Choose a search method


Climate + Fire

Fire + Ecosystem Effects

Search

Climate

Fire

Ecosystem Effects
Full Citation: Passovoy, M. David; Fulé, Peter Z. 2006. Snag and woody debris dynamics following severe wildfires in northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 223(1-3):237-246.
External Identifier(s): 10.1016/j.foreco.2005.11.016 Digital Object Identifier
Location: Coconino National Forest, Arizona, US
Ecosystem types: Ponderosa pine forest; mixed-conifer forest
Southwest FireCLIME Keywords: None
FRAMES Keywords: Arizona, backfires, bark, biomass, catastrophic fires, coniferous forests, decay, disturbance, fine fuels, fire frequency, fire hazard reduction, fire injuries (plants), fire intensity, fire management, fire suppression, forest management, fuel loading, heavy fuels, litter, logging, mortality, national forests, pine forests, Pinus ponderosa, population density, Populus tremuloides, post-fire recovery, regeneration, salvage, snags, soil temperature, surface fuels, wildfires, woody fuels, chronosequence, CWD - coarse woody debris, crown fire, fuel load, ponderosa pine, ponderosa pine forest

View the FRAMES record

Snag and woody debris dynamics following severe wildfires in northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests

M. David Passovoy, Peter Z. Fulé
Summary - what did the authors do and why?

The authors examined post-wildfire snag and down course woody debris characteristics including quantity, quality, and changes over time after severe wildfire.
Publication findings:

Snag densities declined rapidly with increased time since high severity fire, and most snags had fallen either partially or completely after five years. Total course woody debris biomass in the surface fuel load was similar between 8–9-year-old fires to a 27-year-old fire, but the wood became rotten with increasing time. The authors suggest that the increase in rotten wood could increase in ignitability with increasing time since fire, but fine fuels in the study sites were relatively low.

Fire and Ecosystem Effects Linkages

How does fire severity relate to fuels?

Snag densities declined rapidly with increased time since high severity fire, and most snags had fallen either partially or completely after five years. Total course woody debris biomass in the surface fuel load was similar between 8–9-year-old fires to a 27-year-old fire, but the wood became rotten with increasing time. The authors suggest that the increase in rotten wood could increase in ignitability with increasing time since fire, but fine fuels in the study sites were relatively low.