Subalpine Forest Dynamics After Fire in the Pacific Northwest National Park

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Mark H. Huff

Originator: James K. Agee

Publication_Date: 1991

Title:

Subalpine Forest Dynamics After Fire in the Pacific Northwest National Park

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Seattle, WA

Publisher:

National Park Service Cooperative Park Studies Unit, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington

Description:

Abstract:

Subalpine forest dynamics were examined after fire occurrence in the North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier National Park.

Purpose:

The objectives of this study are to determine for a variety of older subalpine fires the tree establishment trends over time, and to use these data to evaluate generalizable patterns of stand development after subalpine wildfires.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 1986

Ending_Date: 1987

Currentness_Reference: Observed

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None Planned

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.75

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -120.55

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 49

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 46.71

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Theme_Keyword: subalpine

Theme_Keyword: forest

Theme_Keyword: fire

Theme_Keyword: regeneration

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Place_Keyword: USA

Place_Keyword: Washington

Place_Keyword: Olympic National Park

Place_Keyword: Mount Rainier National Park

Place_Keyword: North Cascades National Park

Place_Keyword: Olympic Peninsula

Stratum:

Stratum_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Temporal:

Temporal_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Taxonomy:

Taxonomic_Keywords: subalpine fir

Taxonomic_Keywords: Plants

Taxonomic_Keywords: Vaccinium membranaceum

Taxonomic_Keywords: Abies lasiocarpa

Taxonomic_Keywords: Abies amabilis

Taxonomic_Keywords: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis

Taxonomy:

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Abies

Species: Abies amabilis

Applicable_Common_Names: Pacific silver fir

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Abies

Species: Abies lasiocarpa

Applicable_Common_Names: subalpine fir

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Ericaceae

Genus: Vaccinium

Species: Vaccinium membranaceum

Applicable_Common_Names: big huckleberry

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Onagraceae

Genus: Epilobium

Species: Epilobium angustifolium

Applicable_Common_Names: fireweed

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Ericaceae

Genus: Vaccinium

Species: Vaccinium deliciosum

Applicable_Common_Names: delicious huckleberry

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Tsuga

Species: Tsuga mertensiana

Applicable_Common_Names: mountain hemlock

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Festuca

Species: Festuca idahoensis

Applicable_Common_Names: Idaho fescue

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Pinus

Species: Pinus albicaulis

Applicable_Common_Names: whitebark pine

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Celastraceae

Genus: Pachistima

Species: Pachistima myrsinites

Applicable_Common_Names: Oregon boxwood

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Ericaceae

Genus: Vaccinium

Species: Vaccinium scoparium

Applicable_Common_Names: Scouler's huckleberry

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Pseudotsuga

Species: Pseudotsuga menziesii

Applicable_Common_Names: Douglas-fir

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Pinus

Species: Pinus monticola

Applicable_Common_Names: western white pine

Taxonomic_Coverage:

Specific_Taxonomic_Information:

Kingdom: Plant

Family: Cupressaceae

Genus: Chamaecyparis

Species: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis

Applicable_Common_Names: Alaska yellow-cedar

Access_Constraints: Must contact author for data

Use_Constraints:

Must cite author if data is used in publications or reports

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Dr. James K. Agee

Contact_Organization: University of Washington

Contact_Position: Professor of Forest Ecology

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: University of Washington

Address: Box 352100

City: Seattle

State_or_Province: Wa

Postal_Code: 98195-2100

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 206/543-2688

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 206/543-3254

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: jagee@u.washington.edu

Security_Information:

Security_Classification_System: None

Security_Classification: None

Security_Handling_Description: None

Analytical_Tool:

Analytical_Tool_Description:

sofware package developed at the University of California, Berkeley (Dr. Alan Stangenberger)

Tool_Access_Information:

Tool_Contact:

Tool_Citation:

Data_Quality_Information:

Lineage:

Methodology:

Methodology_Type: Field

Methodology_Identifier:

Methodology_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Methodology_Keyword: vegetation survey

Methodology_Description:

