Feb 9 2012

Once burned, twice shy: Repeat fires result in black spruce regeneration failure (Webinar)

A re-burned fire with little to no black spruce regeneration, 2007. Photo courtesy of C. Brown.

Dr. Carissa Brown, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Sherbrooke, will be joining us for a webinar on February 23, 2012 (11:00 am to noon AKST) entitled “Once burned, twice shy: Repeat fires result in black spruce regeneration failure.”  Dr. Brown is currently studying plant species and communities at the edge of their range, focusing on the direct and indirect effects of climate change on species distribution at northern latitudes. Most recently, her work has focused on the responses to altered fire frequency at the northern margin of the boreal forest, particularly in black spruce forests.

Link to recording <HERE>

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Jan 6 2012

2012 Brings a New Look for the Joint Fire Science Program

JFSP Resprouting as FireScience.gov!

The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) launched into 2012 with a completely new web look and feel. Their new site is packed with new features and channels to help you stay connected.

  • For daily information, be sure to follow Firescience.gov, the Regional Consortia (including Alaska!), and others in the increasingly robust wildland fire community on Twitter. It’s painless to sign up and you don’t have to actualy “Tweet” if you don’t want to!
  • If you’re on Facebook be sure to Like their Facebook page to receive updates and information of interest to the wildland fire community.
  • Most importantly – Join the JSFP Mailing List for newsletters and announcements. Check out the latest January 2012 release or browse previous newsletters.  If you like what you see, use the links at the bottom to forward to anyone  you think would benefit from broad, timely, relevant fire science updates.

On Fire: The Official Blog of Firescience.gov

The new blog – On Fire – brings you facts, insight, and commentary on the latest wildland fire science findings, management tools and recommndations. In the coming weeks they will be adding slideshows, videos and guest bloggers. Subscribe and share!

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Dec 27 2011

Hot Off the Press – AFSC December Newsletter

Dec 2011 Newsletter preview. Click the image to read the full newsletter.

The Alaska Fire Science Consortium December 2011 Newsletter is now available!

In This Issue:

  • Fire in Alaska Video
  • 2011 Fire Science Workshop
  • Fire Science Highlights Blog
  • New Publications: Our Top Picks
  • Upcoming Webinars

Read the full Newsletter HERE.

Dec 22 2011

Nenana Ridge Experimental Burn Project – JFSP Final Report

The Nenana Ridge Experimental Burn Project (06-2-1-396) Final Report is now available from the Joint Fire Science Program.

In summary…

This project was funded by the Joint Fire Science Program with contributions from local, state and federal agencies. This project was designed to quantify the effects of fuels reduction treatments on fire behavior and post-fire vegetation dynamics in Alaska black spruce. The study began in 2006 with installation of four 1-acre treatment blocks. Two blocks were thinned to 8 x 8 foot spacing and limbed, one was shearbladed, and one was shearbladed and windrowed. These four blocks were replicated in the adjacent forest unit, with the intent to burn each Unit (A and B) separately. Unit A was successfully ignited on June 17, 2009.  READ MORE

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Dec 22 2011

Fuel reduction projects could increase carbon emissions

Photo from Oregon State University

Forest thinning, such as this work done in the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon, may be of value for some purposes but will also increase carbon emissions to atmosphere, researchers say. (Photo courtesy of Oregon State University)

News from Science Daily:

Forest health versus global warming: Fuel reduction likely to increase carbon emissions.

Read the full Journal Article:

John L Campbell, Mark E Harmon, Stephen R Mitchell. Can fuel-reduction treatments really increase forest carbon storage in the western US by reducing future fire emissions? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2011; : 111215051503003 DOI: 10.1890/110057

Direct from the Source:

Oregon State University News

Dec 21 2011

Rapid rise in wildfires in large parts of Canada? Ecologists find threshold values for natural wildfires

Photo from Science Daily, Credit Evgney Dubinchuk/Fotolia

"A rapid rise in wildfires has been predicted for a large part of Canada" (Credit:Evgeny Dubinchuk/Fotolia) (Photo from Science Daily)

News from Science Daily:

Rapid rise in wildfires in large parts of Canada? Ecologists find threshold values for natural wildfires.

Read the Journal Article behind this summary:

1. Richard D. Zinck, Mercedes Pascual, Volker Grimm. Understanding Shifts in Wildfire Regimes as Emergent Threshold Phenomena. The American Naturalist, 2011; 178 (6): E149 DOI: 10.1086/662675

Dec 20 2011

Local Alaskan Scientist Featured in New York Times: “As Permafrost Thaws, Scientists Study the Risks”

Methane Hot Spots, South Central Alaska, January 2010 (Photo by Marie-Laure Geai)

Local scientist Katey M. Walter Anthony (Aquatic Ecosystem Ecologist at UAF) has been studying the amount of methane gas being released into the atmosphere from thawing permafrost. As long frozen plants and other organic materials begin to thaw, they also begin to decay, producing methane gas. Katey has been collecting gas samples from frozen “bubbling” lakes near Fairbanks, Alaska to see just what we’re up against.

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Dec 14 2011

November 2011 Fire Science Publications

Can’t seem to stay up to date?  Let us do some of the work. 

We’ve put together a bibliography of November’s (plus or minus a few weeks) new fire science publications related to Alaska and the boreal forest.  Download a simple bibliography or an annotated version, both in a pdf format including URLs for each reference.  Just want the highlights? We showcased a few of our “Top Picks” below. 

November 2011 Fire Publications – Bibliography (pdf)

November 2011 Fire Publications – Annotated Bibliography (pdf)

Our “Top Picks”

Werth, Paul A.; Potter, Brian E.; Clements, Craig B.; Finney, Mark A.; Goodrick, Scott L.; Alexander, Martin E.; Cruz, Miguel G.; Forthofer, Jason A.; McAllister, Sara S. 2011. Synthesis of knowledge of extreme fire behavior: volume I for fire managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-854. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 144 p.

 

 

 

 

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Nov 18 2011

New Video on Climate and Fire in Alaska

Watch this new video on Climate and Fire in Alaska, featuring Dr. Scott Rupp, UAF Professor, and Jennifer Barnes, NPS Fire Ecologist!

This video is 1 of a 5 part video series entitled Climate Change Watch  (produced by Frontier Scientists and Wonder Visions).   The Climate Change Watch series includes the following videos:  Classrooms for Climate, Changing Biomes (In Production),  Hydrology (In Production),  Permafrost (In Production), and Fire in Alaska.

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Nov 8 2011

New Research Assistantship Available at UAF

The Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks is pleased to offer a research assistantship to study interactions of permafrost, fire, and plant successional processes in altering boreal landscapes in Alaska.

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