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Six large wildfires have burned in Mesa Verde National Park during the last 15 years, and extensive portions of burns were invaded by non-native plant species. The most threatening weed species include Carduus nutans, Cirsium arvense, and Bromus tectorum, and if untreated, they persist at least 13 years. We investigated patterns of weed distribution to identify plant communities most vulnerable to post-fire weed invasion and created a spatially explicit model to predict the most vulnerable sites. At the scale of the entire park, mature pi�on?juniper woodlands growing on two soil series were most vulnerable to post-fire weed invasion; mountain shrublands were the least vulnerable. At a finer scale, greater richness...
We inferred climate effects on fire occurrence from 1630 to 1900 for a new set of crossdated fire-scar chronologies from 18 forested sites in Utah and one site in eastern Nevada. Years with regionally synchronous fires (31 years with fire at 20% of sites) occurred during drier than average summers and years with no fires at any site (100 years) were wetter than average. Antecedent wet summers were associated with regional-fire years in mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forest types, possibly by affecting fine fuel amount and continuity. NINO3 (an index of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, ENSO) was significantly low during regional-fire years (La Ninas) and significantly high during non-fire years (El Ninos). NINO3...
Cheatgrass, a non-native annual grass, dominates millions of hectares in semiarid ecosystems of the Intermountain West (USA). Post-fire invasions can reduce native species diversity and alter ecological processes. To curb cheatgrass invasion, land managers often seed recently burned areas with perennial competitor species. We sampled vegetation within burned (19 years post-fire) and nearby unburned (representing pre-fire) pi onjuniper (Pinus edulisJuniperus osteosperma) woodland and sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) in western Colorado to analyze variables that might explain cheatgrass cover after fire. A multiple regression model suggests higher cheatgrass cover after fire with: (1) sagebrush v. pi onjuniper; (2) higher...
We inferred climate effects on fire occurrence from 1630 to 1900 for a new set of crossdated fire-scar chronologies from 18 forested sites in Utah and one site in eastern Nevada. Years with regionally synchronous fires (31 years with fire at 20% of sites) occurred during drier than average summers and years with no fires at any site (100 years) were wetter than average. Antecedent wet summers were associated with regional-fire years in mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forest types, possibly by affecting fine fuel amount and continuity. NINO3 (an index of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, ENSO) was significantly low during regional-fire years (La Ninas) and significantly high during non-fire years (El Ninos). NINO3...
Fire risk in western North America has increased with increasing cover of Bromus tectorum, an invasive alien annual grass. The relationship between B. tectorum cover and fire risk was determined in a historically burned Artemisia tridentata-Poa secunda shrub?steppe community where B. tectorum cover ranged from 5 to 75%. Fire risk ranged from ~46% with an average of 12% B. tectorum cover to 100% when B. tectorum cover was greater than 45% based on prediction confidence limits. Reflectance of the green and red bands of aerial photographs were related to senescent B. tectorum cover to create fine resolution B. tectorum cover and fire risk maps. This assessment technique will allow land managers to prioritize lands...
We inferred climate effects on fire occurrence from 1630 to 1900 for a new set of crossdated fire-scar chronologies from 18 forested sites in Utah and one site in eastern Nevada. Years with regionally synchronous fires (31 years with fire at 20% of sites) occurred during drier than average summers and years with no fires at any site (100 years) were wetter than average. Antecedent wet summers were associated with regional-fire years in mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forest types, possibly by affecting fine fuel amount and continuity. NINO3 (an index of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, ENSO) was significantly low during regional-fire years (La Ninas) and significantly high during non-fire years (El Ninos). NINO3...
Cheatgrass, a non-native annual grass, dominates millions of hectares in semiarid ecosystems of the Intermountain West (USA). Post-fire invasions can reduce native species diversity and alter ecological processes. To curb cheatgrass invasion, land managers often seed recently burned areas with perennial competitor species. We sampled vegetation within burned (1–9 years post-fire) and nearby unburned (representing pre-fire) piñon–juniper (Pinus edulis–Juniperus osteosperma) woodland and sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) in western Colorado to analyze variables that might explain cheatgrass cover after fire. A multiple regression model suggests higher cheatgrass cover after fire with: (1) sagebrush v. piñon–juniper;...
Wildland fire is a global phenomenon, and a result of interactions between climate?weather, fuels and people. Our climate is changing rapidly primarily through the release of greenhouse gases that may have profound and possibly unexpected impacts on global fire activity. The present paper reviews the current understanding of what the future may bring with respect to wildland fire and discusses future options for research and management. To date, research suggests a general increase in area burned and fire occurrence but there is a lot of spatial variability, with some areas of no change or even decreases in area burned and occurrence. Fire seasons are lengthening for temperate and boreal regions and this trend should...
    map background search result map search result map Predicting and mitigating weed invasions to restore natural post-fire succession in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA Predicting and mitigating weed invasions to restore natural post-fire succession in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA