Record Details

Biomass and fire dynamics in a temperate forest-grassland mosaic: Integrating multi-species herbivory, climate, and fire with the FireBGCv2/GrazeBGC system

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Field Value
Title Biomass and fire dynamics in a temperate forest-grassland mosaic: Integrating multi-species herbivory, climate, and fire with the FireBGCv2/GrazeBGC system
Names Riggs, Robert A. (creator)
Keane, Robert E. (creator)
Cimon, Norm (creator)
DelCurto, Timothy (creator)
et al. (creator)
Date Issued 2015-01-24 (iso8601)
Note To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling.
Abstract Landscape fire succession models (LFSMs) predict spatially–explicit interactions between vegetation
succession and disturbance, but these models have yet to fully integrate ungulate herbivory as a driver of
their processes. We modified a complex LFSM, FireBGCv2, to include a multi-species herbivory module,
GrazeBGC. The system is novel in that it explicitly accommodates multiple herbivore populations, inter- and
intra-specific spatial forcing of their forage demands, and site-specific dietary selectivity to interactively modify biomass, fuels and
fire behavior across a landscape and over time. A factorial experiment with five grazing regimes, three climates and two
fire-management scenarios generated interactive influences on undergrowth biomass (shrub, herb, total), surface-fire (fire-line intensity;
flame length; scorch height; soil heat; CO, CO₂, CH₄, and PM[subscript 2.5] emissions), and the landscape’s
fire-return interval. Herbivory’s effects increased with biophysical site potential and herbivore forage demand, but
its effects were also contingent on climate and fire-suppression. Multi-species grazing modified biomass
and fire within stands and biophysical sites, but regimes involving only wildlife or livestock were less
effectual. Multi-species herbivory affected the landscape’s fire-return interval, but otherwise it did not
“scale up” to significantly modify total landscape respiration, primary production, carbon, or the total
area burned by individual fires. As modeled here, climate change and the effectiveness of future
fire suppression exerted stronger effects on landscape metabolism and carbon than did herbivory.
Genre Article
Topic Herbivory
Identifier Riggs, R. A., Keane, R. E., Cimon, N., Cook, R., Holsinger, L., Cook, J., ... & Naylor, B. (2015). Biomass and fire dynamics in a temperate forest-grassland mosaic: Integrating multi-species herbivory, climate, and fire with the FireBGCv2/GrazeBGC system. Ecological Modelling, 296, 57-78. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2014.10.013

© Western Waters Digital Library - GWLA member projects - Designed by the J. Willard Marriott Library - Hosted by Oregon State University Libraries and Press