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FIRE BEHAVIOR ACROSS A VEGETATION GRADIENT AND PEAT COMBUSTION VULNERABILITY IN SOUTH FLORIDA
Title
FIRE BEHAVIOR ACROSS A VEGETATION GRADIENT AND PEAT COMBUSTION VULNERABILITY IN SOUTH FLORIDA.
Creator
Jensen, Kevin, Benscoter, Brian, Florida Atlantic University, Department of Biological Sciences, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Abstract/Description
Fire is a tool to reduce fuel and restore ecosystems but poses a risk of peat combustion that temporally restricts managers. Studies indicate that fires may be prescribed with a water table lower than the peat surface, but are based on locations with different peat properties or assumed heat inputs. The goal of this research is to quantify peat surface heating during a passing fire and the heat required to ignite peat under lowered water tables. This study used temperature probes at two...
Show moreFire is a tool to reduce fuel and restore ecosystems but poses a risk of peat combustion that temporally restricts managers. Studies indicate that fires may be prescribed with a water table lower than the peat surface, but are based on locations with different peat properties or assumed heat inputs. The goal of this research is to quantify peat surface heating during a passing fire and the heat required to ignite peat under lowered water tables. This study used temperature probes at two heights to quantify peat surface heating during a prescribed fire and a manipulative experiment to quantify the effects of water table recession on peat properties important for predicting ignition. The soil surface experienced 87% of the flaming heat in sawgrass dominated areas. The heat required to ignite the peat surface was significantly correlated with the water table depth. This provides managers greater opportunity for prescribing fire.
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Date Issued
2021
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013780
Subject Headings
Fires, Fire ecology, Peat--Combustion, Prescribed burning
Format
Document (PDF)
VEGETATION DYNAMICS AT DIFFERENT SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALES IN FREQUENTLY BURNED MIXED CONIFER FORESTS, NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA RANGE, CALIFORNIA.
Title
VEGETATION DYNAMICS AT DIFFERENT SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALES IN FREQUENTLY BURNED MIXED CONIFER FORESTS, NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA RANGE, CALIFORNIA.
Creator
Paudel, Asha, Markwith, Scott H., Florida Atlantic University, Department of Geosciences, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Abstract/Description
Mixed conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, California, face threats from frequent highseverity fire associated with climate change and fuel accumulation leading to vegetation shifts at local and landscape scales. Under rapid climate change, a clear understanding of how vegetation responds to single and/or repeated wildfires is still lacking and needs to be investigated. Using field and satellite data, the effects of wildfire on vegetation dynamics were explored at the plot and landscape...
Show moreMixed conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, California, face threats from frequent highseverity fire associated with climate change and fuel accumulation leading to vegetation shifts at local and landscape scales. Under rapid climate change, a clear understanding of how vegetation responds to single and/or repeated wildfires is still lacking and needs to be investigated. Using field and satellite data, the effects of wildfire on vegetation dynamics were explored at the plot and landscape levels in this dissertation project. Results from the field data suggest that management activities may be required in high-severity burned areas to restore dominance of mixed conifer forests and regain historical species composition in areas where live trees persist. Results from satellite data suggested that large shrub patches, created after mixed severity fire, fragment the homogenous mixed conifer dominated forest of the Sierra Nevada to create a more heterogeneous landscape, however the extent of diversity and fragmentation were dependent on fire severity and scales. Natural wildfires may restore landscape heterogeneity to conditions equivalent to the pre-Columbian era, but effects under the projected climate change scenario for 21st century remain uncertain. Mixed conifer dominated forests are predicted to be the dominant component of the Sierra Nevada landscape under historical fire probabilities and excluding higher probability of high-severity fire over the next 100 years.
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Date Issued
2022
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013966
Subject Headings
Vegetation dynamics, Climate change, Fire ecology, Wildfires--Management
Format
Document (PDF)
Estimating the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion
Title
Estimating the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion.
Creator
Johnson, James., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Environmental Studies
Abstract/Description
Fire occurrences in the Everglades have increased since hydrologic alterations began, yet the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion during wildfires has yet to be determined. Natural fire regimes help maintain ecosystem functions and services and disruptions of natural disturbance regimes can have detrimental impacts, jeopardizing ecosystem health. Severe peat combustion can destroy native vegetation, alter microtopography, and release large amounts of stored carbon into the...
