The 25th anniversary of the Rosie Creek Fire: Rules of postfire succession in Alaska boreal forest G

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The 25th anniversary of the Rosie Creek Fire
Rules of post-fire succession in Alaska boreal
forest Glenn Patrick Juday, Professor of Forest
EcologyBonanza Creek LTER monthly synthesis
meetingFairbanks, Alaska12 June, 2008
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MAJOR RESEARCH RESULTS CONTRIBUTING TO
SYNTHESIS BYGlenn Patrick Juday, Forest
Sciences Department, University of Alaska
Fairbanks Scott Rupp, Forest Sciences
Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Valerie A. Barber, Forest Sciences Department,
University of Alaska Fairbanks John Zasada,
USDA Forest Service, retiredNorth Central
Experiment StationRobert A. Ott (formerly
Alaska DNR)
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Were all familiar with this in general and in
theory
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AXIOMS OF POST-FIRE SUCCESSION IN UPLAND
FORESTS All fires are specific, never
generic (therefore, any rules must take
account of this). But by combining enough
specific cases over enough space and enough
times, and outcomes start to follow
patterns. Succession never happens
generically, it is always controlled by exact
and specific conditions. But by combining enough
specific cases over enough space and enough
times, and outcomes start to follow
patterns.
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PART 1. THE COURSE AND EVENTS OF THE ROSIE CREEK
FIRE.
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WEIRD FACTS QUIZ The convective blow-up of
the Rosie Creek Fire generated energy equivalent
to how many Hiroshima-sized bombs? What
plant species waited 200 years for the Rosie
Creek Fire? What rare bird species
dramatically increased in numbers for 2 years
following the Rosie Creek Fire? What animal
has cut the tops off more than 50 of the white
spruce seedlings in some years in the Rosie Creek
Burn? Why is the forest different because
moose are looking for a balanced diet? What
plant excludes white spruce seedlings from
establishing, and how? In the 25 years since
the Rosie Creek Fire how many years have white
spruce seedlings succeeded in becoming
established? What has killed more post-fire
white spruce than any other single factor, by
far?
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3. Powerline run-up
2. East half (early)
6. Reserve West island
1. Origin (228 pm, 29 May, 1983)
4. Breakthrough
5. West half (late convective blow-up)
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3. Powerline run-up
6. Reserve West island
2. East half (early)
5. West half (late convective blow-up)
4. Breakthrough
1. Origin
July 15, 1994 ?
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June 10, 1983
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2. East half (early)
W
Wind direction
Black spruce flats (early, rapid spread)
Mixed w. spruce/birch/ aspen forest on
slope (slow, upslope ground fire)
May 30, 1983
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The race across the black spruce flats PART 1 (29
May)
Photo June 10, 1983
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3. Powerline run-up of 30 May
Direction of fire
scorch
Photo June 7, 1983
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3. Powerline run-up of 30 May
Direction of fire
We make our stand here!
Photo June 10, 1983
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Black spruce flats (west half late)
Black spruce flats (east half early)
Upland slope forest (conifer dominated)
Photo June 10, 1983
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The race across the black spruce flats PART 2 (2
June)
Stage 1 (Day 1 - 4)
Direction of fire
Photo June 10, 1983
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Rosie Creek Fire, 2 June, 1983 1,000 ha
combusted in 4 hrs. Chisholm Fire, Alberta, 29
May, 2001 50,000 ha combusted in 4 hrs.
5. West half (convective blow-up)
Photo June 2, 1983
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Munson Creek Fire, 2 June, 1983 Convective
firestorm blow-up.
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5. West half (convective blow-up)
Photo June 10, 1983
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PART 2. SOME EFFECTS OF THE ROSIE CREEK FIRE.
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COMPLETE INCENERATION deep ash layer (high
degree of combustion) white ash layer
(conifer foliage thoroughly consumed) no fine
or medium branches remain, few large branches
Photo June 10, 1983
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Photo June 10, 1983
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5. West half (convective blow-up)
Upland slope forest near UP 1A/Reserve
West (white spruce dominated)
Photo August 14, 1983
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(A) Forest uprooted from indrafts and winds of
flame feeding firestorm.
