MadSci Network: Environment |
Many scientists are involved in understanding forest fires, helping us predict and prepare for them, and fighting them where appropriate. Community ecologists and foresters study the complex interactions of life forms in forests (e.g., Johnson and Miyanishi 2001). Theoretical ecologists model the effects of fires on communities and ecosystems (e.g., He and Mladenhoff 1999), and physicists and mathematicians model the behaviors of the fires themselves (e.g., Scott and Reinhardt 2001). Chemists evaluate the effectiveness of different fire-fighting chemicals (e.g., Blakely 1988). Even social scientists are involved: economists (e.g., Mills and Bratten 1982) calculate the costs of forest fires for industry and for nearby homeowners. Here in the U.S., most of the work on forest fires is done by the Forest Service. They have an informative, useful website at: http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/index.html Any library which serves as a depository for federal records (e.g., the libraries of most universities and some colleges) will have papers from the Forest Service on file, probably on microfilm. It’s well worth taking a look at them. For many years, the Forest Service worked to suppress all fires. Early workers (e.g., Folweiler 1937) considered forest fires to be disasters that should be avoided. In the second half of the 20th century, scientists began to understand that forest fires are a natural part of the landscape (USDA 1998). They return nutrients to the soil and open up space where pioneer plants can grow (Johnson and Miyanishi 2001), maintaining diversity across the landscape. Also, some plants will not release their seeds without the heat of a fire (see a useful web page from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_22664-60 337--,00.html In 2000, the Forest Service established a National Fire Plan (www.fireplan.gov/index.html), which focuses on the balance between the importance of fire in healthy forests, and the importance of keeping human settlements safe from fires. Literature Cited: Blakely, A.D. 1988. Flammability reduction comparisons of four forest fire retardants. Ogden, Utah: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. Foweiler, A.D. 1937. Theory and practice of forest fire protection in the United States. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. He, H.S., and D.J. Mladenhof. 1999. Spatially explicit and stochastic simulation of forest fire disturbance and succession. Ecology 80: 81-99. Johnson, E.A., and K. Miyanishi. 2001. Forest fires: behavior and ecological effects. San Diego, California: Academic Press. Mills, T.J., and F.W. Bratten. 1982. FEES : design of a Fire Economics Evaluation System. Berkeley, California: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. Scott, J.H. and E.D. Reinhardt. 2001. Assessing crown fire potential by linking models of surface and crown fire. Fort Collins, Colorado: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. USDA [United States Department of Agriculture], 1998. Faces of fire : prevention, suppression, prescribed fires. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management.
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