final exam

Question 1

crown fire

Answer 1

fire in the canopy of a forest/top of trees

Question 2

dewpoint

Answer 2

the temperature to which air must be cooled (at constant pressure) to reach saturation

Question 3

direct attack

Answer 3

any treatment applied directly to burning fuel such as wetting, smothering, or chemically quenching the fire or by physically separating the burning from unburned fuel

Question 4

fire behavior triangle

Answer 4

topography, weather, fuel

Question 5

fire intensity

Answer 5

refers to the energy release rate

Question 6

fire regime

Answer 6

the combined characteristics of fire frequency, fire extent, fire seasonality, fire type, and fire severity.

Question 7

fire severity

Answer 7

degree to which a site has been altered or successional processes disrupted by fire.

Question 8

fire triangle

Answer 8

heat, oxygen, fuel

Question 9

forb

Answer 9

herbaceous flowering plant (not grass-like or become woody)

Question 10

graminoid

Answer 10

herbaceous plant with grass-like morphology

Question 11

grass stage

Answer 11

longleaf pine is developing central root. pine needles stick up like grass from the ground and protect the seeds inside from fire.

Question 12

ground fire

Answer 12

fire that burns soil and forest duff/debris. may not appear on the surface

Question 13

heat

Answer 13

measure of energy flow from one object to another

Question 14

hotspotting

Answer 14

specific method of direct attack in which portions of the fire are targeted by crew. may be hot portions of spot fires or parts of the fire that are likely to escape or grow in intensity.

Question 15

indirect attack

Answer 15

fireline is located some considerable distance away from the fire’s active edge, done in the case of a fast-spreading or high-intensity fire

Question 16

parallel attack

Answer 16

fireline is constructed approximately parallel to and just far enough from the fire edge to enable firefighters to work effectively

Question 17

savanna

Answer 17

mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem. widely spaced trees so canopy does not close. no risk of canopy fire.

Question 18

scorch

Answer 18

burns enough to change the color of the surface or be damaged on the surface.

Question 19

seasonality

Answer 19

season of the year which fire occurs. strongly controlled by seasonal weather patterns and fuels. missouri prescribed burns in spring and fall.

Question 20

self-pruning

Answer 20

trait of plants to resist fire. branches drop to the ground–prevents the tree from a canopy fire (removed ladder fuels)

Question 21

serotiny

Answer 21

seed release caused by fire. ex. cones

Question 22

surface fire

Answer 22

fire burns the surface of the ground

Question 23

temperature

Answer 23

measure of energy within an object-physical property of an object

Question 24

topographic roughness

Answer 24

fire behavior changes on different types of topography

Question 25

tree regeneration

Answer 25

process that allows a forest to sustain itself through the growth and survival of seedings to replace large forest trees as they die.

Question 26

wildland-urban interface

Answer 26

zone of transition between wilderness and developing land. settlements in wui are at a greater risk of catastrophic wildfire

Question 27

woodland

Answer 27

low-density forest that lets in plenty of light

Question 28

stand replacement

Answer 28

lethal to most or all standing vegetation

Question 29

mixed-severity

Answer 29

variable between nonlethal, often understory, and lethal stand replacement

Question 30

low severity or understory

Answer 30

burns trees or shrubs under canopy but does not have lethal effect of canopy trees

Question 31

jack pine

Answer 31

-stand replacement crown fires (30-70 years)
-serotinous cones that open with fire to spread seeds

Question 32

longleaf pine

Answer 32

-frequent fire (1-3 years), low severity surface fires
-slow growing, poor competition
-frequent fire eliminates competition

Question 33

sugar maple

Answer 33

-high intensity, low frequency fires. stand replacement fires ever 1000 years
-not adapted to fire
-found on mesic sites with climatic and vegetation conditions that reduce fire

Question 34

direct wildlife mortality

Answer 34

very limited. animals tend to leave when threatened by smoke, flames, etc.

Question 35

fire effects on vegetation for food

Answer 35

plants resprout, new vegetation is more palatable and has more nutritional value than older vegetation.

Question 36

natural communities

Answer 36

community types defined by structural attributes

Question 37

dry-mesic loess/glacial till site

Answer 37

forest, woodland, savanna, prarie

Question 38

wet-mesic bottomland

Answer 38

forest, woodland, prairie

Question 39

edaphic grasslands

Answer 39

there are extreme conditions on which structural development is limited

Question 40

glades

Answer 40

open, rocky barrens with shallow soils, characterized by drought-tolerant plant species

Question 41

open forest communities

Answer 41

woodlands and savannas, fire is believed to be critical to keeping these ecosystems open. used to be more common than they are today

Question 42

mesophication

Answer 42

occurs when the removal of fire allows the establishment and development of fire-sensitive tree species

Question 43

adaptation

Answer 43

the process by which beneficial, heritable traits evolve through natural selection

Question 44

traits that protect plant from fire

Answer 44

-bark thickness
-position of sensitive tissues (buds, etc.)

Question 45

traits of plants that affect fire behavior

Answer 45

-detrital fuel inputs: leaf litter differs in composition, moisture, etc.
-plant architecture: position of biomass (branches/leaves) can affect type of fire

Question 46

plant traits for response following fire

Answer 46

damage from fire: species vary in ability to reduce impact of fire damage through compartmentalization and wounding

Question 47

fire-avoiders

Answer 47

group of pines exist in environments where fires are not common.

Question 48

fire-tolderatiors

Answer 48

group of pines is associated with low intensity surface fires, they have adaptations that allow them to survive in these conditions

Question 49

fire-embracers

Answer 49

group of pines associated with high intensity crown fires, often at low frequencies for stand regeneration.

Question 50

fire-refugee

Answer 50

pines exist in fire prone landscapes but do not have adaptations to fit into other categories.

Question 51

ways fire kills woody plants

Answer 51

-damage to meristematic tissue (buds, etc.)
-carbon starvation through damage to foliar tissue
-damage to roots

Question 52

sericea lespedeza (lespedeza cuneata)

Answer 52

-fire- may kill seedlings, mainly top-kill, fire may increase seed germination and establishment
-fall fires result in greater mortality than spring/summer fires

Question 53

johnson grass (sorghum halepense)

Answer 53

-likely to survive fire by sprouting from rhizomes, fire may promote growth

Question 54

asian bittersweet

Answer 54

produces abundant seed, shows rapid growth, prescribed fire is unlikely to control

Question 55

bush honeysuckle (lonicera spp.)

Answer 55

rapidly regenerates after fire, unchanged by fire

Question 56

russian-olive (elaeagnus angustifolia)

Answer 56

may colonize burned areas, sprouting after top-kill from fire

Question 57

common reed (phragmites australis)

Answer 57

top killed by fire but rhizomes usually survive, burning may increase abundance or temporarily decrease abundance

Question 58

dendrochronology

Answer 58

-the dating and study of annual rings in trees
-fire scars can be dated
-can be used to reconstruct past fire regimes (ecosystem restoration)