Photo August 14, 1983
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Molten puddle of aluminum from seed trap funnel .
Photo August 14, 1983
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Aspen not combusted
Aspen leaves dried and scorched
White spruce combusted
Photo June 10, 1983
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Corydalis sempervirens (biennial) flowering in
August, 1983. Germinated from buried seed
pool. Lives 2 to 5 generations, then dormant
100-200 yrs.
Viereck, Leslie A. 1973. Wildfire in the taiga of
Alaska. Quaternary Research. 3 465-495. Fyles,
James W. 1989. Seed bank populations in upland
coniferous forests in central Alberta. Canadian
Journal of Botany. 67 274-278.
Photo August 14, 1983
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PART 3. THE RESEARCH RESPONSE.
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Establishing the perimeter of the Research
Reserve reserved from salvage logging. (Chuck
Slaughter and Rod Norum August, 1983)
Photo August 14, 1983
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Photo November 2, 1998
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UP 1A
Photo September 30, 1984
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200 yr-old white spruce stand burned in Rosie
Creek Fire of 1983
Photo August 14, 1983
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Photo September, 1993
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Photo September, 1984
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WHITE SPRUCE REPRODUCTION RULES IT ONLY
REPRODUCES PERIODICALLY
About 11 years between major cone/seed
crops. Some years moderate cone crops, many
years no reproduction at all Several factors
need to come together for successful cone/seed
production (gateway model). Geography is
crucial for successful natural white spruce
reproduction. Timing with respect to
competition is crucial for successful natural
reproduction of white spruce.
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(White spruce) has an internal, hormonally
driven system to detect and respond with maximum
reproductive effort to the relatively infrequent
intervals when strong stress is generated (e.g.
by drought) . This same dry early spring weather
and clear weather during the long days near the
summer solstice represent fire weather . It
appears that the described reproductive timing of
white spruce maximizes the odds that seeds will
be released into a landscape in which fires have
occurred recently. The reduction or removal of
coarse or refractory organic material by fire or
other methods can significantly improve white
spruce seedling germination, growth, and
survival. Clearly a disproportionate share of
the living young white spruce trees less than 50
years in Interior Alaska are the result of
reproduction in only four years (1958, 1970,
1987, 1998) simply on a probabilistic basis. If
an interval of 12 years is maintained between
large white spruce seed crops over the life of a
typical BNZ 200-yr. old mature white spruce stand
and the trees do not become reproductive for
their first 30 to 40 years, then on average only
about 14 major reproductive events occur during
the life of a stand.
Juday, G.P., Barber, V., Rupp S., Zasada, J.,
Wilmking M.W. 2003. A 200-year perspective of
climate variability and the response of white
spruce in Interior Alaska. Chapter 12 Pp.
226-250. In Greenland, D., Goodin, D., and
Smith, R. (editors). Climate Variability and
Ecosystem Response at Long-Term Ecological
Research (LTER) Sites. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-515059-7.
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PART 4. A NEW FOREST.
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Reserve West unburned island (seed source
stand)
Reserve West 1st hectare refefrence stand (1RSW)
July, 2006
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July, 2006
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August, 1983 (vicinity of Reserve West plot 100
W)
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1RSW HA W
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LIFE ON THE EDGE MOOSE ON THE LOOSE - ACTING
LIKE A BUNCH OF WILD ANIMALS
Photo November 2, 1998
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Photo August 14, 1983
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Photo November 2, 1998
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MOOSE RULES Moose browse aspen and birch, but
not white spruce in central Alaska. Aspen is
highly digestible and favored as browse, but is
low in protein birch contains more than the
minimum protein but is low in K and Ca. In
mixed stands where spruce are abundant browsing
has the effect of pushing the competition toward
conifer. Moose browsing retards the overtopping
of white spruce by broadleaf trees and several
tall shrubs. Heaviest moose browsing at the
Rosie Creek Burn has been concentrated within the
same 200m zone adjacent to surviving parent seed
trees in which white spruce seedfall/early
establishment is greatest.
