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Last ESSP meet of the year, this Friday, May 4th at Noon CSC333<br>
Lunch Provided - Pizza again.<br><br>
<div align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica">Sustainability of North
American Forests through Disturbance Ecology<br>
Dr. James H. Speer<br><br>
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Abstract<br>
Dendrochronology provides long-term information on the natural range of
variability of forest disturbances, enabling forest managers to
understand the natural processes that are operating in their managed
lands. Through tree-ring research we now understand that ponderosa
pine forests would have a low intensity surface fire every 3-10
years. Giant Sequoia forests need fire every 10 years for seedling
to be able to establish in a clear understory. Lodgepole pine
forests senesce at 150 years of age and need catastrophic fires to open
their serotinous cones so that the next generation of pine trees can
establish. Similarly, insects are an integral part to the
functioning of many natural systems. They play important roles in
nutrient cycling and process regulation. Dendrochronology provides
a long-term record of these disturbance events enabling humans to manage
natural lands in harmony with nature’s processes. In this talk, I
will give examples of disturbance reconstructions of fires and insect
outbreaks and describe what we have learned from studying these natural
systems. <br><br>
Hope to see you there<br><br>
Fred<br>
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