Wright, Clinton S.; Ottmar, Roger D.; Vihnanek, Robert E. 2006. Stereo photo series for quantifying natural fuels. Volume VIII: Hardwood, pitch pine, and red spruce/balsam fir types in the Northeastern United States. PMS 840. Boise, ID: National Wildfire Coordinating Group, National Interagency Fire Center. 91 p.
Three series of single and stereo photographs display a range of natural conditions and fuel loadings in hardwood, pitch pine, and red spruce/balsam fir ecosystems in the Northeastern United States. Each group of photos includes inventory data summarizing vegetation composition, structure, and loading; woody material loading and density by size class; forest floor depth and loading; and various site characteristics. The natural fuels photo series is designed to help land managers appraise fuel and vegetation conditions in natural settings.
Keywords: Woody material, biomass, fuel loading, natural fuels, hardwoods, American beech, Fagus grandifolia, birch, Betula spp., maple, Acer spp., pitch pine, Pinus rigida, oak, Quercus spp., red spruce, Picea rubens, balsam fir, Abies balsamea.
COOPERATORS
This publication was developed by the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station,
Fire and Environmental Research Applications team with funding provided, in part, by the Joint Fire Science Program.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special recognition is due Ken Clark, Nick Skowronski, John Hom, Alison Dibble, and Scott Bailey, USDA Forest Service,
Northeastern Research Station; David Crary, National Park Service, Cape Cod National Seashore; Thomas "Nort" Phillips,
USDA Forest Service, Green Mountain National Forest; Tom Brady, USDA Forest Service, White Mountain National Forest;
Douglas Jones, National Park Service, Acadia National Park; William A. Patterson III, University of Massachussetts,
Department of Natural Resources Conservation; Jim Rassman, Massachussetts Department of Conservation and Recreation,
Myles Standish State Forest; and James Cronan, Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Scott Bailey, David Crary and William Patterson generously shared their research sites and data. Steve Duex, Erin Kenney,
Nicole Troyer, Jared Mathey, Morris Johnson, James Cronan, Rebecca Johnson, Brian Maier, Sarah Ashkannejhad, and
David Wright, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory
worked on this project in the field and in the laboratory.
AUTHORS
Clinton S. Wright and Roger D. Ottmar are research foresters, Robert
E. Vihnanek is a supervisory forester, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station,
Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, 400 North 34th Street, Suite 201, Seattle, Washington 98103.
PHOTOGRAPH AND INFORMATION ARRANGEMENT The photographs and accompanying data summaries are presented as single sites organized into three series. Each site contains the wide-angle (50 mm) photograph, general site and stand information, forest floor information, summaries of overstory structure and composition, understory vegetation structure and composition, and dead and down woody material loading and density by size class.
SITE AND STAND INFORMATION
The camera point of each site was located with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver
using the WGS-84 datum. Aspect and slope, where reported, were measured with a compass and
clinometer, respectively. Ecological community classification (to the alliance or
association level; NatureServe 2006), an indicator of current vegetation composition, was
assigned for all sites. In addition, Society of American Foresters (SAF) cover type (Eyre 1980),
also an indicator of current vegetation composition, was assigned for all sites.
Figure 1--Photo series sample area layout. Forty random azimuth
line transects (one at each point on the 30- and 150-foot arcs, and two at each point on
the 60-, 90-, and 120-foot arcs) and 12 clipped vegetation plots (two to three per arc)
were located within the sample area. Trees, shrubs and seedlings were inventoried within the entire sample area
or on 12 systematically located sample plots.
Tree, seedling, and understory species (shrub, forb, and graminoid species) present at a site are listed in order of abundance.1 The listing of understory species was not meant to be a complete vegetation inventory and may represent only a portion of the actual species richness of the sampled areas. The percentage of standing dead trees, where reported, was determined by sampling within the site (fig. 1). Crown closure was measured with a forest densitometer (95 systematically located points). Tree and seedling composition and density were determined either by a total inventory of the sample area, or estimated by using twelve 0.005-acre circular plots; all trees less than 4.5 feet tall were considered seedlings. All trees greater than or equal to 4.5 feet tall and less than or equal to 1.0 inch in diameter at breast height (d.b.h.)2 were considered saplings.
|
1See below for a list of scientific and common species names used in this volume.
