Source: UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA submitted to
MULTI-SCALE CONTROLS ON WILDLAND FIRE IN MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
MCINTIRE-STENNIS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0216422
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
ARZT-1392420-M12-183
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2008
Project End Date
Dec 31, 2012
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Falk, D.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
888 N EUCLID AVE
TUCSON,AZ 85719-4824
Performing Department
Natural Resources & the Environment
Non Technical Summary
The objectives of this project are to address the following questions: 1. What patterns are evident in the historical record of large-scale fire occurrence, and what do these patterns tell us about regulation of fire regimes over large scales of space and time 2. How does fire occurrence vary at local (watershed) scales, and how can this variation be interpreted using tools of fire behavior and spread analysis Understanding the interaction of top-down and bottom-up controls requires a spatially distributed sampling strategy. At local scales, sampling grids and other distributed sampling designs can quantify spatial heterogeneity in fuels and topography at scales relevant to the process of fire spread. At larger scales, networks of sites are required that can capture variability at the scales of synoptic weather patterns and dominant climate teleconnections, particularly large-scale climate processes such as El Ni?o and the AMO/PDO decadal interaction (Heyerdahl et al, in prep). The focus of this proposal is on expanding the fire history network at multiple scales, to allow direct testing of hypotheses of multi-scale control of fire regimes in southwestern North America.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1220199107010%
1220320107010%
1220399107010%
1220612107010%
1230320107010%
1230612107010%
1320199107010%
1320320107010%
1320612106010%
1320612107010%
Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources; 132 - Weather and Climate; 122 - Management and Control of Forest and Range Fires;

Subject Of Investigation
0612 - Conifer forests of the West; 0199 - Soil and land, general; 0320 - Watersheds; 0399 - Watersheds and river basins, general;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
1. Project Justification and Goals Climate variability at time scales of years to decades is recognized in the scientific community as a fundamental driver of fire occurrence and fire regimes (CIRMOUNT 2006). This influence acts at multiple time scales beyond immediate fire weather (hours to weeks) to inter-annual and decadal variability, which entrains fuel production and large-scale flammability (JFSP 2007). Multi-year and decadal climate also drives basic ecosystem responses to fire, including soil, hydrologic, and vegetation trajectories. The signature of climate regulation of fire regimes is synchronous fire occurrence across multiple ecosystems. At finer scales, however, different factors govern the occurrence of fire. Within an area of essentially homogenous climate, fires burn in some places while not in others. For example, the severely burned patches that are such a conspicuous feature of large fires indicate the dominant interaction of fuels, topography, and short-term local wind patterns. These "bottom-up" controls on fire regulate fire spread, as reflected in the algorithms of most fire behavior models, and play an important role in determining where any individual fire burns. The signature of bottom-up regulation of fire is contiguous and simultaneous fire occurrence at the patch scale, indicating the dominant effect of fire spread. These interacting effects of multi-year climate and local conditions are a dominant practical challenge to managing fire and ecosystems today (McKenzie et al., in prep.); for example, understanding the relative contributions of background decadal climate variability and anthropogenic climate trend to multi-year drought may have significant implications for the management and policy response. Superimposed on the background of natural variability are novel trends of both anthropogenically-driven climate and fuel conditions, which are potentially further altering fire behavior and regimes, resulting in unpredictable fire seasons, escalating costs, and unknown ecosystem trajectories (Dale et al. 2001). Understanding the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up regulation of fire regimes would have immediate ramifications for forest management and policy. Specifically, a bottom-up emphasis would focus effort on fuel treatments, modifying fuel density and spatial distribution so as to interrupt the continuity of fuels that can carry high-severity fire. A dominant "top-down" emphasis, by contrast, would emphasize adaptation to a new climate envelope, including changes in land use and increased application of "wildland fire use", wherein fires are allowed to spread naturally over the landscape.
Project Methods
METHODS: Our basic research design will be to collect and compare information about fire occurrence and its governing factors derived at multiple spatial and temporal scales. This approach will allow us to separate top-down and bottom-up regulation for a given area. The primary data source for historic fire occurrence will be fire-scar records, which have proven to provide a record of unparalleled spatial and temporal accuracy in understanding the behavior and mechanisms of fire regimes. The main forms of data collection will include: 1. Compilation of prior fire history records and separation of these records into units of smaller spatial scale, where this information can be obtained. 2. Overlay of fire history records on digital elevation models, and analysis of probabilistic fire spread pathways using fire behavior and spread models. 3. Where necessary, collection of new fire history records to supplement those existing; for instance, adding additional sample plots in a mountain range with only one sample site, or new collections in mountain ranges where fire histories have not previously been conducted. Phases of the work to be undertaken are as follows: Location of the work and the facilities/equipment needed and available should be indicated. Where appropriate, the procedure should provide data suitable for statistical analysis. Procedures should indicate that the research has been carefully planned and provide for changes when necessary.)

Progress 07/01/08 to 12/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Events: 59 invited and submitted presentations at scientific and management conferences, including 20 new presentations in 2012, including Society for Range Management (AZ). Southwest Fire Ecology Conference, Association for Fire Ecology, Western Forest Insect Work Conference, School of Forestry Seminar, Northern Arizona University, National Forest Health Monitoring Workshop, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Lecture Series, Carpe Diem West, Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago Conference, International Conference on Climate Adaptation, Ecological Society of America and Chiricahua Heritage Days. Symposia organized: Co-organizer (with E. K. Sutherland, RMRS, P. M. Brown, RMTRR, and T. W. Swetnam), "Fire History and Fire Climatology: Data, Tools, and Applications". Technical workshop, Southwest Fire Ecology Conference, Association for Fire Ecology, Santa Fe, NM. February 2012 and December 2012. Co-organizer (with T. L. Swetnam, C. Wilcox, A. M. Lynch, and J. Ruyle), "Mapping Vegetation Structure in the Pinaleno Mountains Using LiDAR". National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute, Tucson, AZ. August 2010. Lead organizer, FireScape Science Briefing. Coronado National Forest and University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. October 2009. Principal plenary symposium organizer, "Ecological Restoration for a Changing World". International conference of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), Perth Australia. August 2009. Software development (FHAES, JOIN, MATRIX tools) for fire history analysis. Outreach and dissemination presentations: US Forest Service, Southwest Region: "Long-term studies and restoration at Monument Canyon Research Natural Area." Desired Future Condition Field Tour. 2012. Co-organizer (with L. Fisher, SNRE), Landscape Fire Management Statewide Partnership Meeting, SNRE. 2011. BioBlitz: Saguaro National Park and National Geographic Society. 2011. Wildlands Network: Chiricahua Heritage Days, Rodeo, NM/Portal, AZ. Presentation: "Lessons of the 2011 Fire Season." 2011. Sky Islands Alliance, Adapting to a Changing Climate: A Workshop for Land and Resource Managers. Presentation: "Climate change and ecological resilience." 2010. Chief, US Forest Service and Region 3 Leadership: "FireScape: Landscape Ecosystem Management in the Sky Islands" Coronado National Forest, Tucson, AZ. 2011. Mt. Lemmon Fire District, FireWise Committee. Summerhaven, AZ. Falk, D. A. "The Science behind FireScape." 2010. Arizona Forest Health Council, Coronado National Forest. "The Science of FireScape." 2010. US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Regional Director tour. 2009. Collaboration: FireScape, Steering Committee and Chair of Science Working Group (2007- ongoing). See: http://www.azfirescape.org/home. Southwest Fire Science Consortium, Executive Board (2009 - ongoing). See http://www.forestguild.org/SWconsortium.html. Southwest Jemez Landscape Restoration Project. Member, Monitoring Working Group (2010 - ongoing). See http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/sfe/jemez_mtn_rest/index.html . Arizona Forest Health Council, Member (2003 - 2010). Chair Land-use Subcommittee, 2003-2010. Pinaleno Ecosystem Restoration Project (2007 - current). PARTICIPANTS: FireScape, Steering Committee and Chair of Science Working Group (2007- ongoing). FireScape is a collaborative initiative led by the Coronado National Forest, University of Arizona, The Natural Conservancy, Saguaro National Park and other collaborators to develop landscape-scale approaches to fire and ecosystem management in the Sky Island bioregion. A central priority for FireScape is the development of science-based, collaborative approaches to fire management at the landscape scale, which serves as an exemplary regional and national model. More than 20 cooperating local, state, and Federal partners are now involved in FireScape, which is supported by a national US Forest Service TEAMS Enterprise technical group. Since 2008, new FireScape initiatives have been funded and initiated for the Chiricahua, Dragoon, and Galiuro Mountains. UA units involved include the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, and the School of Geography and Regional Development. In January 2010, FireScape and the work of our laboratory were featured in a 3-part front page series in the Arizona Daily Star. See: http://www.azfirescape.org/home. Southwest Fire Science Consortium, Executive Board (2009 - ongoing). The University of Arizona is a Consortium Partner in this initiative funded in 2009 by the Joint Fire Science Program and coordinated by the Northern Arizona University School of Forestry. Other key partners include the Southwestern Ecological Restoration Institutes, The Forest Guild, The Nature Conservancy, US Forest Service Southwestern Region and Rocky Mountain Research Station, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, New Mexico State Forestry, Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center, and the Fire Research Institute. See http://www.forestguild.org/SWconsortium.html. Southwest Jemez Landscape Restoration Project. Member, Monitoring Working Group (2010 - ongoing). The Southwest Jemez project was selected for support under the national Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), a Congressionally-funded initiative to develop landscape-scale approaches to forest management. The Southwest Jemez Mountains Restoration is a long-term collaborative effort to restore sustainable ecological forest conditions on a landscape of approximately 210,000 acres in the Jemez Mountains or northern New Mexico. The Project involves several phases, including strategic-level planning, project-level planning, implementation, and monitoring. See http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/sfe/jemez_mtn_rest/index.html . Arizona Forest Health Council, Member (2003 - 2010). Appointed by Gov. Janet Napolitano to serve on the primary State-level advisory board on forest health issues; currently the active representative of UA. Chair Land-use Subcommittee, 2003-2010. Pinaleno Ecosystem Restoration Project, Coronado National Forest (2007 - current). Our group has provided science support for development of a mountain-range scale restoration plan in this unique Southwestern mountain range. TARGET AUDIENCES: National Forests, National Parks, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Defense, public stakeholder groups and individuals, The Nature Conservancy. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Change in Knowledge The central research focus of our laboratory is to understand the interactions of disturbance, climate, and ecosystem management in forested ecosystems. We follow a Mission Statement to ensure a coherent line of inquiry in our lab, provide for synergy among projects, and maximize cumulative impacts in research and applications, summarized here. Much of our work is conducted directly in collaboration with, or at the request of, ecosystem managers. Our focus on ecological disturbance and climate variability positions our lab group to address problems of immediate conservation concern as well as basic scientific interest. Primary research goals: 1. Understand the dominant top-down and bottom-up factors that govern fire occurrence and other ecological disturbances across scales of space and time. 2. Explore interactions of fire and climate as drivers of ecosystem dynamics, especially with respect to plant demography, energetics, and the potential for threshold behavior and "tipping points" in ecosystem responses. 3. Apply these insights to ecosystem management and restoration at multiple spatial scales. Change in Actions Lead Collaborating Researcher, Santa Fe National Forest, San Juan Fire Management Area, Jemez Mountains. Prescribed Burn, including Monument Canyon Research Natural Area. 7,306 ac, October 2012. Pinaleno Ecosystem Restoration Project, Coronado National Forest (2007 - current). Provided scientific commentary on draft EIS; approval begins treatment applications on landscape 2013. Change in Conditions Extension work is fundamental to our College, and to our Lab's research mission. As outlined in Research above, much of our work is predicated on linkages between scientific knowledge and informed ecosystem management. One major extension initiative of our Lab is the FireScape project, a collaboration of the Coronado National Forest, Saguaro National Park, The Nature Conservancy, and the University of Arizona (funding: Coronado National Forest; US Forest Service. Region III) (http://azfirescape.org/). FireScape projects are now active throughout the Sky Island region. I lead the Science Working Group, which is focused on a series of projects linking science and ecosystem management. In 2010 we led a major overhaul of fuel mapping in the Sky Island bioregion, with technical assistance from Forest Service TEAMS Enterprise and all of the main Federal and State land managing agencies. I am also engaged as a co-PI and a member of the Executive Board with the Southwest Fire Science Consortium, (2009 - ongoing) (http://www.forestguild.org/SWconsortium.html). The University of Arizona is a Consortium Partner in this new initiative, funded in 2009 by the Joint Fire Science Program and coordinated by the Northern Arizona University School of Forestry. Key partners include the Southwestern Ecological Restoration Institutes, The Forest Guild, The Nature Conservancy, US Forest Service Southwestern Region and Rocky Mountain Research Station, National Park Service, Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center, and the Fire Research Institute.

Publications

  • Fule, P. Z., L. L. Yocom, C. Cortes Montano, D. A. Falk, J. Cerano, and J. Villanueva-Diaz. 2012. Testing a pyroclimatic hypothesis on the Mexico-U.S. border. Ecology 93(8): 1830-1840.
  • Farris, C.A., D. A. Falk, C. H. Baisan, S. R. Yool, and T. W. Swetnam. 2010. Spatial and temporal corroboration of fire-scar based fire history reconstructions in a frequently burned ponderosa pine forest in southern Arizona. Ecological Applications 20: 1598-1614.
  • Lenart, M., D. A. Falk, F. N. Scatena, and W. R. Osterkamp. 2009. The contribution of tree uprooting during hurricanes to soil turnover in Puerto Rican forests. Forest Ecology & Management 259: 1076-1084.
  • Stevens, J. and D. A. Falk. 2009. Can buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link) invasions be controlled in the American Southwest Using invasion ecology theory to explain buffelgrass success and restoration potential. Ecological Restoration 27(4): 417-427. 
  • Malusa, J., L. Laing, D. A. Falk, and B. Gebow. Mapping Ecological Systems from the Ground Up in Southeastern Arizona. In Ffolliott, P, G. Gottfried, and B. Gebow (Eds). Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago III. Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report. In press (2012).
  • Keane, R. E., E. Smithwick, D. McKenzie, C. Miller, D. A. Falk, and L. B. Kellogg. 2013 Representing Climate, Disturbance, and Vegetation Interactions in Landscape Simulation Models. Chapter 6 in: Disturbance interactions and climate change: A synthesis and research agenda. D. McKenzie, Schmoldt, D., Swetnam, T. W., Peterson, D.L., Keane, R.E., and Littell, J.S. (Eds). US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report. In press. Original research.
  • Maschinski, J., D. A. Falk, S. J. Wright, J. Possley, J. Roncall, and K. S. Wendelberger. Optimal locations for plant reintroductions in a changing world. 2012. In J. Maschinski and K. E. Haskins (Eds.), Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate. Island Press, Washington, DC.
  • Falk, D.A., C. Cox, D. Hill, T. McKinnon, E. Rosenberg, K. Siderits, and T. W. Swetnam. 2010. Fire on the Landscape: Land-use Planning for Forest Health and Safe Communities. Arizona Forest Health Advisory Council, Office of the Governor.
  • Falk, D. A., E. K. Heyerdahl, P. M. Brown, T. W. Swetnam, E. K. Sutherland, Z. Gedalof, L. Yocom, and T. J. Brown. 2010. Fire and climate variation in western North America from fire scar networks. Past Global Climates 18(2): 70-72.
  • Yocom, L. L., P. Z. Fule, P. M. Brown, J. Cerano, J. Villanueva-Diaz, D. A. Falk, and E. Cornejo-Oviedo. 2010. El Nino-Southern Oscillation effect on a fire regime in northeastern Mexico has shifted over time. Ecology 91(6): 1660-1671.


Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1.1. We work on fine-scale mapping of historical fires and similarity-based spatial interpolation of fire perimeters, based on high-resolution fire history data from the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico (Swetnam et al. 2011; MS theses: J. Conver and J. Dewar, 2011). These and other efforts are helping to improve our understanding of interactions between fine-scale (bottom-up) controls on fire spread and top-down climatic regulation of fire regimes at larger scales (Funding: Joint Fire Science Program, US Forest Service). 1.2. Contribute new fire histories to improve spatial and temporal resolution in reconstructing fire regimes. A major initiative in this area is a spatially-explicit fire history in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, NM (funding: Joint Fire Science Program, US Forest Service). MS thesis: J. Dewar, 2011). 1.3. We are working with a group of colleagues to map and analyze data from an expanded North American fire history network, to facilitate a new multi-scale synthesis of fire-climate relationships in western North America (Funding: US Forest Service Global Change Program and Joint Fire Science Program, 2009) (Falk et al. 2011a, b). 2.1. Linking fire and climate to forest dynamics and disturbance interactions. Our interests in this area revolve around understanding the role that fire plays as a keystone ecosystem process, especially in combination with other disturbances such as insect outbreaks, disease, and short-term climate variation (O'Connor et al., 2011). One important study area on this topic is the Pinaleno Mountains in southeastern Arizona (Funding: US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station and Coronado National Forest), with research focusing on interactions of climate variability, fire, insect outbreaks, and forest dynamics using a mountain-range network of study plots and fire history collections (PhD dissertation: C. O'Connor). 2.2. Complete studies of relationships of forest structure and tree growth along environmental gradients. Current work examines the ecophysiological response of ponderosa pine to nitrogen limitation in response to fire-mediated variation in stand density and competition (PhD dissertation: L. Marshall). A similar effort in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, NM, uses carbon isotopes, ring growth variation, and simulation modeling to examine tree responses along environmental gradients. 2.3. Integrate new technologies into studies of fire in relation to climate variability, forest dynamics, and carbon dynamics. We are applying high-resolution data derived from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) flights to questions of forest structure, environmental controls, and carbon dynamics (PhD dissertation: T. L. Swetnam). In the Pinaleno Mountains, AZ, a collaborative research and management team designed and implemented LiDAR acquisition for the entire mountain range above 2100 m (PhD dissertations: C. O'Connor, T. L. Swetnam). PARTICIPANTS: C. Cortes-Montano, B. Dickson P. Fule, J. Rundle, A. Thode, L. Yocom (Northern Arizona University) C. Allen (USGS) R. Parmenter and M. Rodgriguez (Valles Caldera National Preserve) E. K. Heyerdahl, R. A. Loehman (US Forest Service, Fire Sciences Laboratory). D. Finch, A. Lynch, E. Sutherland (US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station) P. Brown (Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research) W. Edwards, C. Stetson, C. Wilcox (Coronado National Forest) D. McKenzie (US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station) TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audiences include: (a) Fire and ecosystem managers, who rely on up-to-date science and interpretation for their work; (b) other ecosystem scientists, attempting to advance our understanding of the complexities of ecosystems in a changing world; (c) members of the public, whom we reach through our media work and outreach programs described above. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
1. Establish working models of fire management and ecosystem restoration spanning scales from site to mountain ranges. Much of our research is conducted in a translational ecosystem research (TER) framework, where research is mapped onto immediate needs of ecosystem managers. Our major initiative in this area is the FireScape project, including research in landscape fuel and vegetation mapping, fire spread modeling, fire history, and human dimensions (MS thesis: A. Arizpe; PhD dissertation: J. Minor). 2. Calibrate and test models of process-centered restoration. traditional models of ecosystem management and restoration are being re-evaluated in light of sustained impacts of human population growth, resource extraction, land use, and anthropogenic climate change (Nelson et al., in prep.). In their place, a new generation of frameworks is emerging to guide restoration ecology into a changing world (Falk 2006). 3. Develop publications for a broad audience on issues bridging fire science and restoration ecology. Works currently in preparation include a co-edited book on fire as a landscape process, a study of effects of land use on fire management, and the first undergraduate textbook on restoration ecology (Nelson et al., anticipated submission 2012, Sinauer Associates). We are also working on fact sheets and other publications for ecosystem managers and policy makers. Other impacts include: FireScape, Steering Committee and Chair of Science Working Group (2007- ongoing). FireScape is a collaborative initiative led by the Coronado National Forest, University of Arizona, The Natural Conservancy, Saguaro National Park and other collaborators to develop landscape-scale approaches to fire and ecosystem management in the Sky Island bioregion. A central priority for FireScape is the development of science-based, collaborative approaches to fire management at the landscape scale, which serves as an exemplary regional and national model. More than 20 cooperating local, state, and Federal partners are now involved in FireScape, which is also supported by a national US Forest Service TEAMS Enterprise technical group. Southwest Fire Science Consortium, Executive Board (2009 - ongoing). The University of Arizona is a Consortium Partner in this initiative funded in 2009 by the Joint Fire Science Program and coordinated by the Northern Arizona University School of Forestry. The primary objective of the Consortium is to disseminate and interpret key elements of fire science and ecosystem management to resource managers, public officials, consortium partners, public land stakeholders, and the general public. See http://www.forestguild.org/SWconsortium.html.

Publications

  • Falk, D. A. , E. K. Heyerdahl, P. M. Brown, C. A. Farris, P. Z. Fule, D. McKenzie, T. W. Swetnam, A. H. Taylor, and M. L. Van Horne. 2011. Multiscale controls of historical fire regimes: New insights from fire-scar networks. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9(8): 446-454.
  • OConnor, C., T. W. Swetnam, G. Garfin, and D. A. Falk. 2011. Human Pyrogeography. Geography Compass 5(6): 329-350.
  • McKenzie, D., C. Miller, and D. A. Falk (Eds.). 2011. The landscape ecology of fire. Ecological Studies Series, Springer-Verlag, New York. Synthesis and original research.
  • Maschinski, J., D. A. Falk, S. J. Wright, J. Possley, J. Roncal, and K. Wendelberger. 2011. Where can plants go when their habitat is gone Optimal locations for plant reintroductions in a changing world. In Maschinski et al., New Strategies for Plant Conservation. Island Press, Washington DC.
  • McKenzie. D., C. Miller, and D. A. Falk. Toward a theory of landscape disturbance. In McKenzie, D., C. Miller, and D. A. Falk (Eds.). 2011. The landscape ecology of fire. Ecological Studies Series, Springer-Verlag. Original research.
  • Swetnam, Tyson L., D. A. Falk, A. Hessl, and C. Farris. 2011. Reconstructing spatial pattern in landscape scale historical fires and fire regimes. In McKenzie, D., C. Miller, and D. A. Falk (Eds.). The landscape ecology of fire. Ecological Studies Series, Springer-Verlag. Original research.


Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1. Contribute to understanding the interplay of dominant top-down and bottom-up factors that govern fire occurrence and other ecological disturbances across scales of space and time. 1.1. Build and demonstrate methods for spatial mapping and fire spread analysis of historic fires. We work on fine-scale mapping of historical fires and similarity-based spatial interpolation of fire perimeters, based on high-resolution fire history data from the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico. 1.2. Contribute new fire histories that will improve spatial and temporal resolution in reconstructions of fire occurrence. A major initiative in this area is a spatially-explicit fire history in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, NM (funding: Joint Fire Science Program, US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station). 1.3. Collaborate in analyzing patterns and drivers of spatiotemporal synchrony in a unified fire history data set for western North America. We are working with a group of colleagues to map and analyze data from an expanded North American fire history network, to facilitate a new multi-scale synthesis of fire-climate relationships in western North America (supported by US Forest Service Global Change Program and the Joint Fire Science Program, 2009). 2. Explore fire as a driver of ecosystem dynamics, especially with respect to plant demography, energetics, and disturbance interactions in a context of changing climate. 2.1. Initiate studies linking fire and climate to forest dynamics and disturbance interactions. Our primary study area on this topic is the Pinaleno Mountains in southeastern Arizona. 2.2. Complete studies of relationships of forest structure and tree growth along environmental gradients. Current work examines the ecophysiological response of ponderosa pine to nitrogen limitation in response to fire-mediated variation in stand density and competition. 2.3. Integrate new technologies into studies of fire in relation to climate variability, forest dynamics, and carbon flux. We are applying high-resolution data derived from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) flights to questions of forest structure, environmental controls, and carbon dynamics (PhD dissertation: T. Swetnam). 3. Apply these insights to ecosystem management and restoration at multiple spatial scales. 3.1. Establish working models of fire management and ecosystem restoration spanning scales from site to mountain ranges. Our laboratory is providing tree composition, structure, and demographic data for the Pinaleno Ecosystem Restoration Project (PERP) of the Coronado National Forest. 3.2. Calibrate and test models of process-centered restoration. Traditional models of ecosystem management and restoration are being re-evaluated in light of sustained impacts of human population growth, resource extraction, land use, and anthropogenic climate change. PARTICIPANTS: Collaborating individuals and institutions: Landscape fire regimes: J. Rundle, S. Sesnie and B. Dickson (NAU); C. Allen (USGS); R. Parmenter and M. Rodgriguez (VCNP); US Forest Service, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire research in Mexico: P. Fule and L. Yocom (NAU), J. Villanueva-Diaz (INIFAP, Gomez-Palacio, Durango), E. Heyerdahl (Fire Sciences Laboratory, RMRS). Western North American fire climatology: T. Kitzberger (Univ. del Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina); E. Sutherland (USFS/RMRS); E. Heyerdahl (Fire Sciences Laboratory); P. Brown (Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research); T. Brown (Desert Research Institute); T. W. Swetnam (UA/LTRR). Disturbance interactions: A. Lynch (USFS/RMRS); R. Smith and C. Wilcox (Coronado National Forest). New technologies: C. Wilcox (Coronado National Forest); D. Laes (US Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center). TARGET AUDIENCES: Much of our research is conducted in a translational ecosystem research (TER) framework, where research is mapped onto immediate needs of ecosystem managers. Our major initiative in this area is the FireScape project, including research in landscape fuel mapping, fire spread modeling, and fire history as well as human dimensions (MS thesis: J. Minor). Our laboratory is providing tree composition, structure, and demographic data for the Pinaleno Ecosystem Restoration Project (PERP) of the Coronado National Forest. Traditional models of ecosystem management and restoration are being re-evaluated in light of sustained impacts of human population growth, resource extraction, land use, and anthropogenic climate change. In their place, a new generation of frameworks is emerging to guide restoration ecology into a changing world. We are working on new process-oriented restoration models which reflect ecosystem dynamics over static states and process-based models for addressing species invasions. Works currently in preparation include a co-edited book on fire as a landscape process, a study of effects of land use on fire management, and the first undergraduate textbook on restoration ecology (anticipated submission 2011, Sinauer Associates). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Presentations Falk, D. A. "The Science of FireScape." Arizona Forest Health Council, Coronado National Forest, Tucson. January 2010. Invited. Falk, D. A. "FireScape: Integrating science and management at landscape scales." Southwest Fire Science Consortium, Tucson. January 2010. Invited. Falk, D. A. "Restoration ecology in a changing world." LAW 603J, Sustainability and Environmental Policy (M. L. Miller and T. W. Swetnam, Instructors). James Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona. January 2010. Invited. Falk, D. A. and T. W. Swetnam. "Pryogeography of western North America." Fire History and Climate Synthesis Workshop. National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute, Tucson. February 2010. Invited. Falk, D. A. and T. W. Swetnam. "FireScape: Collaborative adaptive management at landscape scales." CAMNET (Collaboration and Adaptive Management Network), Tucson. March 2010. Invited. > Falk, D. A., A. Arizpe, C. H. Baisan, E. Bigio, J. Conver, M. Crimmins, J. Dewar, L. Marshall, J. Minor, C. O'Connor, T. L. Swetnam, and T. W. Swetnam. "Cross-scale research in forest dynamics." Tree-Ring Day, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. Arizona Historical Society, Tucson. March 2010. Submitted. > O'Connor, C., D. A. Falk, A. M. Lynch, C. Wilcox, and T. L. Swetnam. "Forest demography and disturbance interactions in the Pinaleno Mountains, AZ." Tree-Ring Day, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. Arizona Historical Society, Tucson. March 2010. Submitted. > Falk, D. A. and T. L. Swetnam. "Thinking about fire as an Earth system process." Seminar series, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Arizona. April 2010. Invited. Heyerdahl, E. K., D. A. Falk, and R. A. Loehman. "Fire and forest histories of central Oregon from tree rings." Central Oregon Fire Science Symposium, Central Oregon Community College, Bend, OR. April 2010. Invited. McKenzie, D., C. Miller, and D. A. Falk. "Toward a theory of landscape fire." International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE), Athens, GA. April 2010. Invited. Smithwick, E. A. H., R. E. Keane, D. McKenzie, C. Miller, M. A. Simard, D. M. Kashian, R. Loehman, and D. A. Falk. "Climate impacts on multiple disturbance interactions, Yellowstone National Park." Association of American Geographers (AAG), Washington, DC. April 2010. Submitted. Falk, D. A. "Landscape and climatic context of fire as an Earth system process." In Workshop: Developing and interpreting paleofire histories from fire scar and sediment charcoal records, D. Gavin (University of Oregon) and P. Higuera (University of Idaho), Organizers. Annual Meeting, Ecological Society of America, Pittsburgh, PA. August 2010. Falk, D. A. "The Science behind FireScape." Mt. Lemmon Fire District, FireWise Committee. Summerhaven, AZ. August 2010. Invited. Falk, D. A. "FireScape: Integrating science and management at landscape scales." Speaker and panelist, Sky Island Alliance, Adapting to a Changing Climate: A Workshop for Land and Resource Managers, Tucson. October 2010. Invited.