Show moreFire occurrences in the Everglades have increased since hydrologic alterations began, yet the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion during wildfires has yet to be determined. Natural fire regimes help maintain ecosystem functions and services and disruptions of natural disturbance regimes can have detrimental impacts, jeopardizing ecosystem health. Severe peat combustion can destroy native vegetation, alter microtopography, and release large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. To create a better understanding of the mechanistic controls on Everglades ground fires, the soil's physical properties within several sites of Water Conservation Area 3 and how changes in water table affect these physical characteristics were determined. Areas disturbed by hydrologic alterations contain higher mineral content and therefore require lower water content to combust when compared to preserved regions. Changes in water tables have a significant effect on soil moisture and lower water tables drastically increase the vulnerability of a region.
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Date Issued
2012
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3358594
Subject Headings
Ecological engineering, Conservation of natural resources, Fire ecology, Ecology
Format
Document (PDF)
Determining the Effects of Fire on Ridge Shape Complexity In the Central Everglades
Title
Determining the Effects of Fire on Ridge Shape Complexity In the Central Everglades.
Creator
Dombrowski, Jacob, Benscoter, Brian, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
Self-organized spatial patterning of microtopographic features is a trademark characteristic of the Everglades landscape. Anthropogenic modifications to Everglades’ hydrology have reduced and degraded pattern, where ridges occur at higher elevations and spread into open water sloughs under dryer conditions. Wildfire is an important ecological force in the central Everglades and may maintain ridge-slough patterning through reducing ridge size and complexity, and thus preserve habitat...
Show moreSelf-organized spatial patterning of microtopographic features is a trademark characteristic of the Everglades landscape. Anthropogenic modifications to Everglades’ hydrology have reduced and degraded pattern, where ridges occur at higher elevations and spread into open water sloughs under dryer conditions. Wildfire is an important ecological force in the central Everglades and may maintain ridge-slough patterning through reducing ridge size and complexity, and thus preserve habitat heterogeneity. To investigate fire as a patterning mechanism in the central Everglades I examined the shape complexity and area distribution of ridges along a chronosequence of time since fire. Shape complexity did not change following fire, but small and large ridges became more prominent and eventually spread as time since fire increased, suggesting fire may maintain ridge area distribution. Documentation of fires’ effect on ridge size will inform ecosystem and conceptual models detailing the complex interactions that maintain the Everglades ridge-slough patterning.
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Date Issued
2016
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004683, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004683
Subject Headings
Burning of land -- Environmental aspects, Everglades National Park (Fla.) -- Environmental conditions, Fire ecology -- Florida -- Everglades National Park, Landscape ecology
Format
Document (PDF)
Post-fire Succession and Carbon Storage in the Northern Everglades
Title
Post-fire Succession and Carbon Storage in the Northern Everglades.
Creator
Reger, Lisa Marie, Benscoter, Brian, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
Fire plays a key role in the ecology of the Everglades and is a ubiquitous tool for managing the structure, function, and ecosystem services of the Greater Everglades watershed. Decades of hydrologic modifications have led to the alteration of plant community composition and fire regime in much of the Everglades. To create a better understanding of post-fire recovery in sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) communities, sawgrass marshes in the northern Everglades were studied along a chronosequence...
Show moreFire plays a key role in the ecology of the Everglades and is a ubiquitous tool for managing the structure, function, and ecosystem services of the Greater Everglades watershed. Decades of hydrologic modifications have led to the alteration of plant community composition and fire regime in much of the Everglades. To create a better understanding of post-fire recovery in sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) communities, sawgrass marshes in the northern Everglades were studied along a chronosequence of time since fire and along a nutrient gradient. Areas closer to a water nutrient source and with fewer mean days dry contained greater total and dead aboveground graminoid biomass whereas live graminoid biomass was greater in areas with less time since fire and with fewer days dry. Post-fire characteristics of sawgrass marshes can provide insight on the effectiveness of fire management practices in the maintenance and restoration of quality habitat in the northern Everglades.
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Date Issued
2016
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004625, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004625
Subject Headings
Everglades National Park (Fla.)--Environmental conditions., Swamp ecology--Florida--Everglades., Restoration ecology--Florida--Everglades., Forest fires--Florida--Everglades., Prescribed burning--Florida--Everglades., Ecosystem management--Florida--Everglades.
Format
Document (PDF)