2D.b.h. is measured 4.5 feet above the ground. |
FOREST FLOOR INFORMATION
Surface material (i.e., litter) and duff depth were calculated as the average of measurements
taken every 5 feet between the 30- and 150-foot arcs of the three center transects for a total
of 75 measurements (fig. 1). The depth of the litter and duff was calculated as an average of
the depth only where litter or duff was encountered during sampling (null values, or points where
litter or duff were absent, are not included in the average). Therefore, the depths reported
for litter and duff are not unit-wide averages, and do not necessarily sum to total depth.
Loading was calculated from bulk density values derived from field measurements or through
collection of material in twelve 10.76-square-foot plots.3 Constancy, an indicator of how
consistently the various forest floor components occur in the sample area, is expressed as a
percentage of the total number of measurements. The amount of exposed mineral soil at each site
can be estimated by subtracting the constancy of the total forest floor from 100 percent.
| 3Forest floor bulk density values used for each material type appear under "Notes to Users" for each series. |
UNDERSTORY VEGETATION
Understory species coverage was estimated by using line intercept transects (Canfield
1941). Where species-specific coverage is not reported, understory vegetation coverage was
estimated by lifeform category (shrub, herbaceous, or seedling) by using the line intercept
transects. Understory vegetation heights were measured at 25 points located systematically
throughout the sample area. Understory vegetation biomass was determined by sampling 6 or 12
square, clipped vegetation plots (43.06 or 10.76 square feet each, respectively) also located systematically
throughout the sample area (fig. 1). All live and dead understory vegetation rooted within each
square plot was clipped at ground level, separated, and returned to the laboratory for
oven drying; oak and pine seedlings and saplings in the pitch pine series were clipped in the larger plots.
For the red spruce/balsam fir series, seedling biomass was determined either by sampling in clipped
vegetation plots (four sites), or by assuming a typical size based on systematic height measurements
and multiplying seedling density by mean weight for a seedling of that size (seven sites; Ottmar and Vihnanek unpublished data).
Understory vegetation and other collected material were oven dried at a minimum of 158 °F for at least 48 hours
before weighing and determination of area loading.
WOODY MATERIAL
Measurement techniques used for inventorying dead and down woody material were patterned
after the planar intersect method outlined by Brown (1974) and described by Maxwell and
Ward (1980). Forty transects of random azimuth starting at 25 systematically located
points within the sample area were used to determine woody material loading and density
(fig. 1). Woody material data are reported by size classes that correspond to timelag fuel
classes used in fire behavior modeling (see, for example, Burgan and Rothermel 1984).4
Woody material in 1-hour, 10-hour, and 100-hour-and-larger size classes was tallied on transects
that were 3 feet, 10 feet and 30 feet long, respectively. The decay class and the actual diameter
at the point of intersection were measured for all pieces >3 inches in diameter. All
woody material <=3 inches in diameter was considered sound. Woody material loading and
woody material density were calculated from relationships that use number of pieces
intersected and transect length (and wood specific gravity for loading) developed by Brown
(1974) and Safranyik and Linton (1987), respectively. Where it was not measured on planar intercept
transects, woody material in the 1-hour, 10-hour, and 100-hour size classes was collected,
oven dried, and weighed in twelve 10.76-square-foot plots.
| 4>1-, 10-, 100- and 1000-hour timelag fuels are defined as woody material <=0.25 inch, 0.26-1.0 inch, 1.1-3.0 inches, and >3.0 inches in diameter, respectively. |
SAPLINGS AND TREES
Overstory tree and sapling composition and density were determined either by a total inventory of the
sample area, or were estimated by using twelve 0.005-acre circular plots located systematically
throughout the sample area (fig. 1). Tree measurement data were summarized by d.b.h. size class and
by tree status (live, dead, or all trees). The three most abundant tree species for each size class
are listed with their relative density. Height to crown base (reported as ladder fuel height in
previous photo series volumes) was defined for each diameter class as the average height of the lowest,
vertically continuous live or dead branch material of individual tree canopies, and height to live crown
was defined as the average height of the lowest vertically continuous live branches of individual tree canopies.
