Patch Characteristics of Post-Fire Landscapes in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, Montana, USA
Rodriguez JT. 2005. Patch Characteristics of Post-Fire Landscapes in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, Montana, USA. University of Montana
The initial investigation employed traditional patch, class, and landscape metrics to describe the composition and configuration of the burned area in eleven study fires in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (CCE), and assess the range of landscape heterogeneity in those fires. The second component of the study was an investigation of the distribution of severity patch sizes within each of the fires, and employs the power-law concept to describe and interpret the patch-size distribution. When applied to fire severity patches, analyses of power-law distributions yield an important measurement of the characteristics of post-fire landscapes, which may be used as a basis for making fire to fire comparisons. These comparisons can be used to monitor deviations in fire processes that may be due to a variety of factors, including management activities and changing climate conditions.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Rodriguez, Joshua
- Date of Issue
- 2005
- Publisher
- University of Montana
- Units
- GLAC
- Keywords
- Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, FIRE, Fire Ecology, Thesis, Vegetation