| dc.contributor.author | Beckers, Jesse | |
| dc.description.abstract | A study on the fire history of the ponderosa pine (Pi nus ponderosa P. & C.
Lawson) forest in northern Slope County, North Dakota, was completed. The objectives of
this study were to determine the pre- and post-settlement fire history of this location and to
relate that fire history to topography. Samples were collected in 2005-2007 and analyzed
using standard dendrochronological techniques.
Three data-reduction methods and three calculation techniques were used to
determine fire intervals (Fis). Method 1 assumed that all scars were created by fire; Method
2 required 10% or 20% of samples to have scars in a given year; Method 3 attempted to use
visual cues to separate fire-caused scars from those created by other agents. The calculation
techniques determined the FI for each tree individually, 1) utilizing or 2) not utilizing the
origin-to-scar (OS) interval, followed by averaging all samples, or 3) compositing all
samples before calculating the FI. Results of this study varied, depending on data-reduction
method and calculation technique. The most realistic results were obtained with Method 2
utilizing the 10% criterion. With this method, the pre- and post-settlement Fis are 28.5 and
52 years, respectively. Composite calculations in Methods I and 3 showed low Fis;
utilizing individual Fis with the OS interval showed overly large estimates of the FI. When
conservative Method 2 was utilized, the average age of a ponderosa pine when the first fire
scar was recorded is 58 years. Fires in 1882 and 1893 traveled the farthest distances, 2893
and 3276 meters, respectively. | en_US |
| dc.publisher | North Dakota State University | en_US |
| dc.rights | NDSU policy 190.6.2 | en_US |
| dc.title | Fire History of the Ponderosa Pine Stand in Southwestern North Dakota | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-08-07T20:39:05Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-08-07T20:39:05Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2007 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10365/33222 | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Ponderosa pine -- North Dakota -- Slope County | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Forest fires --North Dakota -- Slope County -- History | en_US |
| dc.rights.uri | https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf | en_US |
| ndsu.degree | Master of Science (MS) | en_US |
| ndsu.college | Interdisciplinary Studies | en_US |
| ndsu.program | Natural Resources Management | en_US |
| ndsu.advisor | Zeleznik, Joseph D. | |
