Post on 13-Jan-2016
Fire Ecology
Brittany Ciancarelli
4/2/13
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3 Needle Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine
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Observations: What do you notice?
• Write down as many observations, as well as biotic and abiotic factors you see in the pictures and the videos.
• Ask yourself...• What does the forest look like?• Are the trees close together, or far apart?• Are there other trees present, or mostly
ponderosa pine?• What kinds of animals do you see?
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Answer about the picture…
• What is an observation?
• What is an inference?
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Ponderosa Pine forest
What we want to know:-What are the biotic factors that exist/are
important in an ponderosa pine forest?
-What are the aboitic factors that exist/are important there?
-What is the difference between a healthy vs. unhealthy ponderosa pine forest?
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Ponderosa Pine Web
Read the article and make a list of biotic and abiotic factors in a ponderosa pine ecosystem.
Gather with your lab group and produce a web of these factors. (AS MANY AS YOU CAN THINK OF)
We will come together as a class to discuss.
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Healthy or Unhealthy?
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People who study Forest Fires
• Fire Ecologist- a person who studies the processes linking the natural incidence of fire in an ecosystem and the effects of the fire on the ecosystem.
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People who study Forest Fires
Dendrochronologist- a scientist who uses tree rings to answer questions about the natural world and the involvement of humans.
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Dendrochronoligists
• Dendrochronoligists study fire by looking at the growth rings within the tree. They’ll count the rings, and look at how thick they are, and look for fire scars.
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People who study Forest Fires
Archaeologist- use science to study the past cultures and the way people lived based on the things they left behind.
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Archaeologists
• Investigating old villages to see how they designed them.
• Interviewing descendants of the cultures.
• Analyzing their agricultural plots.
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People who study Forest Fires
• Climatologist-people who study climate change, climate variation, and the effect of climate on the biosphere.
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Climatologists
• They look at climate data that has been collected through instruments, as well as using tree rings, pollen deposits in rocks, glacier markings, and deposits from rivers.
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On a sheet of paper…
1. Which type of scientist do you think helps reconstruct past forest fires the best? Why?
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What is weather?
• weather is the day-to-day conditions of a particular place.
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What is climate?
• Climate is the common, or average weather conditions at a particular place over a long period of time.
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On a sheet of paper…
Which situation is weather and which is climate? Label the situations and explain your choice.
2. I heard on the news that it is going to rain today.
3. I heard on the news that Tucson is in a drought,
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On a sheet of paper…
4. Draw what a healthy ponderosa pine forest looks like.
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On a sheet of paper…
• Draw what an unhealthy ponderosa pine forest looks like.
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Healthy Ponderosa Pine forest.
• A healthy ponderosa pine forest has stands of trees with wide spaces in between them (wide enough to drive a truck through it). Most trees are “adult” size. Fire is frequent, but small and does not kill the adult trees.
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Unhealthy Ponderosa Pine Forest
• An unhealthy Ponderosa Pine forest has trees that are very close together. There are many young trees mixed in with adult trees, and there is a lot of brush on the floor. Fire is infrequent but SEVERE!
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Essential Elements:Fire (Small Scale)
Heat-This is a source to light the fire. For example: match, sunlight, lightning
Fuel- This would be the part of the triangle that burns.
Oxygen- an essential part of the chemical reaction needed for fire
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Essential Elements of fire: Wildfire (medium scale)
Fuel- The parts of the forest that can carry the fire.
Topography- The slope of the land and which direction it faces.
Weather- The right weather conditions for the moment, so the fire can start.
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On a sheet of paper…
6. How many types of fuels can you think of that exist in your home?
7. What about in a forest?
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Essential Elements of fire: Fire regime (large scale)
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Fire Regime:
• What is a fire regime?
• This is the pattern and frequency of brushfires and wildfires in an area over a long period of time.
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Essential Elements of fire: Fire regime (large scale)
Climate- A particular climate is necessary for a fire regime to happen in an area.
Ignition sources- What types of ignition sources are around the area? Humans? Natural?
Vegetation- What types of plants grow in the area? Are they susceptible to fire? Can they grow back?
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On a sheet of paper…
• Write a few sentences describing the difference between a fire, a wild fire, and a fire regime.
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Ponderosa Pine Fire Ecology Reading
• Read and use your KWL sheet for notes.
• When finished, wait for instructions to discuss with your neighbor
• Share out ideas on:-What role does fire play in the Ponderosa Pine forest?-What were the wildfires like before 1990?-What have the wildfires been like after 1990?-How as the fire regime changed?
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Ground fireV
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Surface FireV
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Crown FireV