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Full Citation: Brown, Peter M.; Kaufmann, Merrill R.; Shepperd, Wayne D. 1999. Long-term, landscape patterns of past fire events in a montane ponderosa pine forest of central Colorado. Landscape Ecology 14(6):513-532.
External Identifier(s): 10.1023/A:1008137005355 Digital Object Identifier
Location: Chessman Lake watershed, Colorado, U.S.
Ecosystem types: Montane forest; ponderosa pine forest
Southwest FireCLIME Keywords: None
FRAMES Keywords: catastrophic fires, Colorado, coniferous forests, dendrochronology, ecosystem dynamics, fire frequency, fire injuries (plants), fire intensity, fire regimes, fire size, histories, lakes, landscape ecology, montane forests, mortality, pine forests, Pinus ponderosa, Pseudotsuga menziesii, season of fire, surface fires, trees, fire scars, fire severity, ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, fire chronology, fire seasonality, fire extent, crossdating

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Long-term, landscape patterns of past fire events in a montane ponderosa pine forest of central Colorado

Peter M. Brown, Merrill R. Kaufmann, Wayne D. Shepperd
Summary - what did the authors do and why?

The authors reconstructed the fire history of a montane ponderosa pine forest stand to understand the effects of fire on the current heterogeneity of the forest structure and composition.
Publication findings:

The authors found considerable variation in the spatial extent, frequency, seasonality and fire severity over the five centuries within the Chessman Lake watershed project area. The authors suggest that the extensive variation in the fire regime at the project site has resulted in changes in vegetation spatial patterns at multiple scales over time leading to greater landscape heterogeneity.

Fire and Ecosystem Effects Linkages

How do spatial and landscape patterns of fire relate to species composition, non-natives, and structure?

The authors found considerable variation in the spatial extent, frequency, seasonality and fire severity over the five centuries within the Chessman Lake watershed project area. The authors suggest that the extensive variation in the fire regime at the project site has resulted in changes in vegetation spatial patterns at multiple scales over time leading to greater landscape heterogeneity.