Other Fire Research at the Fort Collins Science Center

A Sense of Place

Understanding wildfire—its dynamics, behavior, and effects—is of considerable importance to land and resource managers. Their decisions regarding ecosystem management, including fire management alternatives, depend on a sound foundation of knowledge about fire, both wild and prescribed. Toward that end, USGS scientists at Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) are leading several significant research efforts to understand and assess the effects of fire on living and physical systems.

researchers collecting samples at a high severity burn site

The Effects of Burn Severity and Heterogeneity on Early Post-Fire Avian and Plant Communities in Coniferous Forests of the Rocky Mountains

Research on the effects of wildfire and prescribed fire on bird and plant communities in western coniferous forests is underway with the goal of better understanding of how fire management affects the ecological integrity of forested systems (Natasha Kotliar, Sandra Haire).

The Ecological, Hydrological, and Geological Consequences of Burn Severity and Social Application of Those Results

Remotely sensed data collected from satellite and aircraft are being used to evaluate burn severity and understand fire effects at broad scales (Sandra Haire, Carl Key, Raymond Kokaly).

Field research on pre-fire stand conditions, burn severity, vegetation (both native and non-native plant species), and post-fire flammability is being conducted to predict post-fire vegetative recovery, exotic species invasions, and future fire risks. (Geneva Chong, Tom Stohlgren, and Phil Omi [Colorado State University]).

Focus group meetings of volunteers who had direct fire or fire-threat experience were held to evaluate Wildland Urban Interface residents' knowledge and implementation of fire-preparedness programs, effectiveness of communication strategies to inform residents of fire risks, and techniques for reducing such risks (Jonathan Taylor).

This integrated fire science effort focuses on understanding post-fire physical, ecological, and sociological processes in relation to burn severity and heterogeneity at landscape scales (Natasha Kotliar, Sandra Haire, Geneva Chong, Jonathan Taylor, Carl Key, Raymond Kokaly, Deborah Martin, and John Moody).

Fire Science Research at the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT)

The Effects of Burn Severity and Heterogeneity on Early Post-Fire Avian and Plant Communities in Coniferous Forests of the Rocky Mountains

The Ecological, Hydrological, and Geological Consequences of Burn Severity and Social Application of Those Results