Kevin C Ryan - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Kevin C Ryan

Peat fires in Southeast Asia are a major source of trace gases and particles to the regional-glob... more Peat fires in Southeast Asia are a major source of trace gases and particles to the regional-global atmosphere that influence atmospheric chemistry, climate, and air quality. During the November 2015 recordhigh Ocean Niño Index (ONI, 2.6) our mobile smoke sampling team made the first, or rare, field measurements of numerous trace gases, aerosol optical properties, and aerosol chemistry and mass emissions for fires burning only peat in the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan (on the island of Borneo). The measurements used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), whole air sampling (WAS), photoacoustic extinctiometers (PAX, 401 and 870 nm), and detailed off-line analyses of particulate matter (PM) collected on filters. In

Fire

Tropical peatlands store vast volumes of carbon belowground. Human land uses have led to their de... more Tropical peatlands store vast volumes of carbon belowground. Human land uses have led to their degradation, reducing their carbon storage services. Clearing and drainage make peatlands susceptible to surface and belowground fires. Satellites do not readily detect smouldering peat fires, which release globally significant quantities of aerosols and climate-influencing gases. Despite national and international desire to improve management of these fires, few published results exist for in situ tropical peat fire behaviour and associated carbon emissions. We present new field methodology for calculating rates of fire spread within degraded peat (average spread rates, vertical 0.8 cm h−1, horizontal 2.7 cm h−1) and associated peat volume losses (102 m3 ha−1 in August, 754 m3 ha−1 in September) measured at six peat fire sites in Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 2015. Utilizing locally collected bulk density and emission factors, total August and September gas emissions of 27.2 t ha−1 (8.1 tC ha...

Glacier National Park served as a test site for ecosystem analyses that involved a suite of integ... more Glacier National Park served as a test site for ecosystem analyses that involved a suite of integrated models embedded within a geographic information system. The goal of the exercise was to provide managers with maps that could illustrate probable shifts in vegetation, net primary production (NPP), and hydrologic responses associated with two selected climatic scenarios. The climatic scenarios were (a) a recent 12-yr record of weather data, and (b) a reconstituted set that sequentially introduced in repeated 3-yr intervals wetter–cooler, drier–warmer, and typical conditions. To extrapolate the implications of changes in ecosystem processes and resulting growth and distribution of vegetation and snowpack, the model incorporated geographic data. With underlying digital elevation maps, soil depth and texture, extrapolated climate, and current information on vegetation types and satellite-derived estimates of leaf area indices, simulations were extended to envision how the park might l...

From the parking lot, the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana, could pass for ... more From the parking lot, the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana, could pass for a school, except that one end has a 73-foot-high block of reinforced concrete topped by what looks like a giant golf ball. The block is a combustion chamber for experimental burning, and the ball is part of a satellite station that receives data used to map North American wildfires, a function unheard of when the Fire Lab was established in 1960.

International Journal of Wildland Fire, 2001

Guest Editors

Cuadernos De La Sociedad Espanola De Ciencias Forestales, Jun 1, 2000

Integrative Studies in Water Management & Land Deve, 2004

31.1 Introduction 48131.2 Historical fire regimes, stand structures, and landscape characteristic... more 31.1 Introduction 48131.2 Historical fire regimes, stand structures, and landscape characteristics 48331.2.1 Variation in fire regimes and stand structures 48331.2.2 Historical landscape structure 48431.3 Current condition of ponderosa pine forests 48531.4 Restoration goals for ecologically sustainable landscapes 48731.5 Restoration treatment options 48831.6 The concept of a landscape strategy 49031.7 Case examples 49031.7.1 Northern Arizona, U.S.A. — including the Greater Flagstaff ForestsPartnership 49131.7.2 Southwestern Colorado — the Ponderosa Pine Partnership 49231.7.3 East central Colorado — the Upper South Platte Watershed Protection and Restoration Project 49331.7.4 Western Montana — the Lick Creek Demonstration Study 49431.8 Summary 496References 496

Ecological Studies, 2000

After a decade of speculation and debate, there is now a general scientific consensus that rising... more After a decade of speculation and debate, there is now a general scientific consensus that rising greenhouse gas levels in the earth’s atmosphere will result in significant climate change over the next century. The recent statement by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Watson et al. 1995) that “the observed increase in global mean temperature over the last century (0.3–0.6°C) is unlikely to be entirely due to natural causes, and that a pattern of climate response to human activities is identifiable in the climatological record” is a strong endorsement of this conclusion. The recently negotiated Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recognizes the influence of greenhouse gas concentrations on global warming and requires signatory countries to commit to significant reductions in emissions in the near future, further evidence of a growing acknowledgment that climate change is a reality.

General technical report RM, 1995

Go to AGRIS search. General technical report RM (Aug 1995). Simulating the effects of fire and cl... more Go to AGRIS search. General technical report RM (Aug 1995). Simulating the effects of fire and climate change on northern Rocky Mountain landscapes using the ecological process model FIRE-BGC. ...

Atmospheric Research, 2008

Bari town, have been characterized. Moreover back trajectories of air masses and Principal Compon... more Bari town, have been characterized. Moreover back trajectories of air masses and Principal Component Analyses were applied. Three of the peak PM10 episodes investigated were related to local emissions of primary pollutants during poor atmospheric dispersion conditions. The other two peak PM10 episodes considered are related with long range transport air masses toward Apulia region: in one case the chemical characterization and the back trajectories analysis indicate that high PM10 value detected is due to the Saharan dust advection in the Apulia region; in the other case air masses with different origin give rise to high PM10 value. Moreover PM10 daily mean concentrations, presented in this paper collected from January 2005 to August 2007 and obtained by automatic device in six stations of air quality monitoring networks in Bari territory, do not show a seasonal trend for PM10 concentrations, contrary to the PM10 trend shown in the towns of North Italy. This can be explained mostly considering that our region presents generally meteo-climatic conditions that favour pollutants dispersion.

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Site Preparation and Fuels Management on Steep …, 1982

Abstract-The bark beetle antiaggregative pheromones, verbenone and ipsdienol, were tested in prot... more Abstract-The bark beetle antiaggregative pheromones, verbenone and ipsdienol, were tested in protecting heat-injured lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) from mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) infestation in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho. Peat moss was placed around 70 per-cent of the basal circumference of lodgepole pines. When the peat moss was ignited, it simulated the smoldering of natu-ral duff, generating temperatures that killed the cambium. The four treatments tested were uninjured tree, heat-injured tree, heat-injured tree treated with verbenone, and heat-injured tree treated with verbenone plus ipsdienol. Treat-ments were replicated 20 times. Mountain pine beetles were attracted into treatment blocks by placing mountain pine beetle tree baits on metal posts 3 to 5 meters from treated trees. Fisher's Exact Test showed that treatment and beetle infestation were not independent (P < 0.015). Check treatments cont...

Cultural resources (CR) refer to the physical evidence of human occupations which archaeologist u... more Cultural resources (CR) refer to the physical evidence of human occupations which archaeologist use to reconstruct the past. This includes the objects, locations, and landscapes that play a significant role in the history or cultural traditions of a group of people. CR include artifacts left by prehistoric aboriginal peoples and those of historical significance. Archaeological constituents, the basic units of archaeological analysis, consist of artifacts and features. Artifacts include carved objects, pottery and ceramics, flaked and ground stones, faunal and floral remains, glass, and metal. Features include earthen works, rock art (e.g., petroglyphs and pictographs), midden soils, and structures (e.g., buildings, monuments, etc). CR are at risk of being damaged by wildfires as well as active natural resource management. In many countries, the United States included, managers have legal requirements to protect CR during fuels treatment and restoration activities as well as during w...

Western Journal of Applied Forestry, 1986

There are no published guidelines on duff moisture sampling procedures, yet accurate estimates of... more There are no published guidelines on duff moisture sampling procedures, yet accurate estimates of duff moisture are necessary for prescribing a given level of duff reduction through burning tBrown et al. 1985). Duff moisture •.an vary considerably across a given site, particularly in steep, irregular terrain. Adequate sampling to obtain duff moisture estimates can be difficult find time-consuming. We have fouod that sirr•ple random sampling of c•uff moisture often requires 40 or more observations to obtain desired precision. Stratified random sampling carl provide more reliable estimates •th"an simple random sampling witti • less time and effort. The key is to 'separate the area into nonoverlapping sites or strata, so that the variation in duff moisture within strata i•:1!ess than in the area as a whole. ',:i• Duff m•6tsture content is closely related to exposure and surface and subsurface drainage in steep, .t•egular terrain (Potts•et al. 1983). Iri short, topographic position may identify strata to be used in stratified sampling. Based on this premise, we suggest the following sampling procedure for estimating duff moisture in mountainous terrdin to provide the best information With minimum time and effort.

