Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2012 [Northern Great Plains]

Author unknown

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). 2012 was a productive year for the Northern Great Plains (NGP) fire ecology program. A total of 204 plots of various types were measured, which included 54 installs in five park units. Four prescribed fires occurred in the NGP parks, resulting in 15 plots being burned, 7 of which were measured immediately post-burn. Severe to exceptional drought enveloped all of the Northern Great Plains parks this summer, which led to burn ban restrictions in most of the park units. Therefore, no prescribed burns were conducted through the Fall burning months of September and October. This was the third year of a three year research project at Wind Cave N.P., Jewel Cave N.M., and Devils Tower N.M. in which Dan Swanson partnered with Amy Symstad of the USGS assessing the relationship between prescribed fire burn severity and target invasive plant species abundance taking into account a variety of pre- and post-fire environmental characteristics at each park. This past season two seasonals collected year two post-burn data on 90 plots at Wind Cave N.P. and Jewel Cave N.M. Data analysis comparing preburn to year one post-burn effects indicate that most invasive plant species did not significantly increase in cover one growing season after the prescribed fire at Wind Cave N.P. and Jewel Cave. N.P.. Bull thistle and common mullein did significantly increase in absolute cover from preburn to year one, however it was less than 0.5% absolute change. This year we continued collaboration with the NPS Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (I&M). The NGP fire effects crew and I&M program installed and read ninety forest, tall shrub, and fuels plots at Wind Cave N.P. this summer which are spatially balanced throughout the park. In addition, we collaborated on reading sixty forest, tall shrub, and fuels plots at Mount Rushmore N.M. to assess the success of the 2010 hazardous fuel reduction project. To reduce the potential for crown fire, nearly all ponderosa pine trees less than 10 inches DBH were cut and chipped or piled in 43% of the Memorial in 2010. Forest structure data collected in sixty plots before and two years after thinning are being used to assess the treatment’s effect on forest structure and to model the effectiveness of the thinning in reducing crown fire potential. Since both programs are using the same sampling design and monitoring protocols, we continued to coordinate plot sampling visits this year throughout our park network.

Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2012 [Northern Great Plains]

Collections