After the Fires : The Ecology of Change in Yellowstone National Park

by Edited by Linda L. Wallace

• ISBN13: 9780300100488
• ISBN10: 0300100485
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2004-07-11
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

The ravaging fires in Yellowstone National Park in 1988 caused grave concern among scientists about the possible short- and longterm repercussions. This book provides the first comprehensive scientific summary of the actual response of the Yellowstone ecosystem to the fires.

Written by experts in wildlife biology, ecosystem science, landscape ecology, and forest science, the book shows not only that many things changed after the fires (for ecological components of the system are interactive) but also that some things did not change. The largest effects of the fires were felt at the smallest scales, and the long-term devastation predicted did not come to pass. The resilience of this naturally functioning ecosystem to these huge fires has important lessons for heavily managed regions.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Part I Historical and Geological Perspective
The Fires of 1988: A Chronology and Invitation to Research	3	(7)
Linda L. Wallace
Francis J. Singer
Paul Schullery
Postglacial Fire, Vegetation, and Climate History of the Yellowstone-Lamar and Central Plateau Provinces, Yellowstone National Park	10	(19)
Sarah H. Millspaugh
Cathy Whitlock
Patrick J. Bartlein
Yellowstone Fires and the Physical Landscape	29	(26)
Grant A. Meyer
Part II Effects on Individuals and Species
Establishment, Growth, and Survival of Lodgepole Pine in the First Decade	55	(47)
Jay E. Anderson
Marshall Ellis
Carol D. von Dohlen
William H. Romme
Fire Effects, Elk, and Ecosystem Resilience in Yellowstone's Sagebrush Grasslands	102	(15)
Benjamin F. Tracy
Elk Biology and Ecology Before and After the Yellowstone Fires of 1988	117	(26)
Francis J. Singer
Michael B. Coughenour
Jack E. Norland
Part III Effects on Aquatic Systems
Effects of Wildfire on Growth of Cutthroat Trout in Yellowstone Lake	143	(22)
Robert E. Gresswell
Stream Ecosystem Responses to Fire: The First Ten Years	165	(24)
G. Wayne Minshall
Todd V. Royer
Christopher T. Robinson
Food Web Dynamics in Yellowstone Streams: Shifts in the Trophic Basis of a Stream Food Web After Wildfire Disturbance	189	(11)
Timothy B. Mihuc
Role of Fire in Determining Annual Water Yield in Mountain Watersheds	200	(35)
Phillip E. Farnes
Ward W. McCaughey
Katherine J. Hansen
Part IV Terrestrial Ecosystem and Landscape Perspective
Early Postfire Forest Succession in the Heterogeneous Teton Landscape	235	(44)
Kathleen M. Doyle
Snags and Coarse Woody Debris: An Important Legacy of Forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem	279	(20)
Daniel B. Tinker
Dennis H. Knight
Fire Patterns and Ungulate Survival in Northern Yellowstone Park: The Results of Two Independent Models	299	(19)
Linda L. Wallace
Michael B. Coughenour
Monica G. Turner
William H. Romme
Ten Years After the 1988 Yellowstone Fires: Is Restoration Needed?	318	(44)
William H. Romme
Monica G. Turner
Epilogue: After the Fires. What Have We Learned?	362	(11)
Linda L. Wallace
Norman L. Christensen
List of Contributors	373	(2)
Index	375