Fire and landscape diversity in Yellowstone National Park
Romme WH and Knight DH. 1979. Fire and landscape diversity in Yellowstone National Park. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 60(2; Program Issue):102-103
A fire history study, based on tree ring analysis, was conducted on a pristine 1 00-km2 watershed in Yellowstone National Park. Mosaics of forest and non-forest communities that covered the watershed 50, 100, 150, and 200 years ago were reconstructed. Indices of landscape diversity were calculated, treating successional stages of lodgepole pine and spruce-fir forest as taxa and incorporating components of richness, evenness, and interspersion. Landscape diversity was highest 150 years ago, after a series of extensive fires between 1740 and 1800. No major fire (>200 ha) have occurred since 1850, and landscape diversity has gradually decreased due to forest maturation. Evidence suggests that the lack of recent major fires is a natural phenomenon, unrelated to suppression by man. The relevance of periodic episodes of fire to landscape diversity and National Park management is discussed.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Romme, William; Knight, Dennis
- Units
- GRTE , YELL
- Keywords
- Biodiversity, Ecology, Ecosystems, FIRE, Fire History, Forest, Subalpine Zone, Succession, Trees