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RESERVE WEST STUDY - THINGS MEASURED
Map coordinates (x and y from center) subplot
(10m by 10m). Tip grid to 5m by 5m get every
tree Tag plot ID (e.g. 1.01) and tree ID (e.g.
17). Tip use pin flags in ground on N side of
seedling ID seed crop cohort (year). Tip
count internodes and measure backwards Total
height and annual height elongation (cm). Tip
use same base Shaded, Partially shaded, Open
to sky (also Log shade). If total ht. gt 50cm,
then basal diameter (mm). Once total ht. gt
137cm, then dbh (mm). Budworm (Heavy,
Moderate, Light, Very Light). Terminal bud
(Aborted, Nipped, Budworm-killed lateral axis).
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GEOGRAPHIC RULES FOR WHITE SPRUCE
REPRODUCTION Numbers of white spruce seed,
sufficient to provide a reasonable chance that
the species will become part of the future forest
canopy, generally fall within 200m of surviving
parent trees. But the seedbed is only receptive
for about 10 years because of increasingly severe
competition and modification of the environment
by successional vegetation. This period of time
is sufficient for one or 2 major seed crops,
and one or two moderate seed crops, at best (2 to
4 spruce cohorts).
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White spruce total tree height at Reserve West by
percentiles
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1RSWHAN Oct. 1989 (snags still standing)
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1RSWHAN May 2008 (snags all fallen)
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cumulative?
crushing from snagfall
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Near-term prospect a new pulse of tree death
from shading
Logs on support points
Logs on support points
Photos October, 2007
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POST-FIRE MONITORING THINGS I WISH WE HAD
SYSTEMATICALLY MONITORED BUT DID NOT
Ash depth/remnant organic layer depth.
Early vegetation cover (Calamagrostis, Equisetum,
Other). Ideal The whole hectare Seedfall
from stand edge 200m to 1 km from surviving
trees. Tip radial pattern Moose browse (
bud/branch axis removal). Snagfall (2 times
annually (also tag each piece). Log map
(annually/cumulative). Broadleaf tree/tall
shrub map subplots (annually). Height
elongation phenology of subsample (5-day interval
annually for 20 years). Carpenter ants/aphids
(simple index).
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1st reference stand hectare, Burned Birch Control
(1BBC)
Plot 1BBC300
Photo July, 1998
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Plot 1BBC300N Oct.1989
The problem with Calamagrostis
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Plot 1BBC300N May 2008
The problem with Calamagrostis (20 yrs. later)
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Site preparation/Calamagrostis reduction near
Plot 1BBC
Site-preparation and regeneration methods for
white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) were
tested near Fairbanks, Alaska, on two upland
sites which had been burned in a wildfire and
salvage logged. After 5 and 10 years, white
spruce regeneration did not differ among the four
scarification methods but tended to be lower
without scarification. Natural regeneration
after 12 years exceeded expectations, with
seedlings on 50 of the 6-m2 subplots 150 m from
a seed source and on 28 of the subplots 230 m
from a seed source. only 16 of the unscarified
seed spots had seedlings, .... Growth rates for
all seedlings were higher than on similar
unburned sites. The results show positive effects
of burning in interior Alaska, and suggest
planting seedlings, broadcast seeding, and
natural seedfall, alone or in combination, as
viable options for similar sites.
Densmore, R.V. Juday, G.P. Zasada, J.C. 1999.
Regeneration alternatives for upland white spruce
after burning and logging in interior Alaska.
Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29(4)
413-423.
Photo September, 1985
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We used a combination of surveys of natural
vegetation and seed-sowing and seedling
transplant experiments to determine the relative
importance of competition and microenvironmental
modification as mechanisms by which understory
vegetation influences the establishment of tree
seedlings in an Alaskan postfire boreal forest.