Publications

  • Falk, D. A., E. K. Heyerdahl, P. M. Brown, T. W. Swetnam, E. K. Sutherland, Z. Gedalof, L. Yocom, and T. J. Brown. 2010. Fire and climate variation in western North America from fire scar networks. Past Global Climates 18(2): 70-72. Yocom, L., P. Z. Fule, P. M. Brown, J. Cerano, J. Villanueva-Diaz, D. A. Falk, and E. Cornejo-Oviedo. 2010. El Nino-Southern Oscillation effect on a fire regime in northeastern Mexico has shifted over time. Ecology 91(6): 1660-1671. Farris, C.A., D. A. Falk, C. H. Baisan, S. R. Yool, and T. W. Swetnam. 2010. Spatial and temporal corroboration of fire-scar based fire history reconstructions in a frequently burned ponderosa pine forest in southern Arizona. Ecological Applications 20: 1598-1614. Falk, D.A., C. Cox, D. Hill, T. McKinnon, E. Rosenberg, K. Siderits, and T. W. Swetnam. 2010. Fire on the Landscape: Land-use Planning for Forest Health and Safe Communities. Arizona Forest Health Advisory Council, Office of the Governor.


Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: A. Research activity. A.1 Contributed to understanding the interplay of dominant top-down and bottom-up factors that govern fire occurrence in space and time. Primary collaborators: C. Allen (USGS); R. Parmenter and M. Rodgriguez (VCNP); US Forest Service, Fire Sciences Laboratory; T. W. Swetnam (UA/LTRR). A.2 Contribute new fire histories that will improve spatial and temporal resolution in reconstructions of fire occurrence in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, NM, new fire and climate history sites in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Coahuilla in northern and eastern Mexico (Yocom et al. 2009), as well as new sites in the American Southwest. A.3 Collaborate in analyzing patterns and drivers of spatiotemporal synchrony in a unified fire history data set for western North America. We are working with a group of colleagues to map and analyze data from an expanded North American fire history network (Falk, Heyerdahl et al., in prep.). Primary collaborators: E. Sutherland (USFS/RMRS); E. Heyerdahl (Fire Sciences Laboratory); P. Brown (Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research); T. Brown (Desert Research Institute); T. W. Swetnam (UA/LTRR). A.4 Explore fire as a factor in ecosystem dynamics, especially with respect to demography, energetics, and disturbance interactions, in a context of changing regional climate. Here we are initiating studies linking fire and climate to forest dynamics and disturbance interactions. Our research is focusing on interactions of climate variability, fire, insect outbreaks, and forest dynamics using a mountain-range network of study plots and fire history collections (PhD dissertation: C. O'Connor). Collaborators: A. Lynch (USFS/RMRS); R. Smith and C. Wilcox (Coronado National Forest). A.5 Integrate new technologies into studies of fire in relation to climate variability, forest dynamics, and carbon flux. We are applying high-resolution data derived from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) flights to questions of forest structure, environmental controls, and carbon dynamics. A.6 Applying these insights to fire management and restoration at multiple spatial scales, from individual sites to whole mountain ranges. We are establishing working models of fire management and ecosystem restoration spanning scales from site to mountain ranges. Much of our research is conducted in a translational ecosystem research (TER) framework, where research is mapped onto immediate needs of ecosystem managers. Our major initiative in this area is the FireScape project, a collaboration of the Coronado National Forest, Saguaro National Park, The Nature Conservancy, and the University of Arizona (see below). A.8 Develop publications for a broad audience on issues bridging fire science and restoration ecology. Works currently in preparation include a co-edited book on fire as a landscape process (McKenzie et al., in prep. anticipated submission 2010), a study of effects of land use on fire management (Falk et al. 2009), and the first undergraduate textbook on restoration ecology (Nelson, Higgs, and Falk; anticipated submission 2010; Sinauer Associates). PARTICIPANTS: Arizona Wildfire Academy Arizona Forest Health Council Arizpe, Alexis (MS student) Association for Fire Ecology Bureau of Indian Affairs Bureau of Land Management Center for Plant Conservation Consultative Group in Biological Diversity (CGBD) Coronado National Forest Desert Research Institute Dewar, Jacqueline (MS student) Fire Research Institute The Forest Guild Four Corners Institute International Multiproxy Paleofire Database (IMPD) Advisory Board Island Press Marshall, Laura (doctoral student) Minor, John (MS