# Presentation: 253747

## and the

**Dry Forest Ecosystems**

- Klamath Province

## Dry Forest Characteristics

**Extend periods of little precipitation (>140 days)**
**< 2.5” precipitation per dry period. Total precipitation less important**
**Net primary productivity limited by environment**
**Fringe habitats**
**Highly dependent on natural processes**
**Environmental stratification creates high diversity**
**Ephemeral habitats**
**Sensitive to natural cycles- Susceptible to small environmental perturbation**
** ****Most threatened ecosystem **

## Threatened Dry Forest of the World

**Costa Rica**
**Hawaii **
**Madagascar**
**Puerto Rico**
**South America **
**Australia**
**Ecuador**

**Mexico**
**Peru**
**Bolivia**
**Panama**
**Nicaragua**
**West Africa**
**India**

## Slide 4

## Eccentricity Cycle

- aphelion

**perihelion**

**Eccentricity Cycle**

**30% difference in solar radiation**** **

**6% difference in solar radiation**

## Axial Tilt

**Periodicity  41,000 years**

## Slide 7

## Axial Tilt        Obliquity of the Ecliptic

- Axial Tilt        **Obliquity of the Ecliptic**

- Less to more tilt increases and decreases the radiation difference between equator and poles

**Periodicity  41,000 years**

**23.5****0**** Today **
**(going toward less tilt)**

## Precession Cycle

**aphelion**

**perihelion**

- Periodicity 25,800 Years

**Precession relative to Obliquity of the Ecliptic**

## +Precession Cycle – Toward Glacial Mode

**+Precession Cycle – Toward Glacial Mode**

**-Eccentricity Cycle – Non-Glacial Mode**

**-Tilt, Obliquity Cycle – Non Glacial Mode**

## Slide 11

## The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) 

**The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) **

*-Typical wintertime Sea Surface Temperature (colors)*-*Sea Level Pressure (contours)                                     -Windstress (arrows)*

**Warm Phase**

**Cold Phase**

## 7.2% of the Annual Precipitation June -September

- H

**7.2% of the Annual Precipitation June -September**

**Klamath Province**
**Dry Summers**

## Klamath Province

**92.8% of Annual Precipitation October - May**

**Klamath Province**
**Wet Winters**

## Summer Precipitation Average 1.4” 

- Summer Precipitation Average 1.4”

**Extended Periods Without Precipitation are Common**

**Desert < 9” Annually**

## Average 51 Days

**Consecutive Days Without Precipitation**

**Extended Periods Without Precipitation are Common**

## Consecutive Days Hotter Than 900 F

**Consecutive Days Hotter Than 90****0 ****F**
**(Average 31 Days)**

- Extended Periods of Hot Weather are Common

## Cycles of the Klamath Region

**Mild Winters,  Higher Winter Precipitation**
**Extended Hot Summers, Increasing**
**Increasing Winter Temperatures**
**Increasing Lightning Ignition**
**Less Favorable for Coniferous Forest**
**Shift to Early Seral Habitat**
**Drying of Klamath Dry Forests**
**Global Warming ? **

**Short-Term Klamath Province Cycle**

## ( - )

**( - )**

**Electrical  Gradient Differential**
**Electrification**

- Fire                           an Ecological Force

## Lightning- Global Electrical Circuit 

- Lightning- Global Electrical Circuit

**The Earth loses and recharges its electrical charge ever hour.**
**2,000 Electrical storms occurring at any one moment.**
**44,000 Thunderstorms per day**
**100 Lightning bolts per second.**
**8 Million bolts per day.**
**26,400 Lightning ignited fires per year in the USA.**
**250 Kilowatt Hours per strike.**
**200,000 – 300,000 Amperes per bolt**
**60,000****0**** F - 10  X  the surface temperature of the sun.**

## 265,000 HP

**265,000 HP**

- On earth, every 56 min. lightning generates enough electrical energy to propel the worlds largest ship around the earth

