Fuels

Innovation in rangeland monitoring: annual, 30 m, plant functional type percent cover maps for U.S. rangelands, 1984–2017

View article. Innovations in machine learning and cloud-based computing were merged with historical remote sensing and field data to provide the first moderate resolution, annual, percent cover maps of plant functional types across rangeland ecosystems to effectively and efficiently respond to pressing challenges facing conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. We utilized the historical Landsat…

Cover estimations using object-based image analysis rule sets developed across multiple scales in pinyon-juniper woodlands

View article. Numerous studies have been conducted that evaluate the utility of remote sensing for monitoring and assessing vegetation and ground cover to support land management decisions and complement ground measurements. However, few comparisons have been made that evaluate the utility of object-based image analysis (OBIA) to accurately classify a landscape where rule sets (models)…

An object-based image analysis of pinyon and juniper woodlands treated to reduce fuels

View article. Mechanical and prescribed fire treatments are commonly used to reduce fuel loads and maintain or restore sagebrush steppe rangelands across the Great Basin where pinyon (Pinus) and juniper (Juniperus) trees are encroaching and infilling. Geospatial technologies, particularly remote sensing, could potentially be used in these ecosystems to (1) evaluate the longevity of fuel…

Assessing the relationship between ground measurements and object-based image analysis of land cover classes in pinyon and juniper woodlands

View article. Land managers need to rapidly assess vegetation composition and bare ground to effectively evaluate and manage shrub steppe communities that have been encroached by pinyon and juniper trees. We used an object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach to estimate land cover classes found in pinyon-juniper woodlands, and evaluated the relationship between ground measurements and…

Review of fuel treatment effects on fuels, fire behavior and ecological resilience in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems in the Western U.S.

View synthesis. Our review revealed tradeoffs in woody fuel treatments between reducing canopy fuels vs. increasing understory herbaceous vegetation (fuels) and fire behavior. In pinyon-juniper expansion areas, all treatments decreased crown fire risk. Prescribed fire and cut and broadcast burn treatments reduced woody fuels long-term but had higher risk of invasion. Mechanical treatments left understory…

Pinyon and juniper field guide: Asking the right questions to select appropriate management actions

View field guide. Pinyon-juniper woodlands are an important vegetation type in the Great Basin. Old-growth and open shrub savanna woodlands have been present over much of the last several hundred years. Strong evidence indicates these woodlands have experienced significant tree infilling and major expansion in their distribution since the late 1800s by encroaching into surrounding…

Guide for quantifying fuels in the sagebrush steppe and juniper woodlands of the Great Basin

View guide. The ‘Guide for Quantifying Fuels in the Sagebrush Steppe and Juniper Woodlands of the Great Basin’ assimilates the SageSTEP pretreatment vegetation and fuels data into an assessment tool that will help users better estimate percent cover, stem density and fuel loadings for their site. Designed similarly to the Natural Fuels Photo Series, produced…

Guide for quantifying post-treatment fuels in the sagebrush steppe and juniper woodlands of the Great Basin

View guide. This Guide for Quantifying Post-treatment Fuels in the Sagebrush Steppe and Juniper Woodlands of the Great Basin assimilates the SageSTEP post-treatment vegetation and fuels data into an assessment tool that will help users better estimate post-treatment percent cover, stem density and fuel loadings. Designed similarly to the Natural Fuels Photo Series, produced by…

Fuels guide for sagebrush and pinyon-juniper treatments: 10 years post-treatment

View field guide. Using data collected as part of the Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP), this guide summarizes fuel loads, vegetation cover by functional group, and shrub and tree stem density 10 years after sagebrush and pinyon-juniper reduction treatments. The data was collected at 16 study sites in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Utah,…

Understory cover responses to pinon-juniper treatments across tree dominance gradients in the Great Basin

View article. Prescribed fire and tree felling were applied to 8-20-ha treatment plots at 11 sites across the Great Basin with a tree-shredding treatment also applied to four Utah sites. Treatments were applied across a tree infilling gradient as quantified by a covariate tree dominance index (TDI=tree cover/ [tree+shrub+tall perennial grass cover]). Mixed model analysis…

Posts Tagged ‘Fuels’