This panel took place on Nov. 19, 2020.
Using Fire History to Inform Present Day Management
Can understanding historical fire data provide insights for supporting today's desired ecological outcomes?
Our panel
 Andrea BrandonAndrea is the Science Delivery Specialist for the Northern Research Station. Her focus is on improving communications and knowledge exchange between the scientific and natural resource management communities. She is highly interested in working with researchers to synthesize science findings, develop tools and resources, and provide useable research results for foresters, fire managers, and natural resource professionals. Prior to joining the USFS, Andrea worked for the Nature Conservancy. |  Michael StambaughDr. Michael Stambaugh is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Missouri, School of Natural Resources. Using tree rings, he and colleagues have documented historical fire regimes and changes to forests across 22 eastern U.S. states and extending back in time over hundreds of years. These records provide diverse examples of how fires have influence forests in the past, information which can guide how fire management and silvicultural systems can be integrated in the future. |  Melissa Thomas-Van GundyMelissa Thomas-Van Gundy is a research forester with the Northern Research Station in Parsons, WV. Her current work involves using fire at site (silvicultural tool) and landscape (ecological disturbance) scales. Past experience as a forester and ecologist on the Monongahela National Forest drives many of her research questions. |
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 Kyle SteeleKyle is the Forest Ecologist for the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri. Kyle works with other National Forest staff, partner agencies, and Universities to study and communicate ecological information to District staff making on-the-ground management decisions. Fire history, soil and ecosystem mapping, and plant community monitoring are three ongoing projects Kyle is currently working on. |  Dan DeyDr. Dey is a Project Leader/Research Forester for the US Forest Service Northern Research Station in Columbia, MO. Dan researches eastern forests through documenting fire history and studies on fire ecology and silviculture to sustain fire dependent forests and restore oak-pine woodlands and savannas. Previously, he was a researcher for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Missouri Dept. of Conservation and a forester on the Tongass and Nez Perce National Forests. |
Moderator
Resources and publications
Dey, Daniel C.; Guyette, Richard P.; Schweitzer, Callie J.; Stambaugh, Michael C.; Kabrick, John M. 2015. Restoring oak forest, woodlands and savannahs using modern silvicultural analogs to historic cultural fire regimes. In: Proceedings of the second international congress of silviculture. 2014 November 26-29; Florence, Italy. Florence, Italy: Accademia Italiana di Scienze Forestali: 116-122.
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Dey, Daniel C.; Knapp, Benjamin O.; Stambaugh, Michael C. 2019. Silviculture to restore oak woodlands and savannas. In: Clark, Stacy L.; Schweitzer, Callie J., eds. Oak symposium: sustaining oak forests in the 21st century through science-based management. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-237. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 125-137.
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Dey, Daniel C.; Schweitzer, Callie Jo. 2014. Restoration for the future: endpoints, targets, and indicators of progress and success. Journal of Sustainable Forestry. 33(sup1): S43-S65. https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2014.883999
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Guyette, Richard P.; Stambaugh, Michael C.; Dey, Daniel C.; Muzika, Rose-Marie. 2012. Predicting fire frequency with chemistry and climate. Ecosystems. 15: 322-335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9512-0
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Hanberry, Brice B.; Dey, Daniel C. 2019. Historical range of variability for restoration and management in Wisconsin. Biodiversity and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01806-8
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Hanberry, Brice B.; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd; Kabrick, John M. 2014. Historical open forest ecosystems in the Missouri Ozarks: reconstruction and restoration targets. Ecological Restoration. 32(4): 407-416. https://doi.org/10.3368/er.32.4.407
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Hanberry, Brice B.; Kabrick, John M.; He, Hong S. 2014. Densification and state transition across the Missouri Ozarks landscape. Ecosystems. 17(1): 66-81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-013-9707-7
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Hanberry, Brice B.; Noss, Reed F.; Safford, Hugh D.; Allison, Stuart K.; Dey, Daniel C. 2015. Restoration Is Preparation for the Future. Journal of Forestry. 113(4): 425-429. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.15-014
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Hanberry, Brice B.; Palik, Brian J.; He, Hong S. 2012. Comparison of historical and current forest surveys for detection of homogenization and mesophication of Minnesota forests. Landscape Ecology. 27(10): 1495-1512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-012-9805-5
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Hanberry, Brice B.; Palik, Brian J.; He, Hong S. 2013. Winning and Losing Tree Species of Reassembly in Minnesota’s Mixed and Broadleaf Forests. PLoS ONE. 8(4): e61709-. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061709
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Lafon, Charles W.; Naito, Adam T.; Grissino-Mayer, Henri D.; Horn, Sally P.; Waldrop, Thomas A. 2017. Fire history of the Appalachian region: a review and synthesis. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-219. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 97 p.
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Stambaugh, Michael C.; Varner, J. Morgan; Noss, Reed F.; Dey, Daniel C.; Christensen, Norman L.; Baldwin, Robert F.; Guyette, Richard P.; Hanberry, Brice B.; Harper, Craig A.; Lindblom, Sam G.; Waldrop, Thomas A. 2015. Clarifying the role of fire in the deciduous forests of eastern North America: reply to Matlack. Conservation Biology, 29(3): 942-946. 5 p. 10.1111/cobi.12473
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Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa A.; Nowacki, Gregory J. 2016. Landscape-fire relationships inferred from bearing trees in Minnesota. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-GTR-160. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 32 p.
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Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa A.; Nowacki, Gregory J.; Anderson, Roger C.; Bowles, Marlin L.; Brugam, Richard B.; Pavlovic, Noel B.; Halsey, Samniqueka, J.; McBride, Jenny. 2020. Visualizing the Ecological Importance of pre-Euro-American Settlement Fire across Three Midwestern Landscapes. The American Midland Naturalist. 183(1): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1637/19-030.
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Thomas-Van Gundy, Melissa A.; Nowacki, Gregory J.; Cogbill, Charles V. 2015. Mapping pyrophilic percentages across the northeastern United States using witness trees, with focus on four national forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-145. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 26 p.