The bark beetle antiaggregative pheromones, verbenone and ipsdienol, were tested in protecting he... more The bark beetle antiaggregative pheromones, verbenone and ipsdienol, were tested in protecting heatinjured lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) from mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) infestation in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho. Peat moss was placed around 70 percent of the basal circumference of lodgepole pines. When the peat moss was ignited, it simulated the smoldering of natural duff, generating temperatures that killed the cambium. The four treatments tested were uninjured tree, heat-injured tree, heat-injured tree treated with verbenone, and heatinjured tree treated with verbenone plus ipsdienol. Treatments were replicated 20 times. Mountain pine beetles were attracted into treatment blocks by placing mountain pine beetle tree baits on metal posts 3 to 5 meters from treated trees. Fisher's Exact Test showed that treatment and beetle infestation were not independent (P < 0.015). Check treatments contained more unattacked and massattacked trees, whereas pheromone treatments contained more unsuccessfully attacked trees. Ipsdienol did not increase verbenone's efficacy in protecting trees.

See table 1 for more detail. Brief Synopsis: We developed 3-year post-fire mortality models for 1... more See table 1 for more detail. Brief Synopsis: We developed 3-year post-fire mortality models for 12 western conifer species by pooling data collected from multiple fire-injury studies. Models were developed for white fir, red fir, subalpine fir, incense cedar, western larch, lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, ponderosa pine, Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, Engelmann spruce, and Douglas-fir. Two sets of models were created, one for use in pre-fire planning where only crown injury and DBH were potential variables, and a second, optimal model for use in post-fire planning that used all significant variables. Predictive accuracy of all models was compared to the accuracy of the mortality model currently used in the First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM), BehavePlus, and the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-FVS). These new models will be added to FOFEM version 5.7 and BehavePlus 4.5. The mortality options in FOFEM will also be expanded. We also examined the accuracy of bark char codes to predict cambium injury at the base of trees after fire and made management recommendations for when it is appropriate to use bark char codes in place of direct cambium sampling.

Forest Ecology and Management, 2013

LANDFIRE is the working name given to the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools P... more LANDFIRE is the working name given to the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools Project (http://www.landfire.gov). The project was initiated in response to mega-fires and the need for managers to have consistent, wall-to-wall (i.e., all wildlands regardless of agency/ownership), geospatial data, on vegetation, fuels, and terrain to support use of fire behavior and effects prediction systems in guiding policy and management decisions. Base layers were created in a 5-year program of research and development ending in 2009, with processes in place to periodically update fuel and vegetation layers in response to anthropogenic and natural disturbances. LANDFIRE has been institutionalized as the primary data source for modeling activities aimed at meeting the goals of the United States' National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, and the data are available on-line to any user for conducting landscape analyses. Data access and use are high and expected to grow with the increasing scope and complexity of wildland fire management, thus requiring continued LANDFIRE improvements and updates.

Heat was used to injure foliage and cambium of 36 juvenile, approximately 9-meter-tall, ponderosa... more Heat was used to injure foliage and cambium of 36 juvenile, approximately 9-meter-tall, ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) in western Montana. The objective was to determine the effects of crown scorch (0%, 40%, and 80% leaf area reduction), stem heating (0%, 70%, and 100% of basal circumference), and their interactions with water relations. Measurements were taken for 2 growing seasons following anautumn heat treatment. The first growing season was warmer and drier than normal. The second season was wetter than normal. Seasonal differences in precipitation had a relatively greater effect on water relations than did fire treatments except for 100% basal heating. Before August in the drought year, trees with 80% crown scorch had 50% greater stomatal conductance (g,) than unscorched trees, whereas midday xylem pressure potential (I/J)m) was 0.16 megapascal higher in undefoliated trees. In the second growing season, a low moisture stress year, g, and transpiration (E) increased with crow...