2002 Fire and Aquatic Ecosystems Workshop Products

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	Workshop Papers/Abstracts/Presentations
	Workshop Authors
	Special Issue on Fire and Aquatic Ecosystems This link will bring you to the index of Forest Ecology and Management journal.  Go to Volume 178, issues 1-2, this is the special issue. Forest Service employees on a networked Forest Service computer can access the special issue.  Also, individuals with a subscription can access the issue. If you cannot access Forest and Ecology Management journal then the papers are available on our web site in the unofficial format (workshop papers).

Trail Creek after Blackwell Fire 1994, 1995, 2000 (Photos by R. Nelson and H. Clouser)

The Fire and Aquatic Ecosystems Workshop was held April 22-24, 2002 in Boise, Idaho.  The purpose of the workshop was to synthesize new information and current knowledge of the role for fire in, and effects of fire on, aquatic and riparian ecosystems, and to explore potential research areas that will improve our understanding of these areas.  All participants in the workshop were invited based on their experience in research or management with fire and disturbance relevant to aquatic systems.  The goal of the workshop was to help managers identify ecologically sound and socially acceptable ways to protect and restore the ecosystems and processes that are influenced by fire.  The major organizing themes of the workshop were: fire history; vegetation and post-fire management; the effects of fire on physical and watershed-level processes; and the effects of fire on biological processes. 

Fourteen papers including a keynote address by Michael Rains, the primary architect of the National Fire Plan, were presented in the workshop over one and half days.  A final half day was devoted to discussion of emerging issues, key points for management, and key questions for research.  Abstracts of the papers and several of the presentations are available from this website.   Papers were accepted for publication in a special issue of Forest Ecology and Management.  The breadth of topics covered in the issue is large, ranging from case studies of post-fire effects on watershed and biological processes, to fire management issues related to the conservation of native fishes.  An introduction paper (Rieman et al.) provides the context for the workshop and issues surrounding fire and fire-related management in aquatic systems.  A synthesis paper (Bisson et al.)  summarizes key  points emerging from the papers and discusses implications for management and research. [download all papers]

Bisson, P.A.; Rieman, B.E.; Luce, C.; Hessburg, P.F.; Lee, D.C.; Kershner, J.L.; Reeves, G.H.; Gresswell, R.E. 2003. Fire and aquatic ecosystems of the Western USA: current knowledge and key questions. Forest Ecology and Management. 178: 213-229.