Indicator – U3. Area and severity of area burned

Consultant's Initials:

CKW

Source:

CCFM

Identification No. in source: Use all refs:

2.1.3

Class:

Ecological/Biophysical

Recommendation (after field testing) Yes or no

Yes

Revised Indicator Suggested? #

Yes

Box A:

Principle - CCFM 2.0 Maintenance and enhancement of forest ecosystem condition and productivity

Criterion- reorganized to Q: Ecosystem Function is Maintained

Indicator - CCFM 2.1.3 Area and severity of area burned

Box B: Definition:

Fire is a dominant disturbance agent in North American temperate forests.

"The nature, extent and impact of disturbances on forested ecosystems are all highly variable. Natural and human-induced disturbances both occur as a continuum, and they may range in size, severity, duration and frequency. While most disturbance and stress events are fundamental to the recovery and maintenance of forested ecosystems, others may impede resilience, impact on extant biomass, or alter patterns and processes, leading to new successional trends. Forest ecosystems are never static; rather, they are constantly changing through the cycle of death and renewal. " CCFM p.26

Box C: Attributes

Rated on a scale of 1-5, where 1=no/bad/unimportant and 5=yes/good/important

Precisely defined? (clear)

4

Useable?

4

Is it applicable to other areas/ecosystems? (robust)

4

Sensitive?

3

Easy to detect, record and interpret?

4

Is it applicable to all landowners?

Yes

x

No

Box D: Applicability to Different Landowners. Explain any differences:

N/A

Box E: Overlap:

CCFM 2.1.1 Area and severity of insect attack, CCFM 2.1.2, Area and severity of disease infestation

CIFOR 2.4.6 The status of nutrient and decomposition show no significant change

Box F: Geo-Political Scale:

Global

North America

Intermountain

X

West

Study area

X

Tenure

Site

X

Notes:

The role of fire in forested landscapes varies greatly among forest types and geographic areas.

Box G: Indicator Characteristics

Diagnostic

X

Predictive

Both

Notes:

Fire regimes are cyclical and are related to many factors that inter-relate in complex ways including, climate, short-term weather patterns, vegetation type, ignition sources, etc. While mainly diagnostic in nature this indicator also has some predictive value if based on long-term trends and patterns. The primary focus is diagnostic.

Box H: Indicator Function

Structure

Function/Process

X

Composition

Perturbation

X

Not Applicable

Notes:

Fire has multiple roles, but has been traditionally considered a disturbance or perturbation. It changes structure, composition, patterns and functions of ecosystems and forest communities. It and related disturbance events such as insects and disease are part of the nutrient cycling functions of ecosystems so fire is also important to ecosystem functions.

Box I: Underlying Concepts:

""Virtually every forest type has experienced fire at some point, and many types evolved with fire as the major disturbance factor, affecting the forest’s successional pattern and shaping its species composition (Agee 1993).

The impacts of fire on the forest are very complex. Although there is much scientific literature about the effects of fire, and virtually everyone has an opinion as to what fire does in the forest, every fire is a unique event. Unlike some of the other natural forest disturbance – windstorms and flooding, for example – the behavior and ultimate effects of a particular fire are strongly influenced by the condition of the forest at the time of fire. While a forest’s condition may mean a different response to a windstorm, for example, the forest does not shape the windstorm itself. The forest’s condition, however, dramatically shapes the fire. Thus, the manner in which a forest has been managed may largely determine the intensity and ultimate damage caused by a particular fire." Sampson and DeCoster, 1998, p. 19.

In some ways fire is more of an indicator of forest condition than an indicator of sustainable management. Because fire is an inherent process in many vegetation types, it is more meaningful to compare the area and extent of current fires to the historical pattern of area and severity of fires in a given forest type of geographic area. A change in fire regimes (e.g. from mainly low intensity crown fires to intense stand replacing fires) has greater indicator value than does simply the gross area of fires or even fire severity by itself. This requires that historical fire regimes be defined for each forest type and geographic area. Changes in fire regimes indicate attendant changes in nutrient cycles and carbon balances, successional pathways and forest structures and composition.

Box J: Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Management :

Because fire alters so many things about a forest, consideration of the role of fire in forests is highly relevant to sustainable forestry.

Box K: Measurement Methods:

I checked with Diane McConnaughey, data base manager/GIS Boise NF, about availability of fire information for the study area. Data are not consistently available for other landowners and even for other forests. Also fire severity has been mapped in at least two different ways on the forest. One was based on soil characteristics and the other (more common) method is a visual estimate of crown scorch in trees. The Boise National Forest has some mapping of past fires and fire intensity for the 1994 fires but this data does not currently extend to private, state or even other Federal lands.

Box L: Data Required:

Historical patterns of extent, frequency and intensity (fire regimes) are essential information to establish a trend line for the forest type in question. Such data comes from a variety of methods including dating fire-scarred trees or stumps, stand or cohort ages by species sensitive to fire, historical records and current maps, including remotely sensed images. Determining severity of historical fires is challenging but important.

Data consistency for the test area is still somewhat variable but improving.

Box M: Data Used for the North American Test:

Data used in the test consisted of Boise NF GIS fire data maps and published work on changed fire regimes for the Upper Columbia River Basin area.

Box N: Example Results:

 

Interior Columbia River basin - Fire regime severity, historical

(Source: ICBEMP)

Interior Columbia River Basin - Fire regime severity, current

(Source: ICBEMP)

 

Boise National Forest – Historic Large Fires >200 acres (Source: Boise NF)

Box O: Assessing the Practicality:

The data can be tracked over time and reporting and consistency of information is improving.

Box P: Assessing the Information Value:

Fire is part of the disturbances/functions that characterize many forest types and ecosystems so whether or not it is good or bad often is tempered by the values of the observer. Changes in fire regimes also indicates major changes in ecosystem processes, structures and compositions. The information value of changed fire regimes is high. Simple reporting of acres burned and severity has less information value for ecological considerations.

Box Q: Overall assessment:

This indicator is difficult to make a decision on because fire is such an important characteristic of temperate ecosystems and simple yes/no answers are not adequate evaluations of the ecological effects of fire. If the indicator is applied to show changes in fire regimes, then it has more value. Trends, patterns (e.g. changes in fire regimes from historical regimes that the forest type evolved with) need to be established by forest type. This has largely been done over much of North America.

Box R: Did you rewrite or revise to a new indicator. If so what?

Yes. Fire dammage changes to area burned in recognition of the intrinisic role of fire in ecosystems. Indicator was also reclassed under the Criterion Q, Ecosystem Functions is Maintained in recognition of fire as a key process.

Box S: References :