Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:08:09.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fire and Other Disturbances of the Forests in Mount Rainier National Park

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Miles A. Hemstrom  and
Jerry F. Franklin
Miles A. Hemstrom
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Willamette National Forest, Eugene, Oregon 97440
Jerry F. Franklin
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, Corvallis, Oregon 97331
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The recent history of catastrophic disturbances in forests was reconstructed at Mount Rainier National Park. Basic data were ages of trees based on ring counts of early seral conifer species and maps of age-class boundaries from field work and aerial photographs. Maps illustrate age classes of the forests and show disturbances from fires, snow avalanches, and lahars (volcanic mudflows). Fires are by far the most important major disturbers, followed by snow avalanches and lahars. Fires over 250 ha in size are called fire events. Burns over 1000 ha, which may have been one fire or a series of fires within a short time, are called fire episodes. Important fire events or episodes occurred in the years 1230, 1303, 1403, 1503, 1628, 1688, 1703, 1803, 1825, 1856, 1858, 1872, 1886, 1894, 1930, and 1934 A.D. The largest fire episode was in 1230; it affected approximately 47% of the forests in the park. The majority of the forests are over 350 yr old, and several stands are over 1000 yr old. Stands 350 yr and 100 to 200 yr in age are the most extensive age classes in the park. Three fire frequency indices are compared. None describe fire frequency at Mount Rainier well. Natural fire rotation was estimated at about 434 yr. All but two episodes of major fires since 1300 A.D. correspond well with major droughts reconstructed for locations east of the Cascade Range crest. Impacts of humans on the disturbance regime may have increased the frequency of fire in the 1850–1900 period, followed by a decrease in frequency after 1900. Fuel build-up as a result of fire suppression should have no significant impact on fire frequency, since fires are relatively infrequent and fuels accumulate naturally.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , July 1982 , pp. 32 - 51
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arno, S.F., (1976). The historical role of fire on the Bitterroot National Forest. USDA Forest Service Research PaperINT-187.Google Scholar
Arno, S.F., (1980). Forest fire history in the Northern Rockies. Journal of Forestry 78. 460–465.Google Scholar
Blasing, T.J., Fritts, H.C., (1976). Reconstructing past climatic anomalies in the North Pacific and western North America from tree-ring data. Quaternary Research 1. 563–579.Google Scholar
Brockman, C.F., (1931). Forests and timber types of Mount Rainier National Park. M. S. Thesis. University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Brubaker, L.C., (1980). Spatial patterns of tree growth anomalies in the Pacific Northwest. Ecology 61. 798–807.Google Scholar
Burke, C.J., (1980). Historic fires in the central western Cascades, Oregon. M.S. Thesis. Oregon State University, Corvallis.Google Scholar
Cowan, C.S., (1961). The Enemy is Fire. Superior, Seattle.Google Scholar
Crandell, D.R., (1971). Postglacial lahars from Mount Rainier volcano, Washington. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper677.Google Scholar
Crandell, D.R., Miller, R.D., (1974). Quaternary stratigraphy and extent of glaciation in the Mount Rainier region, Washington. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper848.Google Scholar
Cushman, M.J., (1976). Vegetation composition as a predictor of major avalanche cycles, North Cascades, Washington. M.S. Thesis. University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Cwynar, L.C., (1977). The recent fire history of Barron Township, Algonquin Park. Canadian Journal of Botany 55. 1524–1538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dryden, C., (1968). Dryden's History of Washington. Binfords and Mort, Portland, Oregon.Google Scholar
Fenby, E.J., (1914). The Cispus burn. Forest Quarterly 12. 193–200.Google Scholar
Franklin, J.F., (1966). Vegetation and soils in the subalpine forests of the southern Washington Cascade Range. Ph.D. Thesis. Washington State University, Pullman.Google Scholar
Franklin, J.F., Dyrness, C.T., (1973). Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington. USDA Forest Service General Technical ReportPNW-8.Google Scholar
Franklin, J.F., Mitchell, R.G., (1967). Successional status of subalpine fir in the Cascade Range. USDA Forest Service Research PaperPNW-46.Google Scholar
Franklin, J.F., McKee, A., Swanson, F.J., Means, J., Brown, A. 1979a. Age structure analysis of old-growth Douglas-fir stands: data versus conventional wisdom. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 60. 102.Google Scholar
Franklin, J.F., Moir, W.H., Hemstrom, M.A., Greene, S. 1979b. Forest ecosystems of Mount Rainier National ParkUnpublished report on file at Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon.Google Scholar
