about fire policy => thought that total fire suppression would prevent big blowup again. • 1920-1938- policies developed to – 1. Prevent Fires and – 2. Suppress fire as quickly as possible • 1930s- Many fires led to even greater fire suppression urgency • 1944- Smokey Bear introduced to spread the message • 1960s- first scientific studies came out linking positive role fire played in forest ecology • 1970s- Radical change in Forest Service policy
- 27. 1970s Policy Changes • Let fires burn when and where appropriate • Natural-caused fires allowed to burn in designated wilderness areas • => “let-it-burn” policy • Last 25 years we’ve seen fires grown in size and ferocity due to suppression efforts of early 1900s=> lots of money spent in effort to fight fires
- 28. History of Fire Suppression in 3 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX1xnWPSjKg
- 29. Oregon Statistics • 140,000 acres of Oregon burned in 2015 • 595 people were responsible • Cost: $68,000,000 • 297 fires were started at home • 55 fires started on the job
- 31. Leading causes of fires in Oregon • Cigarettes • Campfires build in poor locations • Campfires not properly extinguished • Have a bucket of water nearby! • Fuel leakage from cars or logging equipment • Use of fireworks in any forestland area
- 32. What can YOU do to prevent wildfires?
- 33. What can you do to prevent starting a wildfire? • Create defensible space around your home • Put out camp fires- there’s a science to this! • Build SMALL fires (not big bonfires) • If camping, use designated metal fire pits. • Don’t smoke. Anything. • No fireworks in public lands.
- 34. Ecological Role of Fire in Forest Ecosystems • 1. Reduces probability of catastrophic fire • 2. Nutrient input into soils • 3. Control of insect pests • 4. Control of tree pathogens • 5. Maintains species diversity
- 36. Depends on Who You Ask!
- 37. Forester: “if its meeting management goals for that area and insect and disease were at” low levels.
- 38. Wildlife biologist: if it has a “mosaic of trees and openings providing a variety of habitat for a diversity of wildlife.”
- 39. Hydrologist: “the most important component of a healthy forest is that there is ground cover…to act like a sponge, absorbing water, filtering it and slowly releasing it.
- 40. Fire ecologist: “one that was disturbed by fire at a severity and frequency that mimicked what once occurred naturally.”
- 41. Historically, fire would burn a stand every 40 years or less.
- 42. Wilderness specialist: “one where processes were allowed to play out without interference by humans. Large bug kills are part of those processes…”
- 43. HEALTHY FORESTS?
Editor's Notes
- Light fuels include grasses, shrubs, and tree leaves or needles. They are referred to as light and flashy fuels because they ignite easily and burn rapidly. Light fuels affect the rate of spread of an advancing fire. They are the primary fuels that carry fires and ignite homes in many wildfire situations. Heavy fuels, such as large tree branches, downed logs, and buildings, require more heat energy to ignite, but they burn longer and produce more heat once ignited. Ladder fuels are shrubs or small trees of intermediate height that act as ladders carrying the flames from the forest surface up into the tops of trees (Figure 5). Vines climbing up trees can also act as ladder fuels. Fuel breaks are areas lacking vegetation or other fuels that stop or impede the horizontal movement of an advancing fire. Fuel breaks can be natural, such as rivers or streams, or artificial, such as roads or plowed agricultural fields.