Proximity to grasslands influences fire frequency and sensitivity to climate variability in ponderosa pine forests of the Colorado Front Range
Meredith H. Gartner A D , Thomas T. Veblen A , Rosemary L. Sherriff B and Tania L. Schoennagel A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Campus Box 260, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
B Department of Geography, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521, USA.
C Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado, Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: meredith.gartner@colorado.edu
International Journal of Wildland Fire 21(5) 562-571 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF10103
Submitted: 26 August 2010 Accepted: 31 August 2011 Published: 26 April 2012
Abstract
This study examines the influence of grasslands on fire frequency and occurrence in the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-dominated forests of the central and northern Colorado Front Range. Fire frequency based on tree-ring fire-scar data was compared between 34 fire history sites adjacent to grasslands and 34 fire history sites not adjacent to grasslands for the time period 1675–1920. Relationships were examined between fire occurrence and values of the Palmer Drought Severity Index and sea-surface temperatures from the NINO3 region of the tropical Pacific Ocean (positive values indicating El Niño-like conditions and negative values La Niña-like conditions). Ponderosa pine stands adjacent to grasslands experienced more frequent fire than stands not adjacent to grasslands (P < 0.05) owing to proximity to prevalent fine fuels able to support relatively frequent surface fires. Fire activity adjacent to grasslands showed a lagged positive relationship with moist years (positive Palmer Drought Severity Index and positive NINO3) antecedent to fire events whereas fire occurrence at sites not adjacent to grasslands showed no relationship to antecedent moist years. This study illustrates how the presence of grasslands in a ponderosa pine landscape results in increased fire frequency (a bottom–up influence) and also increases the sensitivity of fire activity to interannual climate variability (a top–down influence).
Additional keywords: bivariate event analysis, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, fire history, grasslands, Palmer Drought Severity Index, Pinus ponderosa.
References
Arno SF, Gruell GE (1986) Douglas-fir encroachment into mountain grasslands in southwestern Montana. Journal of Range Management 39, 272–276.| Douglas-fir encroachment into mountain grasslands in southwestern Montana.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Arno SF, Sneck KM (1977) A method of determining fire history in coniferous forests of the mountain west. USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Research Paper INT-42. (Ogden, UT)
Bachelet D, Lenihan JM, Daly C, Neilson RP (2000) Interactions between fire, grazing, and climate change at Wind Cave National Park, SD. Ecological Modelling 134, 229–244.
| Interactions between fire, grazing, and climate change at Wind Cave National Park, SD.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXntFyis70%3D&md5=e8a758c192893a5a39fa47bc5f321cddCAS |
Bai Y, Broersma K, Thompson D, Ross TJ (2004) Landscape-level dynamics and grassland-forest transitions in British Columbia. Journal of Range Management 57, 66–75.
| Landscape-level dynamics and grassland-forest transitions in British Columbia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Barrett SW (1994) Fire regimes on andesitic mountain terrain in northeastern Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. International Journal of Wildland Fire 4, 65–76.
| Fire regimes on andesitic mountain terrain in northeastern Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bigler C, Gavin DG, Gunning C, Veblen TT (2007) Drought induces lagged tree mortality in a subalpine forest in the Rocky Mountains. Oikos 116, 1983–1994.
| Drought induces lagged tree mortality in a subalpine forest in the Rocky Mountains.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Borman MM (2005) Forest stand dynamics and livestock grazing in historical context. Conservation Biology 19, 1658–1662.
| Forest stand dynamics and livestock grazing in historical context.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bravo S, Kunst C, Grau R, Araoz E (2010) Fire–rainfall relationships in Argentine Chaco savannas. Journal of Arid Environments 74, 1319–1323.
| Fire–rainfall relationships in Argentine Chaco savannas.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brown PM, Shepperd WD (2001) Fire history and fire climatology along a 5° gradient in latitude in Colorado and Wyoming, USA. Palaeobotanist 50, 133–140.
