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In 2000, wildfires burned more than 200,000 acres on the Bitterroot National Forest of Montana and nearly 1.5 million acres in the Northern and Intermountain Regions. These fires increased light and nutrient levels, reduced plant competition, and…
Author(s): Elaine Kennedy Sutherland
Year Published:

The objective of this paper is to provide a general overview of the influence of wildland fires on the erosional processes common to the forested landscapes of the western United States. Wildfire can accelerate erosion rates because vegetation is an…
Author(s): Steven M. Wondzell, John G. King
Year Published:

Prescribed fires are important for rangeland restoration and affect plant community composition and species interactions. Many rangeland plant communities have been, or are under the threat of noxious weed invasion, however there is little…
Author(s): James S. Jacobs, Roger L. Sheley
Year Published:

The time interval between stand-replacing fires can influence patterns of initial postfire succession if the abundance of postfire propagules varies with prefire stand age. We examined the effect of fire interval on initial postfire lodgepole pine (…
Author(s): Tania L. Schoennagel, Monica G. Turner, William H. Romme
Year Published:

Despite the numerous values of riparian areas and the recognition of fire as a critical natural disturbance, few studies have investigated the behavior, properties, and influence of natural fire in riparian areas of the western USA. Riparian areas…
Author(s): Kathleen A. Dwire, J. Boone Kauffman
Year Published:

We documented immediate and mid-term (5 y) impacts on streams from a large (15,500 ha) wildfire in northwestern Montana. Fire-related impacts were ecosystem-wide, extending from water chemistry to fish. During the initial firestorm, phosphorus and…
Author(s): Craig N. Spencer, Kristin O. Gabel, F. Richard Hauer
Year Published:

Conservation of native fishes and changing patterns in wildfire and fuels are defining challenges for managers of forested landscapes in the western United States. Many species and populations of native fishes have declined in recorded history and…
Author(s): Bruce E. Rieman, Danny C. Lee, Denver P. Burns, Robert E. Gresswell, Michael K. Young, Rick Stowell, John N. Rinne, Phil Howell
Year Published:

Synthesis of published research on the responses of stream benthic macroinvertebrates to fire in western United States indicates a consistent pattern of response that can guide resource management and future research. Direct effects of fire…
Author(s): G. Wayne Minshall
Year Published:

Fire management addressing postfire erosion and aquatic ecosystems tends to focus on short-term effects persisting up to about a decade after fire. A longer perspective is important in understanding natural variability in postfire erosion and…
Author(s): Grant A. Meyer, Jennifer L. Pierce
Year Published:

Prescribed fire is often used to restore grassland systems to presettlement conditions; however, fire also has the potential to facilitate the invasion of exotic plants. Managers of wildlands and nature reserves must decide whether and how to apply…
Author(s): Peter Lesica, B. Martin
Year Published:

Understanding of the effects of wildland fire and fire management on aquatic and riparian ecosystems is an evolving field, with many questions still to be resolved. Limitations of current knowledge, and the certainty that fire management will…
Author(s): Peter A. Bisson, Bruce E. Rieman, Charles H. Luce, Paul F. Hessburg, Danny C. Lee, Jeffrey L. Kershner, Gordon H. Reeves, Robert E. Gresswell
Year Published:

Our limited understanding of the short and long-term effects of fire on fish contributes to considerable uncertainty in assessments of the risks and benefits of fire management alternatives. A primary concern among the many potential effects of fire…
Author(s): Jason B. Dunham, Michael K. Young, Robert E. Gresswell, Bruce E. Rieman
Year Published:

What is the geological or ecological context that earth scientists, biologists, and resource managers use to understand large-scale watershed disturbances, such as fires, mass wasting, and floods? We address this question using a field study of post…
Author(s): Lee E. Benda, Daniel Miller, Paul Bigelow, Kevin Andras
Year Published:

Information on amphibian responses to fire and fuel reduction practices is critically needed due to potential declines of species and the prevalence of new, more intensive fire management practices in North American forests. The goals of this review…
Author(s): David S. Pilliod, R. Bruce Bury, Erin J. Hyde, Christopher A. Pearl, Paul S. Corn
Year Published:

This publication summarizes the findings in the 400-page companion document, Hayman Fire Case Study, Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-114. This summary document's purpose is to convey information quickly and succinctly to a wide array of audiences. In 2002…
Author(s): Russell T. Graham
Year Published:

Storm-driven episodes of gully erosion and landsliding produce large influxes of sediment to stream channels that have both immediate, often detrimental, impacts on aquatic communities and long-term consequences that are essential in the creation…
Author(s): Daniel Miller, Charles H. Luce, Lee E. Benda
Year Published:

Landscape patterns of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedling occurrence and abundance were studied after a rare recruitment event following the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Belt transects (1 to 17 km in length, 4 m…
Author(s): Monica G. Turner, William H. Romme, Gerald A. Tuskan, Rebecca A. Reed
Year Published:

The size and severity of the fires in Yellowstone National Park in 1988 surprised ecologists and managers alike. Much has been learned about the causes and consequences of crown fires from studies of the Yellowstone fires, and some results were…
Author(s): Monica G. Turner, William H. Romme, Daniel B. Tinker
Year Published:

Forest managers often choose prescriptions that promote natural regeneration of various species that differ in relative shade tolerance. Assessing the response of forest vegetation to alternative treatments in the Inland Northwest is challenging,…
Author(s): Sarah Jane Pierce
Year Published:

Land management agencies are restoring ponderosa pine forests and reducing fuel loads by thinning followed by prescribed burning. However, little is known about how this combination of treatments will affect local wildlife. In this study, I focus on…
Author(s): Jennifer Woolf
Year Published: