Archived: Managing Oak Ecosystems with Fire in the Eastern U.S.

Managing Oak Ecosystems with Fire in the Eastern U.S.

July 16, 1-2 pm Central

Presenter: Dan Dey, research forester, US Forest Service Northern Research Station

Sustaining oak forests and restoring oak savannas and woodlands are increasingly common management goals in the Midwest and Great Lakes Regions. Sustaining oak forests requires successful regeneration and recruitment into the overstory. The regeneration potential of oak following a disturbance or harvest that initiates stand regeneration is determined largely by the size structure of oak before the event. Collectively, regeneration from (1) seed, (2) advance reproduction, and (3) stump sprouts contribute to oak regeneration but vary in their competitive capacity. Oak regeneration potential is modified by site, competitor regeneration potential and management input.

Prescribed fire is increasingly being used to promote oak regeneration with mixed results, and it is required to restore oak savannas and woodlands. Oak has many silvical traits that make it well adapted to fire. Fire can promote oak regeneration, but it also can reduce it, promote competing vegetation including invasive species, and retard oak recruitment into the overstory. Fire is a tool that can be used to sustain oak forests if it is applied judiciously with knowledge of oak forest ecology and stand dynamics, and with basic forest inventory information. Combining prescribed fire with thinning or harvesting can be effective in increasing oak regeneration potential and dominance in future stands, and it is a good approach to accelerating the restoration of oak savannas and woodlands.

There are two options to view this recorded webinar: 

1) https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2309720278793443587

2) Or stream through the consortium's Vimeo page, where you can find this talk and more on oak savanna and woodland management.

This white oak seedling germinated at the workshop site in the fall of 2017.

Archived Webinar: Finding the Best Science Available on Fire Ecology and Fire Regimes in Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Woodland Ecosystems

A recording of this webinar is available to stream via the Oak Woodlands and Forests Fire Consortium Adobe Connect site.

Finding the Best Science Available on Fire Ecology and Fire Regimes in Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Woodland Ecosystems

Robin Innes and Ilana Abrahamson

US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station

This webinar was held on November 15, 2016.  

Abstract: 

Managers and planners need scientifically sound information on historical fire regimes and contemporary changes in fuels and fire regimes in tallgrass prairie and oak woodland ecosystems to make informed management decisions. To address this need, two new fire regime publications—Fire Regime Reports and Fire Regime Syntheses—are now available and spatially searchable in the recently updated user interface for the Fire Effects Information System (FEIS, www.feis-crs.org/feis/). FEIS staff defined 185 fire regimes by grouping the ~2,500 Biophysical Settings (BpS) models produced by LANDFIRE (www.landfire.gov/fireregime.php) according to similarities in vegetation, modeled fire-return intervals and fire severities, and geographic location. Fire Regime Reports are brief summaries of these models, while Fire Regime Syntheses add comprehensive, thoroughly documented reviews of the scientific literature to information in the Fire Regime Reports. Fire Regime Syntheses provide managers with the best science available on historical fire frequency, spatial pattern, extent, and seasonality; historical ignition sources; and typical patterns of fire intensity and severity. They also provide information on contemporary changes in fuels, especially in relation to their potential to influence fire regimes, and identify regions and plant communities lacking fire history data. Together, these publications help managers develop plans and make informed decisions about local management of fire and fuels. In the updated user interface, they are easy to access using a variety of search criteria, including plant community type and map location, and they are linked to nearly 1,100 FEIS Species Reviews.

Archived Webinar - State Fire Needs Assessments and LANDFIRE: A Case Study

A recording of this 43 minute presentation is available to stream or download from our Vimeo page. 

State Fire Needs Assessments and LANDFIRE: A Case Study

Sarah Hagen, TNC-LANDFIRE spatial analyst, discussed a statewide assessment of vegetation and prescribed fire management in Illinois.

View or download a copy of the Illinois Fire Needs Assessment (published Feb. 2016).

Check out LANDFIRE's Youtube channel - LANDFIREvideo - where you can stream a recording of this webinar, view other recordings and videos, and subscribe to the channel.

Archived Webinar - National Weather Service Fire Weather Forecasts and Parameters

A recording of this 55 minute presentation is available to stream or download from our Vimeo page.

National Weather Service Fire Weather Forecasts and Parameters

Casey Sullivan, Forecaster/Meteorologist

National Weather Service, Chicago/Romeoville office

February 23, 2016  1pm CT

Get the latest updates on the fire weather forecast. This webinar will include an overview of the various forecasts available and the parameters used by the National Weather Service, with a brief discussion of some of the more critical parameters.

Archived Webinar - What Are Our Windows of Opportunity: Understanding Weather Suitability for Prescribed Burns

A recording of this 60 minute presentation can be streamed or downloaded from our Vimeo page.

What Are Our Windows of Opportunity: Understanding Weather Suitability for Prescribed Burns 

Jed Meunier, Research Ecologist

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

February 16, 2016  1pm CT

Interest in the timing of prescribed fire is growing throughout the region with prescribed fire as an increasingly important tool to meet a wide array of land management objectives. In Wisconsin, the majority of prescribed burns occur within a relatively short time period in spring. However, projections of greater variability in both precipitation and drought for this region have the potential to complicate prescribed burn planning. Average precipitation in the Great Lakes region, for example, is projected to increase in both winter and spring with greater intensity and frequency of heavy precipitation events while at the same time summer moisture limitations will likely become more common. It may become increasingly difficult to implement prescribed fires within suitable prescription ‘windows’ (e.g. ranges of relative humidity, wind, temperature, antecedent moisture, etc.). In recognizing this, we have assessed barriers to prescribed burning generally for 58 burn coordinators in southern Wisconsin and have evaluated suitable burn ‘windows’ by season. We have also compared burn ‘windows’ to conditions when burns were conducted on state lands for the past 10 years. In addition to current land management issues, we have attempted to evaluate our results within a historical fire framework.