Brown PM, Wu R (2005) Climate and disturbance forcing of episodic tree recruitment in a southwestern ponderosa pine landscape. Ecology 86, 3030–3038.
| Climate and disturbance forcing of episodic tree recruitment in a southwestern ponderosa pine landscape.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brown PM, Heyerdahl EK, Kitchen SG, Weber MH (2008) Climate effects on historical fires (1630–1900) in Utah. International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, 28–39.
| Climate effects on historical fires (1630–1900) in Utah.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Butler DR (1986) Conifer invasion of subalpine meadows, central Lemhi Mountains, Idaho. Northwest Science 60, 166–173.
Chuvieco E, Giglio L, Justice C (2008) Global characterization of fire activity: towards defining fire regimes from Earth observation data. Global Change Biology 14, 1488–1502.
| Global characterization of fire activity: towards defining fire regimes from Earth observation data.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cook ER (2000) ‘Niño 3 Index Reconstruction.’ IGBP PAGES/World Data Center-A for Paleoclimatology. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Geophysical Data Center Paleoclimatology Program: Boulder, CO)
Cook ER, Meko DM, Stahle DW, Cleaveland MK (1999) Drought reconstructions for the continental United States. Journal of Climatology 12, 1145–1162.
| Drought reconstructions for the continental United States.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Covington WW, Moore MM (1994) Post-settlement changes in natural fire regimes and forest structure: ecological restoration of old-growth ponderosa pine forests. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 2, 153–181.
| Post-settlement changes in natural fire regimes and forest structure: ecological restoration of old-growth ponderosa pine forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dieterich JH (1980) The composite fire interval – a tool for more accurate interpretation of fire history. In ‘Proceedings of the Fire History Workshop’, 20–24 October 1980, Tucson, AZ. (Eds MA Stokes, JH Dieterich) USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report RM-81, pp. 8–12. (Fort Collins, CO)
Dieterich JH, Swetnam TW (1984) Dendrochronology of a fire-scarred ponderosa pine. Forest Science 30, 238–247.
Donnegan JA, Veblen TT, Sibold JS (2001) Climatic and human influences on fire history in Pike National Forest, central Colorado. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 31, 1526–1539.
| Climatic and human influences on fire history in Pike National Forest, central Colorado.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gavin DG, Sheng Hu F, Lertzman K, Corbett P (2006) Weak climatic control of stand-scale fire history during the late Holocene in southeastern British Columbia. Ecology 87, 1722–1732.
| Weak climatic control of stand-scale fire history during the late Holocene in southeastern British Columbia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Grau HR, Veblen TT (2000) Rainfall variability, fire and vegetation dynamics in neotropical montane ecosystems in north-western Argentina. Journal of Biogeography 27, 1107–1121.
| Rainfall variability, fire and vegetation dynamics in neotropical montane ecosystems in north-western Argentina.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Grissino-Mayer H, Swetnam TW (2000) Century-scale climate forcing of fire regimes in the American Southwest. The Holocene 10, 213–220.
| Century-scale climate forcing of fire regimes in the American Southwest.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Grissino-Mayer H, Romme W, Floyd M, Hanna D (2004) Long-term climatic and human influences on fire regimes of the San Juan National Forest, southwestern Colorado, USA. Ecological Applications 85, 1708–1724.
Hansen K, Wyckoff W, Banfield J (1995) Shifting forests: historical grazing and forest invasion in southwestern Montana. Forest and Conservation History 39, 66–76.
| Shifting forests: historical grazing and forest invasion in southwestern Montana.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Harris S, Tapper N, Packham D, Orlove B, Nicholls N (2008) The relationship between monsoonal summer rain and dry-season fire activity of northern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, 674–684.
| The relationship between monsoonal summer rain and dry-season fire activity of northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hély C, Alleaume S, Swap R, Shugart H, Justice CD (2003) Characterization of fuels, fire behavior, combustion completeness and emissions from experimental burns in infertile grass savannas in western Zambia. Journal of Arid Environments 54, 381–394.
| Characterization of fuels, fire behavior, combustion completeness and emissions from experimental burns in infertile grass savannas in western Zambia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Heyerdahl EK, Miller RF, Parsons RA (2006) History of fire and Douglas-fir establishment in a savanna and sagebrush-grassland mosaic, southwestern Montana, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 230, 107–118.
| History of fire and Douglas-fir establishment in a savanna and sagebrush-grassland mosaic, southwestern Montana, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Heyerdahl EK, Lertzman K, Karpuk S (2007) Local-scale controls of a low-severity fire regime (1750–1950), southern British Columbia, Canada. Ecoscience 14, 40–47.
| Local-scale controls of a low-severity fire regime (1750–1950), southern British Columbia, Canada.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Holmes RL (1993) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurements. Tree-Ring Bulletin 43, 69–78.
Kaufmann MR, Veblen TT, Romme WH (2006) Historical fire regimes in ponderosa pine forests of the Colorado Front Range, and recommendations for ecological restoration and fuels management. Ecology Workgroup, Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership Roundtable. Available at www.frftp.org/roundtable/pipo.pdf [Verified 11 February 2012]
Keith RP, Veblen TT, Schoennagel TL, Sherriff RL (2010) Understory vegetation in dictates historical fire regimes in ponderosa pine-dominated ecosystems in the Colorado Front Range. Journal of Vegetation Science 21, 488–499.
| Understory vegetation in dictates historical fire regimes in ponderosa pine-dominated ecosystems in the Colorado Front Range.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kitzberger T, Veblen TT, Villalba R (1997) Climatic influences on fire regimes along a rainforest-to-xeric woodland gradient in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Biogeography 24, 35–47.
| Climatic influences on fire regimes along a rainforest-to-xeric woodland gradient in northern Patagonia, Argentina.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kitzberger T, Swetnam TW, Veblen TT (2001) Interhemispheric synchrony of forest fires and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Global Ecology and Biogeography 10, 315–326.
| Interhemispheric synchrony of forest fires and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kitzberger T, Brown PM, Heyerdahl EK, Swetnam TW, Veblen TT (2007) Contingent Pacific–Atlantic Ocean influence on multicentury wildfire synchrony over western North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104, 543–548.
| Contingent Pacific–Atlantic Ocean influence on multicentury wildfire synchrony over western North America.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2sXptVCmtg%3D%3D&md5=b0d492b2c2bdc11cc6b6b928715ded19CAS |
Knapp PA (1998) Spatio-temporal patterns of large grassland fires in the Intermountain West, USA. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters 7, 259–272.
| Spatio-temporal patterns of large grassland fires in the Intermountain West, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Krawchuk MA, Moritz MA (2011) Constraints on global fire activity vary across a resource gradient. Ecology 92, 121–132.
| Constraints on global fire activity vary across a resource gradient.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Krawchuk MA, Moritz MA, Parisien MA, van Dorn J, Hayhoe K (2009) Global pyrogeography: the current and future distribution of wildfire. PLoS ONE 4, e5102
| Global pyrogeography: the current and future distribution of wildfire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Littell JS, McKenzie D, Peterson DL, Westerling AL (2009) Climate and wildfire area burned in western US ecoprovinces, 1916–2003. Ecological Applications 19, 1003–1021.
| Climate and wildfire area burned in western US ecoprovinces, 1916–2003.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Marr JW (1961) Ecosystems of the east slope of the Front Range in Colorado. University of Colorado Studies Series in Biology 8 (University of Colorado: Boulder, CO)
Mast JN, Veblen TT, Hodgson ME (1997) Tree invasion within a pine/grassland ecotone: an approach with historic aerial photography and GIS modeling. Forest Ecology and Management 93, 181–194.
| Tree invasion within a pine/grassland ecotone: an approach with historic aerial photography and GIS modeling.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McBride JR (1983) Analysis of tree rings and fire scars to establish fire history. Tree Ring Bulletin 43, 51–67.
McBride JR, Lavin RD (1976) Scars as an indicator of fire frequency in the San Bernardino Mountains, California. Journal of Forestry 74, 439–442.
Norman SP, Taylor AH (2003) Tropical and north Pacific teleconnections influence fire regimes in pine-dominated forests of northeastern California, USA. Journal of Biogeography 30, 1081–1092.
| Tropical and north Pacific teleconnections influence fire regimes in pine-dominated forests of northeastern California, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Peet RK (1981) Forest vegetation of the Colorado Front Range: composition and dynamics. Vegetatio 45, 3–75.
| Forest vegetation of the Colorado Front Range: composition and dynamics.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ripley BD (1976) The second-order analysis of stationary point processes. Journal of Applied Probability 13, 255–266.
| The second-order analysis of stationary point processes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Savage M, Swetnam TW (1990) Early and persistent fire decline in a Navajo ponderosa pine forest. Ecology 71, 2374–2378.
| Early and persistent fire decline in a Navajo ponderosa pine forest.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Schoennagel T, Veblen TT, Romme WH (2004) The interaction of fire, fuels, and climate across Rocky Mountain Forests. Bioscience 54, 661–676.
| The interaction of fire, fuels, and climate across Rocky Mountain Forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Schoennagel T, Veblen TT, Romme WH, Sibold JS, Cook ER (2005) ENSO and PDO variability affect drought-induced fire occurrence in Rocky Mountain subalpine forests. Ecological Applications 15, 2000–2014.
| ENSO and PDO variability affect drought-induced fire occurrence in Rocky Mountain subalpine forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Schoennagel T, Veblen TT, Kulakowski D, Holz A (2007) Multidecadal climate variability and interactions among Pacific and Atlantic sea-surface temperature anomalies affect subalpine fire occurrence, western Colorado (USA). Ecology 88, 2891–2902.
| Multidecadal climate variability and interactions among Pacific and Atlantic sea-surface temperature anomalies affect subalpine fire occurrence, western Colorado (USA).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sherriff RL, Veblen TT (2006) Ecological effects of changes in fire regimes in Pinus ponderosa ecosystems in the Colorado Front Range. Journal of Vegetation Science 17, 705–718.
Sherriff RL, Veblen TT (2007) A spatially explicit reconstruction of historical fire occurrence in the ponderosa pine zone of the Colorado Front Range. Ecosystems 9, 1342–1347.
Sherriff RL, Veblen TT (2008) Variability in fire–climate relationships in ponderosa pine forests in the Colorado Front Range. International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, 50–59.
| Variability in fire–climate relationships in ponderosa pine forests in the Colorado Front Range.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sibold JS, Veblen TT (2006) Relationships of subalpine forest fires in the Colorado Front Range with interannual and multidecadal-scale climatic variation. Journal of Biogeography 33, 833–842.
| Relationships of subalpine forest fires in the Colorado Front Range with interannual and multidecadal-scale climatic variation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Swetnam TW, Betancourt JL (1990) Fire–Southern Oscillation relations in the southwestern United States. Science 249, 1017–1020.
| Fire–Southern Oscillation relations in the southwestern United States.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:STN:280:DC%2BC3cvjt1ygsQ%3D%3D&md5=eeb7462920e50622f1a8fab9ef68f1e5CAS |
Swetnam TW, Betancourt JL (1998) Mesoscale disturbance and ecological response to decadal climatic variability in the American Southwest. Journal of Climatology 11, 3128–3147.
| Mesoscale disturbance and ecological response to decadal climatic variability in the American Southwest.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
van der Werf GR, Randerson JT, Giglio L, Bobron N, Dolman AJ (2008) Climate controls on the variability of fires in the tropics and subtropics. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 22, GB3028
| Climate controls on the variability of fires in the tropics and subtropics.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Veblen TT, Donnegan JA (2006) ‘Historical Range of Variability of Forest Vegetation of the National Forests of the Colorado Front Range.’ (USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute: Fort Collins, CO)
Veblen TT, Kitzberger T, Villalba R, Donnegan J (1999) Fire history in northern Patagonia: the roles of humans and climatic variation. Ecological Monographs 69, 47–67.
| Fire history in northern Patagonia: the roles of humans and climatic variation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Veblen TT, Kitzberger T, Donnegan J (2000) Climatic and human influences on fire regimes in ponderosa pine forests in the Colorado Front Range. Ecological Applications 10, 1178–1195.
| Climatic and human influences on fire regimes in ponderosa pine forests in the Colorado Front Range.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Westerling AL, Gershunov A, Cayan DR, Barnett TP (2002) Long lead statistical forecasts of western US wildfire area burned. International Journal of Wildland Fire 11, 257–266.
| Long lead statistical forecasts of western US wildfire area burned.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
