FIRE HISTORY OF THE AIKEN CANYON GRASSLAND-WOODLAND ECOTONE IN THE SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS OF THE COLORADO FRONT RANGE

A fire history for the Aiken Canyon Nature Conservancy preserve in Colorado is presented. Eighteen cross-sections cut from ponderosa pine recorded 20 fire events for the period spanning 1602 to 1999. An unusually small median fire interval (MFI) of 7.5 years was obtained for the period 1753 to 1935....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southwestern naturalist 2004-06, Vol.49 (2), p.239-243
Main Authors: Wieder, William R, Bower, Nathan W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canyons
Coniferous forests
Ecotones
Fire history
Fire scars
Forest service
Grasses
Grassland fires
Paleoclimatology
Pine trees
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A fire history for the Aiken Canyon Nature Conservancy preserve in Colorado is presented. Eighteen cross-sections cut from ponderosa pine recorded 20 fire events for the period spanning 1602 to 1999. An unusually small median fire interval (MFI) of 7.5 years was obtained for the period 1753 to 1935. A significant association was found between El Nino weather patterns and the fires at Aiken Canyon. A shorter MFI was observed in the grasslands, which are at lower elevations. Fires from railroads or cattle ranching might have caused the shorter MFI in the grasslands between 1872 and 1935. After 1935, fire suppression became common.
ISSN:0038-4909
1943-6262
DOI:10.1894/0038-4909(2004)049<0239:NFHOTA>2.0.CO;2