Tree Seed Dispersal/Germination Dispersal. A survey of tree seed dispersal at recently burned subalpine areas were studied for one cone-bearing season (1986) at two sites: the 1981 Chimney Peak Fire (OLYM) and 1978 Ferry Creek Fire. Seed traps were placed along the edge of the fire or adjacent to different residual tree clusters--defined as a group of 2-25 live trees spaced relatively close together within the fire boundary. We only selected residual tree clusters that were >200 m from the edge and >150 m from any other live seed bearing trees. Traplines were placed in locations where subalpine fir was the most abundant seed-bearing tree. Mountain hemlock was noticeably more abundant in the forest surrounding Chimney Peak Fire than the Ferry Creek Fire. Field notes were taken to describe the vegetation at each residual cluster and edge location, however no surveys were done to describe the vegetation outside the fire perimeter. Three residual clusters were sampled at each of the two fire study sites. Twelve traps were placed at each residual in four lines oriented 90 degrees apart at intervals of 3.5 m, 12.3 m, and 42.9 m on each line. The seed traps located adjacent to the fire's edge were placed on 3 separate lines that radiated from the edge to the inside of the fire. Here, seed traps were placed at intervals of 3.5 m, 12.3 m, 42.9 m, and 100 m. Because of the exceptionally remote nature of the study sites, all seed traps were assembled in the field. Traps were carefully designed to be portable and to exclude small rodents. Seed trap surface dimensions were 0.77 x 1.3 m, totalling 1 m2. Seed traps were set in place in July and August. Seeds ·were collected and traps were removed the following July after snow melt permitted access to the sites. Seeds were identified to species and tallied in the laboratory. The seed data failed to meet assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance for analysis of variance. Because of this, we did not test hypotheses nor assign alpha levels. We examined the effects of distance to seed source and species independently using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by ranks (Siegel 1956). This reduced the power of the tests (calculation nullified without alpha level) and prohibited testing of the interaction between species and distance. Therefore, the analysis should be viewed as exploratory, and the results should be applied judiciously. The Kruskal-Wallis test was done only on data collected near residual tree clusters at the Chimney Peak Fire. The data collected from edge traps at both the Chimney Peak (n=12) and Ferry Creek Fires (n=12) was insufficient for statistical testing. No seeds fell in the residual tree cluster traps at the Ferry Creek Fire, nullifying further analysis of this information. Germination. Subalpine fir cones were collected from Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades National Parks in 1986 to evaluate seed germination. Trees with cones were moderately to sparsely distributed in 198d, especially at MORA and NoCA, suggesting that cone crop was low. Cones were collected from 10 to 14 trees from each study area. The number of trees varied depending upon cone production per tree and difficulty in locating cone-bearing trees. Cones from each tree were kept separate. Cones were placed in cold storage for five months, dried, and wings of the seeds were removed from the seed coat (dewinged). Seeds clearly not capable of germinating were discarded. No selection was made to discard seeds that appeared visibly sound but were empty. A minimum of 400 seeds per tree was needed for the germination experiments. There were 20 trees that met this criteria: 8 in North Cascades, 7 in Mount Rainier, and 5 in olympic National Parks. Seeds from each tree were placed into 8 petri dishes of 50 seeds each. One half of the seeds from each tree were stratified (refrigerated in moist conditions) for >28 days at 4°C. In total, 8,000 seeds in 160 dishes were placed in a germination chamber for 30 days at 8 hours of 30°C and 16 hours of 20°C darkness. Counts of seeds germinated were made at 1 to 2 day intervals. Dissection of 1,600 seeds was done to determine causes of the lack of germination observed. Cones were scheduled to be collected again in fall 1987, however no cones were found after an extensive search of all three study areas. This suggests that a cone-crop failure was widespread in 1987. Tree Establishment Methods Field Transect Procedures. Tree establishment and stand development patterns were measured within long, narrow, up- or-down-slope, rectangular transects that represented the elevational gradient within each fire study area. These transects were used primarily to sample tree Species usually began at the edge of the low elevation ecotone between montane and subalpine forests. Transects were taken upslope, until the site and climate could no longer support the development of a forest dominated by subalpine fir, In the Cascade Mountains, transects were discontinued when subalpine fir forests graded into a community dominated by whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) or a ridgeline was encountered, which ever came first. In the Olympic Mountains, where whitebark pine communities are absent, the transects were discontinued at a point where subalpine fir forests slowly graded into a subalpine parkland or krummholz; here, fire is of minor importance. A complete up-or-down-slope transect was usually several hundred meters in length, subdivided into 50 m segments. The width of each transect segment varied from 0.5 to 10 m, depending on the density of trees within each segment. The varying width was adopted to accommodate the wide variation in tree densities within and among study sites. Usually 2-4 transect lines, ranging from 250 to 500m or more, were placed at each study site. The minimum requirement for total transect length of a study site was 450 m. The total length was usually substantially longer to ensure that >250 tree age samples were taken and the range of variation of the study site was sampled effectively. Tree sampling within each 50 m segment was divided into two tree height categories: short trees, 0.2-2.5 m, and tall trees, >2.5 m. For each 50 m segment, each height category was sampled independently with its own transect width. A wider transect was usually necessary for the tall trees because short trees were more abundant. A core was extracted from each tree as close to the pith as possible. The diameter at core height and core height were recorded for each tree. Disk samples were taken from trees that could not be cored. Cores with rot were not collected if rings could not be counted for >40 percent of the core length.

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Laboratory/Analysis Procedures. All increment cores were returned to the laboratory and mounted with glue on boards. Each core was counted for age by using a dissecting microscope with a variable power magnification. Many cores slightly missed the center of the tree and almost all were taken above ground level, necessitating some adjustment to the ages determined from actual ring counts. Samples of young trees from the Ferry Creek fire were used to develop an adjustment procedure. Height and age for 109 subalpine fir trees were measured. There was a poor correlation between height and age, inferring that height alone is a poor independent variable from which to estimate age. The number of rings in the inner cm of the core was used as an additional independent variable. At Mount Rainier, 25 subalpine firs from 1-1.5 m tall were collected and sectioned at 5 cm increments from 0-50 cm and at 10 cm increments above that height. Equations developed for adjustments to core age improved the coefficient of determination from about 0.25 to about 0.75. Dominant species at each site were used to investigate environmental gradients present in the site data set. Detrended correspondence analysis (Hill 1979, Gauch 1982) was used to ordinate the data, The input data was an importance value, expressed on a Daubenmire scale of 1-6, using a mixed system (sensu Agee and Kertis 1987) of percent composition of trees and cover class of shrubs and herbs. Tree establishment over time graphs were developed for each site based on the ages of all sample trees. Weibull distributions were constructed for the data from each site, using a software package developed at the University of California, Berkeley (Dr. Alan Stangenberger). The Weibull is a flexible distribution that has been used to fit diameter distributions (Bailey and Deli 1973) and to evaluate fire history (Johnson and Van Wagner 1985). The Weibull output provides an estimate of parameters known as a, b, and c: b is a scale parameter associated with the mode of the distribution and c is a shape parameter describing the form of the curve: bell-shaped, declining slope, etc. The scale parameter will increase with stand age, and the shape parameter enables inferences to be made about the general pattern of tree recruitment over time. A shape parameter equal to one is equivalent to a negative exponential distribution, while a shape parameter nearing 3 is approximately a normal distribution. The shape parameters for data aggregated into 15 yr increments for young, mature, and old sites were evaluated for possible generalizations about the patterns of tree recruitment after subalpine wildfires.

Process_Date: 1987

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Dr. James K. Agee

Contact_Organization: University of Washington

Contact_Position: Professor of Forest Ecology

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: University of Washington

Address: Box 352100

City: Seattle

State_or_Province: Wa

Postal_Code: 98195-2100

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 206/543-2688

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 206/543-3254

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: jagee@u.washington.edu

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Dr. James K. Agee

Contact_Organization: University of Washington

Contact_Position: Professor of Forest Ecology

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: University of Washington

Address: Box 352100

City: Seattle

State_or_Province: Wa

Postal_Code: 98195-2100

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 206/543-2688

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 206/543-3254

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: jagee@u.washington.edu

Resource_Description: publication

Standard_Order_Process:

Non-digital_Form:

Report may be obtained through local library or through interlibrary loan

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 19990323

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: Olympic Natural Resources Center

Contact_Position: GIS Specialist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing Address

Address: PO Box 1628

City: Forks

State_or_Province: WA

Postal_Code: 98331

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 360.374.3220 x258

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 360.374.3336

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: onrc@u.washington.edu

Hours_of_Service: M-F 8-5

Contact_Instructions: Email preferred

Metadata_Standard_Name:

Content Standards for National Biological Information Infrastructure Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version:

NBII Draft of December 1995, Based FGDC of June 8, 1994

Metadata_Access_Constraints: None

Metadata_Use_Constraints: None

Metadata_Security_Information:

Metadata_Security_Classification_System: None

Metadata_Security_Classification: Unclassified

Metadata_Security_Handling_Description: None