Northern Great Plains, Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2009
Author unknown. Northern Great Plains, Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2009
A summary of fire ecology activities and program information for the Park/network including fire effects plot workload, staffing, management objectives and monitoring results, and planning, fire monitoring, communications, and research. Also included are staff accomplishments/areas of focus, future program direction and other optional information (e.g. data analysis graphics or presentations, annual highlights, publications, program challenges, unique solutions to problems, collaboration, photographs of monitoring/fire activities, and suggestions on FFI). 2009 marked a diverse and productive year for the Northern Great Plains (NGP) fire ecology program. We worked in 9 of our10 National Park units. This year, a total of 136 plots of various types were measured. A total of nine prescribed fires occurred in the NGP parks, resulting in 18 plots being burned and measured immediately post-burn, ensuring plot measurements for upcoming years. The Colorado State University-based graduate research project studying the effects of thinning and chipping continued at Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave. The mechanical treatments for this study occurred in the spring and early summer and plots were measured post-treatment. This project will continue into 2010 and beyond, focusing on fuel treatment effects on stand structure and understory vegetation. The fire ecology database, FFI, rolled out a new version in November. Several improvements suggested by NGP staff have been included in this update. We have updated all of the NGP fire effects data into the new FFI version 1.03. Dan Swanson presented results from ponderosa pine monitoring in National Park units of the Black Hills to an audience at the 4th International Fire Ecology Congress. The fire ecology program continued a relationship with the NGP Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) network. We assisted I&M with locating their vegetation sampling plots and continued vegetation sampling protocols which will be compatible with I&M data. In 2010 we will assist I&M with their first full field season of vegetation data collection.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Author unknown
- Units
- AGFO , BADL , DETO , FIEC , JECA , KNRI , MORU , NGPN , SCBL , THRO , WICA
- Keywords
- FFI, Fire Effects, Fuels, Monitoring
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics