Southwestern ponderosa pine forest patterns following wildland fires managed for resource benefit differ from reference landscapes

Context Managers aiming to utilize wildland fire to restore southwestern ponderosa pine landscapes require better understanding of forest cover patterns produced at multiple scales. Restoration effectiveness of wildland fires managed for resource benefit can be evaluated against natural ranges of va...

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Published in:Landscape ecology Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 285 - 304
Main Authors: Donager, Jonathon J., Sánchez Meador, Andrew J., Huffman, David W.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.01.2022
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Coniferous forests
Disturbances
Ecological effects
Ecology
Environmental Management
Evergreen trees
Forest & brush fires
Forest management
Landscape
Landscape Ecology
Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning
Life Sciences
Nature Conservation
Pine
Pine trees
Pinus ponderosa
Research Article
Satellites
Sustainable Development
Wilderness areas
Wildfires
Frequent-fire forests
Forest structure
Fire-adapted forest management
Random forest classification
Scale relationships
Sentinel-2
Resource management
ISSN:0921-2973, 1572-9761
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Context Managers aiming to utilize wildland fire to restore southwestern ponderosa pine landscapes require better understanding of forest cover patterns produced at multiple scales. Restoration effectiveness of wildland fires managed for resource benefit can be evaluated against natural ranges of variation. Objectives We describe landscape patterns within reference landscapes, including restored and functioning ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona, and compare them to wildland fires managed for resource benefit. We make comparisons along a gradient of extents and assess the effects of scale on landscape differences. Methods Using Sentinel-2 imagery, we classified ponderosa pine forest cover and calculated landscape metrics across a gradient of landscape extent within reference and managed landscapes. We used non-parametric tests to assess differences. We used random forest models to assess and explore which landscape metrics were most importance in differentiating landscape patterns. Results Restored forests exhibited landscapes patterns consistent with those of ecologically intact forest landscapes. Managed wildfire landscape patterns differed significantly when compared to reference landscape patterns among nearly all landscape metrics considered and became increasingly different with increasing landscape extent (15–840 ha), tending towards both denser and larger patch areas. Conclusions Landscape patterns from wildland fires managed for resource benefit we examined differ from those of reference landscapes. Differences become more pronounced with increasing landscape size. Landscape patterns among large managed forest landscapes suggest that the predominately single-entry, low-severity disturbance regime from these managed fires is failing to reduce tree densities and break up large contiguous areas of canopy cover.
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ISSN:0921-2973
1572-9761
DOI:10.1007/s10980-021-01352-1