Seedlings of white spruce and paper birch became
established more frequently than expected in
patches that were dominated by horsetail
(Equisetum arvense), and less frequently than
expected in patches of bluestem (Calamagrostis
canadensis) and other vegetation. Similarly,
birch and spruce, in horsetail-dominated
patches generally showed greater survivorship,
growth, and nitrogen accumulation (for birch
only) than did those transplanted into bluestem
or quaking aspen patches. the understory
vegetation in all patch types competed with tree
seedlings. The strong inhibitory effect of
bluestem and aspen on the establishment of spruce
and birch seedlings is best explained by the
unfavorable temperature and moisture
microenvironments in these patches, rather than
by differential competition in patches of
bluestem, horsetail, or aspen.
Cater, T.C. and F.S. Chapin, III. 2000.
Differential Effects of Competition or
Microenvironment on Boreal Tree Seedling
Establishment after Fire. Ecology 81 (4)
1086-1099.
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White spruce terminal leader nipped or clipped
Nip transitive verb 1 a to catch hold of
and squeeze tightly between two surfaces,
edges, or points pinch, bite. 2 a to sever by
or as if by pinching sharply b to destroy
the growth, progress, or fulfillment of ltnipped
in the budgt Source http//www.merriam-webster.
com/dictionary/nip
Photo September, 2007
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20 to 35 of annual height growth lost
Photo September, 2007
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Following years fully formed buds are hollowed
out, green tissues are eaten.
Photo September, 2007
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Squirrel tracks at the scene of the crime
Photo September, 2007
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• DIET
• White spruce seed (50)
• (cone caches)
• (Green) bud primordia
• Fungi
• Willow/poplar budscatkins
• Animals (esp. bird eggs)

Steele, M. A. 1998. Tamiasciurus hudsonicus.
Mammalian Species 5861-9.
Red squirrels clip twigs and feed on vegetative
and reproductive buds of white spruce in the
spring fall too. Consumption of leaders and
the ends of upper branches by red squirrels tends
to be greatest during poor cone crop years. The
seeds are a primary food of red squirrels, which
prefer it over Black Spruce seed. Seeds are
nutritious and a good energy source for squirrels
which can survive the winter on a diet consisting
entirely of White Spruce seeds. White Spruce
habitats are favoured by red squirrels because of
the highly palatable seeds squirrel density is
much grater in White Spruce stands than Black
Spruce stands. Red squirrels are so dependent
that population density is directly related to
seed crop cycles.
(No byline). 2005. White spruce - Manitobas
Provincial Tree. Newsletter of the Manitoba
Forestry AssociationJune 2005. Pp 5, 8.
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Terminal shoot failures (all causes) at Reserve
West by year
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WEIRD FACTS The convective blow-up of the
Rosie Creek Fire generated energy equivalent to
how many Hiroshima-sized bombs? (ans. 24)
What plant species waited 200 years for the Rosie
Creek Fire? (ans. Corydalis sempervirens)
What rare bird species dramatically increased in
numbers for 2 years following the Rosie Creek
Fire? (ans. Black-backed woodpecker) What
animal has cut the tops off more than 50 of the
white spruce seedlings in some years in the Rosie
Creek Burn? (ans. red squirrel) Why is the
forest different because moose are looking for a
balanced diet? (ans. balance protein vs. energy
vs. defensive chemicals) What plant excludes
white spruce seedlings from establishing, and
how? (ans. Calamagrostis canadensis seed
lodging, late frozen soil) In the 25 years
since the Rosie Creek Fire how many years have
white spruce seedlings succeeded in becoming
established? (ans. 3 major yrs 1983, 1987,
1990. Very small amount from big seed crop
1998) What has killed more post-fire white
spruce than any other single factor, by far?
(ans. snagfall crushing and shading)
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Rees, Daniel C., Juday, G.P. 2002. Plant species
diversity and forest structure on logged and
burned sites in central Alaska. Forest Ecology
and Management 155 (1-3) 291-302.
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