GRASSLAND FIRE ECOLOGY - FALL 2004
WL 421/521 RS 421/521
Instructor: K. F. Higgins
Mondays
4:00-5:50 p.m.
SPB 184
Labs TBA or Wednesdays
5:00-7:50 p.m.
SPB 184
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Lecture Topic |
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Wednesday, September 1 - First Class Meeting (See Announcement Below) |
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Monday, September 6 - Labor Day (No Class) |
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Monday, September 13 |
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Introduction |
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Fire Ecologists (Past) |
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Evidence of Prehistoric Fire |
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History of Fire in Grasslands |
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Cultural Use of Fire (Dr. Fritz Gritzner) |
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Monday, September 20 |
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Indian Set and Lightning Set Fires (Custer Films) |
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Reasons for Burning Grasslands |
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Public Relations and Regulations |
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Definitions and Parts of a FIRE |
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Monday, September 27 |
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Safety Clothing and Equipment |
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Methods of Containment and Equipment |
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Methods of Ignition and Equipment |
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Weather and Fire Weather Equipment |
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Physical Characteristics and Fire Behavior |
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Smoke and Smoke Effects and Problems, Fuel Types |
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Monday, October 4 |
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Mid-Term Exam |
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Monday, October 11 - Native American Day (No Class) |
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Monday, October 18 |
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Effects on Soil Organisms |
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Effects on Soil Nutrients |
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Effects on Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians |
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Effects on Composition and Wildlife Abundance |
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Effects on Birds |
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Monday, October 25 |
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Effects on Wetland Vegetation-Wilderness Areas |
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Effects on Fire Cessation and Grazing |
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Use of Fire to Manage Elk in Wyoming |
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Monday, November 1 |
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Prefire and Postfire Records and Evaluations |
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Current and Future Applications of Fire |
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Prescriptive Use of Fire |
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Monday, November 8 |
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Thursday, November 11 - Veteran’s Day (No Class) |
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Monday, November 15 |
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Short and Long Term Effects of Fire |
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Monday, November 22 |
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Second Exam |
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Thursday-Friday, November 25-26 - Thanksgiving Holiday (No Class) |
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Monday, November 29 |
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Fire in Other Places and Ecosystems |
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Monday, December 6 |
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Future Research Needs |
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December 13-17 |
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Final Exams Week |
THIS COURSE FINAL EXAM
Monday - December 13, 2004
5:00 p.m.
!!!ATTENTION!!!
Grassland Fire Ecology Class
WL 421/521 & RANG 421/521
will commence at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 1st in
Room 184 of the Northern Plains Biostress Lab (SNP-184).
Lecture and assignments will end
by 6:50 p.m. that day, so come prepared for class.
Direct any questions to Dr. Ken Higgins at 688-4779 or visit with him in Room 139B in the Biostress Lab.
Posted August 24, 2004
Why should you take this course in
"Grassland
Fire Ecology"?
Prescription fire was and is a major tool for management and
preservation of most grasslands throughout the world.
More often than not, however, it has been put in the bottom end of the potential
management alternatives because of fears and risks which occur largely due to
ignorance. Burning is an old art but not
a science as yet but more is known following the analysis of each fire. This course is unique in its kind
among university courses being taught in the Northern Great Plains and it is
applicable to several disciplines.
This course is designed to provide you with insight into the
history of fires, the people who used them and why, what fire is and how it
behaves in relation to fuels and weather.
I have purposely arranged the lectures to present you firstly with definitions,
descriptions, and fundamentals, and secondly with effects on the biota. At the end of the course you should and will
be expected to integrate what you have learned into composite plans for doing
prescription fires in grasslands.
This course will be taught in a practical fashion with the intent
to expose you to many realistic situations; it is not intended to be used as a
quantitative milestone in academia. Upon
completion of the course you should be able to plan, organize, and conduct a
prescription grassland burn in a safe manner with fairly predictable results of
biotic response. You will not however,
be a certified fire manager because you have taken the course.
The primary textbooks were chosen to provide an overview of the
grassland biome and some aspects of global weather patterns and some unique
methods of determining them from historical records. The
special individual efforts from class projects are meant to acquaint you with
some of the key people and articles relative to fire.
Weather
permitting, we will participate in a few field trips to sites with on-going
burning programs.
If you have had introductory courses in plant and animal ecology
and are familiar with the primary taxonomic groups you should have no major
problems with the lecture series or readings.