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Type: Book
Author(s): Leslie A. Viereck; M. Joan Foote; C. Theodore Dyrness; Keith Van Cleve; Douglas L. Kane; Richard D. Seifert
Publication Date: 1979

Four units totaling 1 hectare in area were burned during the summer of 1976 in the Washington Creek experimental fire site near Fairbanks, Alaska. Original vegetation on the site consisted of an unevenly spaced stand of black spruce approximately 70 years old, with an understory of ericaceous shrubs and a nearly continuous cover of moss and lichen. One plot was burned on July 22 and the remainder on August 26 during two periods in the summer when the limits of the burning conditions were met. Measurements taken during the fire showed a difference of fire intensity among the four plots, which was also reflected in the percentage of area in each of five forest floor fire severity classes. Effects of the fires on vegetation, thickness of the organic layer, soil temperatures, phosphorus content of the forest floor, and the amounts of fuel are discussed. Seed fall from black spruce and revegetation of permanent plots during the 1976 season are given. Although the units were small, the burning under different weather conditions and with extra fuels placed on two of the plots resulted in a wide variation in the severity of burns and simulated conditions of a moderately severe wildfire.

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Citation: Viereck, L. A., J. Foote, C. T. Dyrness, C. K. Van, D. Kane, and R. Seifert. 1979. Preliminary results of experimental fires in the black spruce type of Interior Alaska. Research Note PNW-332. Portland, OR, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • chemistry
  • coniferous forests
  • crown fires
  • experimental fires
  • fire intensity
  • forest management
  • fuel accumulation
  • fuel loading
  • fuel moisture
  • fuel types
  • Interior Alaska
  • lichens
  • mosaic
  • mosses
  • organic matter
  • phosphorus
  • Picea mariana
  • post fire recovery
  • regeneration
  • season of fire
  • seed production
  • shrubs
  • soil temperature
  • taiga
  • understory vegetation
  • wildfires
Tall Timbers Record Number: 5123Location Status: In-fileCall Number: A13.78:PNW-332Abstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 31094

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.