Live crown mass (branchwood and foliage) and total aboveground biomass (for trees 1 to 2 inches d.b.h. in the
pitch pine series) was calculated from species- and size-specific allometric equations (Brenneman et al. 1978;
Chapman and Gower 1991; Clark and Schroeder 1985; Clark et al. 1986; Freedman et al. 1982; Hocker and Early 1983;
Ker 1980, 1984; Martin et al. 1998; Ouellet 1985; Roussopoulos and Loomis 1979; Swank and Schreuder 1974;
Ter-Mikaelian and Korzukhin 1997; Whittaker and Woodwell 1968; Young et al. 1980). Total aboveground biomass
of saplings (trees taller than 4.5 ft and <=1 inch d.b.h.) was determined by sampling in six clipped vegetation plots
(43.06 square feet each) co-located with the understory vegetation plots (see above).
SPECIES LIST
Scientific and common species names are from NRCS (2005).
| SCIENTIFIC NAME | COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | COMMON NAME |
| TREES Abies balsamea (L.) P. Mill. Acer pensylvanicum L. Acer rubrum L. Acer saccharum Marsh. Acer spicatum Lam. Alnus spp. Betula alleghaniensis Britt. Betula lenta L. Betula papyrifera Marsh. Betula spp. Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. Fraxinus americana L. Ilex spp. Picea rubens Sarg. Pinus rigida P. Mill. Pinus strobus L. Populus grandidentata Michx. Prunus pensylvanica L. f. Prunus serotina Ehrh. Quercus alba L. Quercus coccinea Muenchh. Quercus ilicifolia Wangenh. Quercus marilandica L. Muenchh. Quercus nigra L. Quercus prinus L. Quercus stellata Wangenh. Quercus velutina Lam. Salix spp. Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees Sorbus decora (Sarg.) Schneid. Sorbus spp. Thuja occidentalis L. Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. SHRUBS Amelanchier arborea (Michx. f.) Fern. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L. Spreng. Corema conradii (Torr.) Torr. ex Loud. Gaylussacia baccata (Wangenh.) K. Koch Gaylussacia frondosa (L.) Torr. & Gray ex Torr. Gaultheria procumbens L. Hudsonia ericoides L. Ilex coriacea (Pursh) Chapman Ilex mucronata (L.) Powell, Savolainen & Andrews Kalmia angustifolia L. Kalmia latifolia L. Lyonia ligustrina (L.) DC. |
Balsam fir Striped maple Red maple Sugar maple Mountain maple Alder Yellow birch Sweet birch Paper birch Birch American beech White ash Holly Red spruce Pitch pine Eastern white pine Bigtooth aspen Pin cherry Black cherry White oak Scarlet oak Bear oak Blackjack oak Water oak Chestnut oak Post oak Black oak Willow Sassafras Northern mountain ash Mountain ash Arborvitae or Northern white-cedar Eastern hemlock Common serviceberry Kinnikinnick Broom crowberry Black huckleberry Blue huckleberry Eastern teaberry Pinebarren goldenheather Large gallberry Catberry Sheep laurel Mountain laurel Maleberry |
SHRUBS (CONTINUED) Lyonia spp. Morella pensylvanica (Mirbel) Kartesz Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch. Rubus spp. Sambucus nigra L. ssp. canadensis (L.) R. Bolli (formerly S. canadensis L.) Smilax glauca Walt. Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. Vaccinium corymbosum L. Vaccinium pallidum Ait. Vaccinium spp. Viburnum lantanoides Michx. FORBS, FERNS, MOSSES & GRAMINOIDS |
Staggerbush Northern bayberry Virginia creeper Blackberry Common elderberry Cat greenbrier Eastern poison ivy Lowbush blueberry Highbush blueberry Blue Ridge blueberry Blueberry Hobblebush
|
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