## Slide 23

## Slide 24

## Fire History

- 11 yrs

**Fire in Old-Growth Averaged ****12**** Years**

**Fire in Old-Growth ****65%**** of the Decades**

- 12 yrs

- 12 yrs

- 67 %

- 68 %

- 63 %

**Cascade**

**Siskiyou**

**Mid-Coast**

## Klamath Province Historic Fire Regimes

- Frequency in Years

| I 
low severity | II
 High Severity | III | IV | V |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 0 – 35  | 0 - 35 | 35 -100 | 35 – 100+ | 200 - + |
| 5,762,340 | 3,205 | 3,551,674 | 52,710 | 645,745 |
| 57% | .03% | 35% | .52% | 6.4% |

- 10,089,703 acres

## Klamath ProvinceTemperate Coniferous Forest 

**3,500 native plants species **
**280 Plant Species Endemic to Klamath-Siskiyou**
**4****th**** richest temperate coniferous forests in the world (Sichuan, China, Russian Far East)**
**85 Serpentine Plant Species**
**30 Conifer Species (17 tree species in one sq. mi)**
- (world record occurs in Amazonian 473 tree species on a single hectare)

## Notable Species

**Bald eagle**
**Marbled murrelet**
**Northern goshawk**
**Coho salmon**
**Tailed frog**
**Pacific fisher**
**Freshwater mussels. **

**Pine marten**
**Lost River sucker**
**Short-nose sucker**
**Miller Lake lamprey (extinct ?)**
**Numerous rare snails**

## Slide 30

## Slide 31

##                      Trees <4in. That Survived a Fire

-                      Trees <4in. That Survived a Fire

## Date

**Individual Trees **

**Fires Recorded on The Same Tree**

## Active fire suppression began in about 1900 and has been extremely effective.  

**Active fire suppression began in about 1900 and has been extremely effective.**

## Slide 35

## Average Size of 14,001 Fires = 16 acres

**Average Size of 14,001 Fires = 16 acres**

## Dry Forest

- Cubic ft. per acre

**Year**

**Cycles in Productivity Force Out Biomass  in pulses**

**Dry Forest**

**Favorable Environment**

## Dry Forest Fire Cycle

**Required Fire Cycle**

**Dry Forest Fire Cycle**

**              ****Biomass accumulation**

**II**

**III**

**I**

## Klamath Province Fire Regime Condition Class

- e

**Klamath Province Fire Regime Condition Class**

- Departure From Natural Range

| Low
Within Natural Range | Moderate Departure
 | High Departure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| I  | II | III |
| 892,265 ac | 4,867,327 ac | 3,919,286 ac |
| 9% | 42% | 39% |

- 10,089,703 acres
**8.8 Million Acres in  I & II**

**Old-growth**

## Slide 42

## When Did The Forests Become So Dense ?

**Trees per Hectare**

**Old-Growth**

- Cascade

- Siskiyou

- Coast

**When Did The Forests Become So Dense ?**

**1900   -    200**

**Young**

## Ratio of Tree Height to Diameter

**Ratio of Tree Height to Diameter**

** **

**Ratio**
**Ht/Dia.**

- Tree Diameter

**           ****Old          Young      **

**<40**

**>75**

## Height of the Lowest Live Limb

**Tree Age**

**Tree Age**

**Young Stand Without Fire**

**Old-Growth  With Fire**

**Tree Height**

## Slide 46

## Structural Diversity Distribution of Lowest Live Limb

**Tree Age**

**Structural Diversity**** ****Distribution of Lowest Live Limb**

**Young Stand Without Fire**

**Old-Growth  With Fire**

## Relict Species

- A fire-scarred white oak snag signals a shift in plant community structure.

## Historic Radial Growth of          Old-Growth Trees

**Old-Growth Trees**

**Young-Growth Trees**

**Historic Radial Growth of          Old-Growth Trees**

## Slide 50

## Slide 51

## Slide 54

## Relationship of Tree Size From Age 50yrs – 250yrs 

**Relationship of Tree Size From Age 50yrs – 250yrs**

**Linear Relationship**

**The likelihood of a tree becoming an old-growth tree is generally determined early in the tree’s life.**

## Slide 56

## Slide 57