data

PATCHES METADATA

CLASS I. DATA SET DESCRIPTORS

1. Data set identity: Effects of fire size and pattern on early succession in Yellowstone National Park.
2. Data set identification code: YNPpatches.txt
3. Data set description

Principal Investigators: Monica G. Turner, William H. Romme and Robert H. Gardner
Contact Information: Monica G. Turner, Department of Zoology, Birge Hall, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI 53706. 608-262-2592, turnermg@wisc.edu, http://landscape.zoology.wisc.edu/index.html

Primary citation: Turner, M. G., W. H. Romme, R. H. Gardner and W. W. Hargrove.  1997.  Effects of fire size and pattern on early succession in Yellowstone National Park. Ecological Monographs 67:411-433.

Additional citations:
Turner, M. G., W. H. Romme and D. B. Tinker.  2003. Surprises and lessons from the 1988 Yellowstone fires. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1:351-358.

Romme W. H., and M. G. Turner. 2004. Ten years after the 1988 Yellowstone fires: is restoration needed?  Pages 318-361 In:  L. L. Wallace, editor.  After the fires: the ecology of change in Yellowstone National Park. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut. 

Abstract: The Yellowstone fires of 1988 affected >250,000 ha, creating a mosaic of burn severities across the landscape and providing an ideal opportunity to study effects of fire size and pattern on postfire succession.  We asked whether vegetation responses differed between small and large burned patches within the fire-created mosaic in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and evaluated the influence of spatial patterning on the postfire vegetation. Vegetation in a small (1 ha), moderate (70-200 ha) and large (500-3600 ha) burned patch at each of three geographic locations was sampled annually from 1990 to 1993 and again in 1996. 

4. Key words:  Yellowstone National Park; secondary succession; spatial pattern; landscape ecology; Pinus contorta; patch size; disturbance; fire ecology; spatial heterogeneity.

CLASS II. RESEARCH ORIGIN DESCRIPTORS

1. Overall project description

Identity: Effects of fire size and pattern on early succession in Yellowstone National Park.

Originator: Monica G. Turner (contact information above), William H. Romme and Robert H. Gardner.

Period of Study: 1990-1993, 1996

Objectives: We asked whether vegetation responses differ between small and large burned patches within the fire-created mosaic in YNP and evaluated the importance of spatial patterning and fire severity on the postfire vegetation.

Abstract: Same as above.

Sources of funding: National Geographic Society (Grant No. 4284-90), National Science Foundation (BSR - 9016281 and BSR-90118381), and Ecological Research Division, Office of Health and Environmental Research,  U.S. Department of Energy, under contract no. DE-AC05-84OR21400 with Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.

 

2. Specific subproject description

Site description/selection criteria: In order to establish three replicates of three patch sizes that differed in size by an order of magnitude, we selected a small (1 ha), moderate (70-200 ha) and large (500-3600 ha) patch of crown fire at three geographic locations (Table 2) across the subalpine plateau.  Regions of lesser burn severity were contained within and around each patch.  Selection was based on patch size and accessibility based on digital satellite imagery. Availability of accessible large crown-fire patches was limited, and the large patch at Yellowstone Lake was substantially larger than at the other two locations.

Site type: Subalpine forested plateau

Geography: 
Cougar Creek: Westcentral YNP

PATCH SIZE	CENER POINT COORDINATES
large	505001, 4951353
moderate	503835, 4946212
small	504593, 4947472

Fern Cascades: Southwestern YNP near Old Faithful

PATCH SIZE	CENER POINT COORDINATES
large	512726, 4921138
moderate	509858, 4923901
small	514727, 4920299

Yellowstone Lake: Southeastern YNP

PATCH SIZE	CENER POINT COORDINATES
large	555432,4896617
moderate	554447,4902793
small	555839,4905336

Habitat: Coniferous forests dominated by lodgepole pine, although subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry), and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) may be locally abundant.