student) National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute New Mexico State Forestry Northern Arizona University O'Connor, Christopher (doctoral student) Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research Saguaro National Park and US National Park Service Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center Southwestern Ecological Restoration Institutes Swetnam, Tyson (doctoral) The Natural Conservancy of Arizona US Forest Service Southwestern Region and Rocky Mountain Research Station US Forest Service TEAMS Enterprise US Fire Science Laboratory US Fish & Wildlife Service US Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center US Geological Survey Valles Caldera National Preserve TARGET AUDIENCES: Largely directed to the collaborators summarized above, as well as public stakeholders, elected officials, and members of the communities affected by the ecosystems we study. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Outcome and impacts. Much of our work is directed not only to basic questions in ecosystem ecology, but also to developing a knowledge base of potential use to ecosystem and land managers. Here we summarize some of the main examples where we have provided the results of our work to communities of interest. A.1 Catalina-Rincon FireScape, Steering Committee and Chair of Science Working Group. FireScape is a collaborative initiative led by the Coronado National Forest, University of Arizona, Saguaro National Park and The Natural Conservancy to develop landscape-scale approaches to fire and ecosystem management for the combined area of the Santa Catalina and Rincon ranges. A central priority for FireScape is the development of a science-based, collaborative approach to fire management at the landscape scale. More than 20 cooperating local, state, and Federal partners are now involved in the Project, which is also supported by a national US Forest Service TEAMS Enterprise technical group. During 2009 new FireScape initiatives were proposed and funded for the Chiricahua, Dragoon, and Galiuro Mountains. UA units involved include the School of Natural Resources, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Office of Arid Lands Studies, and the School of Geography and Regional Development. 2007 and ongoing. See: http://www.srnr.arizona.edu/projects/firescapesnr/index.html. A.2 Southwest Fire Science Consortium. The University of Arizona is a Consortium Partner in this new initiative, funded in 2009 by the Joint Fire Science Program. The primary objective of the Southwest Fire Science Consortium is to disseminate and interpret key elements of fire science and ecosystem management to resource managers, public officials, consortium partners, public land stakeholders, and the general public. Other key partners include the Southwestern Ecological Restoration Institutes, The Forest Guild, The Nature Conservancy, US Forest Service Southwestern Region and Rocky Mountain Research Station, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, New Mexico State Forestry, Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center, and the Fire Research Institute. See http://www.forestguild.org/SWconsortium.html. A.3 Arizona Forest Health Council, Member (2003 - current). Appointed by Gov. Janet Napolitano to serve on the primary advisory board on forest health issues. Chair Land-use Subcommittee, 2003-2008. Co-organizer and presenter at Council Briefing on "Climate Change and Forest Health" for State policymakers and agency officials, Phoenix, AZ (March 2009). A.4 Scholarly and public presentations and posters included Annual Meeting of the Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA), International conference of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), Centre for Climate Research (BCCR), Bergen, Norway, Centre for Climate Research (BCCR), Bergen, Norway (presented by collaborator), Association for Fire Ecology, and the University of Arizona (including University of Arizona Agriculture and Environmental Science Student Showcase; our students were awarded First Place in Student Showcase and University President's Award).

Publications

  • Falk, D.A., C. Cox, D. Hill, T. McKinnon, E. Rosenberg, K. Siderits, and T. W. Swetnam. 2009. Living with Fire: Land-use Planning for Forest Health and Safe Communities. Technical Report of the Arizona Forest Health Advisory Council, Office of the Governor.
  • Stevens, J. and D. A. Falk. 2009. Using invasion ecology theory to explain buffelgrass success and restoration potential in the American Southwest. Ecological Restoration. 27(4): 417 to 427.
  • M. Lenart, D. A. Falk, F. N. Scatena, and W. R. Osterkamp. 2009. Tree Uprooting From Hurricanes Dominates Forest Soil Turnover In Puerto Rico. Forest Ecology & Management 259: 1076 to 1084.