1. Fire Behavior Rate of spread Intensity Crown or ground Continuous or
non-continuous front
Complete burn or
mosaic
Extreme fire
behavior
ROS – affected by;
Climate – drought
Weather (wind)
Topography – fire runs upslope more quickly
Vegetation –
Typical moisture content - some species such as aspen can serve to alter rate of spread – canopy fire can drop to the ground upon encountering an aspen stand (high moisture content). Conversely flammable species increase ROS
Density – Seney bog birch density
Condition and arrangement of fuels – few, or densely packed fuels with high moisture content can slow fire whereas many loosely arranged fuels with low content increase ROS
Intensity – affected by;
Weather – wind, moisture, and temperature
Topography – fire moving up a hill will pre-heat the vegetation upslope which will make it burn more readily
Available fuels
Chemical factors – chemicals in tree and plant leaves make some species explosive – Seney and leatherleaf
MVNWR and phragmites
Extreme behavior – horizontal roll vortices – Mack Lake fire in Lower Michigan (19??)

2. Fire Behavior Why is it important to consider fire behavior?
Safety – volatile species
Fire behavior results in various fire effects
Intensity – ground or crown
Duration of burning
Safety – examples of volatile species have oils and terpines in their leaves – leatherleaf, phragmites, get some western species examples
ROS – increased residence time is associated with more intense effects

3. Fire Effects
Abiotic
Air
Soils
Water
Biotic - every single species reacts to fire in a unique manner!
Aquatic
Terrestrial
Abiotic
Air - Slow ROS, high intensity fire can consume greater amounts of fuels which can result in increased amounts of smoke with associated particulates. My original thesis proposal and air quality standards due to peat
Soils – Slow ROS burns hotter and can bake soils. This affects how water and nutrients move through soil spaces and their availability for roots of vegetation.
Water – Intense fires that remove majority of soil stabilizing vegetation can result in sedimentation in streams and rivers. This can affect physical shape of streambed and water quality
Biotic Aquatic – same stream affected by erosion – altered stream beds – decreased depth can alter stream temperature which can affect cold water fish species
Terrestrial
Vegetation -
Soil creatures – soil heating has negative effect but mosaic burn patterns allow for recolonization

4. Fire Effects - General Fire effects vary by:
size and intensity of fire
individuals verses populations
the season as it relates to phenology
Many mechanisms of survival
protection of critical reproductive tissues
avoidance
Is the fire occurring during the breeding, nesting, brooding season?

5. Fire Effects – Vegetation
Classified according to their response to fire
Fire-Intolerant Plants – highly flammable and completely destroyed
Fire-Tolerant Plants – able to withstand some forms of fire and grow despite some damage
Fire Resistant Plants – suffer little damage
Response to fire categories –– fire tolerant plants are also known as resprouters, some of which store extra energy in their roots for recovery and growth

6. Fire Effects –Vegetation
Many different effects of fire on plants
Negative
Individual death
Positive
Alteration of surface light
and/or temperature regime
Release of canopy seeds
Germination of soil seeds
Increased
Seedling establishment
Productivity
Flowering
Seed dispersal distances

7. Fire Effects - Wildlife
Effects vary by:
species and mobility
habitat needs
age of animal
stage of fire – during and after
type of animal – predator verses prey
How readily an animal can move out the path of a fire
Yellow rail – masters
Stage of fire – bears and woodpeckers after a fire searching for beetles and grubs in trees, etc.