Notes on Robert J. Whelan's The Ecology of Fire

Notes on by Robert J. Whelan's The Ecology of Fire
By J. Zimmerman

Redwood prescribed burn (2006 Big Basin S.P.): Report. Pictures by David Auerbach Forest fire costs. Forest fire. Notes on: Robert J. Whelan's The Ecology of Fire. Fire in Sierra Nevada Forests: A Photographic Interpretation of Ecological Change Since 1849 by George E. Gruell.

The Ecology of Fire by Robert J. Whelan. Fire as an ecological agent. Fire in California's Ecosystems edited by Neil G. Sugihara and others. The science, ecology, and management of fire in California.

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Overview

Examines how fire, particularly wildfire, affects animal and plant populations as individual organisms and as populations and communities. Includes:

• "effects on ecological processes such as predator-prey, and plant-herbivore interactions".
• "major aspects of ecology that are of particular importance to fire control — both protection against wildfires and fire as a management tool".

Emphasizes general ecological principles.

Sections of Robert J. Whelan's The Ecology of Fire.

1. Fire ecology – an introduction.
   Definitions.

2. Fire – the phenomenon.
   p. 12, Table 2.1 shows total heat of combusion for various forest fuels, including:

   Fuel type	Heat of combustion (MJ/kg)
   Acacia melanoxylon woods	18.9
   Oak woods	19.3
   Eucalyptus woods	19.2-21.3 (varies with species).
   Pine woods	21.3
   Pine sawdust	21.7
   Pine pitch	35.1
   Eucalyptus oil	37.2

   The average maximum temperature of headfires in grasslands increases with biomass, by roughly 300°C for 7000 kg/ha, or 40°C for each 1000 kg/ha. [extrapolating from Texas data in Figure 2.10 on p.31].

   The scorch height on the vegetation increases with the two-thirds power of the fireline intensity (or effective radiation temperature of the fire front). [Figure 2.14 on p.40].

   p. 53, Table 2.3 summarizes the range of fire cycles in various ecosystems. This is a subset:

   Biome/ecosystem	Fire frequency (years)
   Prairie (Missouri)	1
   Dry temperate mixed conifer (California)	7-100
   Moist evergreen scrub (Florida)	20-30
   Evergreen chaparral (California)	20-50
   Deciduous chaparral (California)	30-100
   Tundra (Alaska, Canada)	500

3. Survival of individual organisms.

   p. 60, Table 3.2 summarizes the semi-logarithmic relationship between temperature experienced and time to cause death, and the variation by a factor of 100 or more among species exposed to the same temperature.

   p. 91, Figure 3.16 shows the increase of size of tree rings in the years following a fire, presumably because of the increased availability of sunlight to a surviving tree.

   p. 123, Figure 3.25 shows the spread in timing of seed germination.

4. Approaches to population studies.

   Shows how population change can be assessed.

5. Plant populations.

   p. 189, Figure 5.21 shows the decrease of tree biomass with density. Thus, the less dense the trees, not only the bigger are the individual trees, but the bigger the overall biomass.

6. Animal populations.

   This section studies mortality and rate of return after a fire.

   p. 226, Figure 6.11 shows the mass of kites feeding on insects fleeing a fire front in the east African savanna.

7. Community responses to fire.

   p. 249, Table 7.2 shows the relative susceptibility of North American Pacific north-west conifers:

   Level of resistance	Tree
   Highest	Western larch.
   High	Ponderosa pine; Douglas fir.
   Medium	Grand fir; Lodgepole pine; Western white pine.
   Low	Western red cedar; Western red hemlock; Noble fir.
   Very low	Subalpine fir; Pacific silver fir.

8. Fire and management.

9. References.
   35 pages, showing the phenomenal scholarship behind this book.

10. Index.
    2 pages.

Book Choice.

Sierra Nevada Tree Identifier.	My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir.
	Sierra Nevada: The Naturalist's Companion by Verna R. Johnson. Published University of California Press.
The Ecology of Fire by Robert J. Whelan.	Fire in Sierra Nevada Forests: A Photographic Interpretation of Ecological Change Since 1849 by George E. Gruell.

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