LEADER 03899oam 2200481Ia 450 001 9910696207903321 005 20071211103444.0 035 $a(CKB)5470000002376747 035 $a(OCoLC)180193150 035 $a(EXLCZ)995470000002376747 100 $a20071101d2007 ua 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aRule-based mapping of fire-adapted vegetation and fire regimes for the Monongahela National Forest$b[electronic resource] /$fMelissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy, Gregory J. Nowacki, Thomas M. Schuler 210 1$aNewtown Square, PA :$cU.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station,$d[2007] 215 $a24 pages $cdigital, PDF file 225 1 $aGeneral technical report NRS ;$v12 300 $a"August 2007." 300 $aTitle from Web page (viewed on Nov. 1, 2007). 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 19-24). 330 3 $aThe use of prescribed fire is expected to increase as efforts to restore fire-dependent ecosystems gain momentum nationally. The documentation of historical fire regimes is essential for setting restoration objectives that include prescribed burning. To aid the Monongahela National Forest in this endeavor, a rule-based approach was employed in GIS to map fire-adapted vegetation and fire regimes. Spatial analyses and maps were generated using ArcMap 9.1 using the proclamation boundary of the Monongahela National Forest as our study area. Based on current knowledge of fire-vegetation-site relationships, we reviewed available data sets for relevancy in estimating fire regimes. Four themes were selected: landtype association, potential natural vegetation (primary and secondary), and current forest type. All themes were converted to 20 mē grids. Selected features of each theme were scaled from 1 through 5 according to their relationship to fire, with 1 representing conditions most conducive to fire and 5 the least. Each theme was weighted to reflect its inferred effect on system fire adaptation. The resulting fire adaptation scores were then categorized into standard fire regime groups. Fire regime group V (200+ yrs fire frequency) was the most common, assigned to more than 510,000 ha, primarily in the Allegheny Mountains Section. Fire regime group I (low & mixed severity, 0-35 yrs) and III (low & mixed severity, 35 -200 yrs) were assigned to nearly 198,000 ha, primarily in the Ridge and Valley Section and one subsection within the Allegheny Mountains Section. The resultant maps are intended to identify fire-adapted systems for land management purposes. These systems likely will require active silviculture using fire and/or fire surrogates for their maintenance or restoration. The transparent rule-based procedure can be easily modified and, as such, possesses the flexibility for application to other ecosystems with similar spatial databases 606 $aFire ecology$zWest Virginia$zMonongahela National Forest 606 $aFire risk assessment$zWest Virginia$zMonongahela National Forest 606 $aFire resistant plants$zWest Virginia$zMonongahela National Forest 606 $aFire management$zWest Virginia$zMonongahela National Forest 615 0$aFire ecology 615 0$aFire risk assessment 615 0$aFire resistant plants 615 0$aFire management 700 $aThomas-Van Gundy$b Melissa A$01388608 701 $aNowacki$b Gregory J$g(Gregory Jay)$01405188 701 $aSchuler$b Thomas M$01383894 712 02$aUnited States.$bForest Service.$bNorthern Research Station. 801 0$bORE 801 1$bORE 801 2$bGPO 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910696207903321 996 $aRule-based mapping of fire-adapted vegetation and fire regimes for the Monongahela National Forest$93481217 997 $aUNINA