Frissell, S.S. Jr.. 1973. The importance of fire as a natural ecological factor in Itasca State Park, Minnesota. Quaternary Research 3. 397–407.Google Scholar
Fritts, H.C., Lobgren, R.G., Gordon, G.A., (1979). Variations in climate since 1602 as reconstructed from tree rings. Quaternary Research 12. 18–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haines, A.L., (1953). Fire weather analysis Chief Ranger's Office, Mount Rainier National Park, Longmire, Washington.Google Scholar
Haines, D.A., Sando, R.W., (1969). Climatic conditions preceding historically great fires in the North Central Region. USDA Forest Service Research PaperNC-34.Google Scholar
Heinselman, M.L., (1973). Fire in the virgin forests of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota. Quaternary Research 3. 329–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemstrom, M.A., (1979). A recent disturbance history of forest ecosystems at Mount Rainier National Park. Ph.D. Thesis. Oregon State University, Corvallis.Google Scholar
Henry, J.D., Swan, J.M.A., (1974). Reconstructing forest history from live and dead material—an approach to the study of forest succession in southwest New Hampshire. Ecology 55. 772–783.Google Scholar
Hobson, F.D., (1976). Classification system for the soils of Mount Rainier National Park. M.S. Thesis. Washington State University, Pullman.Google Scholar
Keen, F.P., (1937). Climatic cycles in eastern Oregon as indicated by tree rings. Monthly Weather Review 65. 175–188.Google Scholar
Kilgore, B.M., (1973). The ecological role of fire in Sierran conifer forests, its application to national park management. Quaternary Research 3. 496–513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loope, L.L., Gruell, G.E., (1973). The ecological role of fire in the Jackson Hole area, northwestern Wyoming. Quaternary Research 3. 425–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luckman, B.H., (1978). Geomorphic work of snow avalanches in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Arctic and Alpine Research 10. 261–276.Google Scholar
Lutz, H.J., (1956). Ecological effects of forest fires in the interior of Alaska. USDA Forest Service Technical Bulletin No. 1133.Google Scholar
Lynott, R.E., Cramer, O.P., (1966). Detailed analysis of the 1962 Columbus Day windstorm in Oregon and Washington. Monthly Weather Review 94. 105–117.Google Scholar
Morris, W.G., (1937). Forest fires in western Oregon and western Washington. Oregon Historical Quarterly 35. 313–339.Google Scholar
Mullineaux, D.R., (1974). Pumice and other pyroclastic deposits in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1326.Google Scholar
Phillips, E. L. (n.d.). Mount Rainier National Park narrative climatological summary. U.S. Department of Commerce Weather Bureau.Google Scholar
Pickford, S.G., Fahnestock, G.R., Ottmar, R., (1977). Fuels, Weather, and Lightning Fires in the Olympic National Park. College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Plummer, F.G., (1900). Mount Rainier Forest Reserve, Washington. U.S. Geological Survey 21st Annual Report 81–143.Google Scholar
Plummer, F.G., (1902). Forest conditions in the Cascade Range, Washington. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plummer, F.G., (1912). Forest fires: their causes, extent, and effects, with a summary of recorded destruction and loss. USDA Forest Service Bulletin 117.Google Scholar
Rowe, J.S., Scotter, G.W., (1973). Fire in the boreal forest. Quaternary Research 3. 444–464.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R.L., (1970). A history of pre-settlement fires on Vancouver Island as determined from Douglas-firages Tree-Ring Analysis With special Reference to Northwest America. Faculty of Forestry Bulletin 7. University of British Columbia, Vancouver 107–108.Google Scholar
Smith, L., (1974). Indication of snow avalanche periodicity through interpretation of vegetation patterns in the North Cascades, Washington. M.S. Thesis. University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Soeriaatmadja, R.E., (1966). Fire history of the ponderosa pine forests of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Oregon. Ph.D. Thesis. Oregon State University, Corvallis.Google Scholar
Tande, G.F., (1977). Forest fire history around Jasper Townsite, Jasper National Park, Alberta. M.S. Thesis. University of Alberta, Edmonton.Google Scholar
Taylor, W.P., (1922). A distributional and ecological study of Mount Rainier, Washington. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Thornburgh, D.A., (1967). Dynamics of true firhemlock forests of western Washington. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Van Wagner, C.E., (1978). Age class distribution and the forest fire cycle. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 8. 220–227.Google Scholar
Weaver, H.W., (1961). Ecological changes in the ponderosa pine forest of Cedar Valley in southern Washington. Ecology 42. 416–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winterbottom, K., (1974). The effects of slope angle, aspect and fire on snow avalanching in the Field, Lake Louise and Marble Canyon region of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. M.S. Thesis. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.Google Scholar