Geology:
Cougar Creek: Ryolite and tuff (moderately infertile Quaternary volcanics)
Fern Cascades: Ryolite (moderately infertile Quaternary volcanics)
Yellowstone Lake: Lake sediments and andesite (moderately fertile Eocene volcanics)

Watersheds/hydrology: N/A

Site history:
Cougar Creek: ~130-year-old even-aged stands that originated after fires in 1860s.
Fern Cascades: ~290-year-old even-aged stands that originated after fires in early 1700s.
Yellowstone Lake: ~250-year-old even-aged stands that originated mid 1700’s (small and moderate patches); >400 year-old uneven aged stand (large patch).

Climate: The climate is generally cool and dry; on the plateau, mean January temperature is -11.4 °C and mean July temperature is 10.8 °C (Dirks and Martner 1982). Mean annual precipitation is 56.25 cm with relatively moist springs and dry summers (Dirks and Martner 1982).

Sampling methods: In July 1990, four permanent transects were established in each of the nine patches, extending from the center to the edge of the patch along subcardinal directions (NE, NW, SW, and SE).  Transects varied in length, depending on patch size and shape.  The edge of the patch was defined by unburned forest, a light-surface burn, a topographic barrier or an unforested area.  Sampling on each transect began 20 m from the center point of the patch and continued at fixed intervals (20 m in the small patches, 100-m in moderate patches and the large patches at Fern Cascades and Cougar Creek and 200 m in the large patch at Yellowstone Lake) as long as the transect continued through areas affected by crown fire.  At transitions between burn severity classes (e.g., between crown fire and a severe-surface burn), sampling points were located on the edge and at three 20-m intervals on either side of the edge.  Subsequent sampling points were again located at the fixed intervals until the next edge was encountered. Sampling points were marked in the field with wooden stakes, flagging and rock cairns and were sampled during July and August of 1990-1993 and again in 1996.

            A 50-m² circular plot was centered on each sampling point, and slope, aspect, and burn severity were recorded in 1990.  The proportion of prefire serotinous lodgepole pine trees was recorded within a 50-m radius of the sampling point was recorded in 1992 following methods in Tinker et al. (1994).  For vegetation measurements, an 8-m line was centered on the sampling point and extended perpendicular to the main axis of the transect. Percent cover data were recorded within eight 0.25-m² plots spaced at 1-m intervals along this line. At each point in a 25-point 0.5-m x 0.5-m point-intercept frame (cf. Floyd and Anderson [1982, 1987]), the underlying plant species or cover type (exposed mineral soil, unburned litter, charred litter, pebble, cobble, or boulder) was recorded. Percent cover was determined by aggregating the data from the eight 0.25-m² plots.  Species richness was measured by recording all species within an area extending 1 m along the 8-m line.  Nomenclature follows Dorn (1992).

            Individuals of Epilobium angustifolium, Lupinus argenteus, Arnica cordifolia, Carex geyeri, Carex rossii, Pinus contorta and Vaccinium scoparium  were censused within each of the eight 0.25-m² plots with perennials classified as seedlings of the year or sprouts based on morphological characters (Turner et al. unpublished data).  Pinus contorta seedlings were counted annually and the counts recorded by seedling age (yrs) to estimate recruitment through time.

            Opportunistic species (Cirsium arvense, Collinsia parviflora, Gayophytum diffusum, and Lactuca serriola), which frequently were sparse at individual sampling points, were sampled along 1-m wide belt transects between sampling points.  Belt transects were established using hip chains to record the total number of individuals observed within 0.5 m on either side of the transect.

Taxonomy and systematics: Dorn, R. D. 1992.  Vascular plants of Wyoming.  2nd Edition. Mountain West Publishing, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

CLASS III. DATA SET STATUS AND ACCESSIBILITY

For internal use only.

CLASS IV. DATA STRUCTURAL DESCRIPTORS

1. Data set file

Identity: YNPpatches.txt

Size: 690 kb

Format and storage mode: ASCII text, tab delimited. No compression scheme was used.

Missing value code: “.”

Header information: See variable names in Section B.

Alphanumeric attributes: Uppercase

Authentication procedures: Column sums (see tables below)

2. Variable information