'The pine beetle's deadly march' (Denver, Aspen: neighborhoods, quality of life, moving)

[CosmicWizard]

Going a little bit deeper: Deep Underground, Miles of Hidden Wildfires Rage

Their flames are concealed deep underground, in coal seams and oxygen-rich fissures, which makes containment near impossible. Shielded from fire hoses and aerial assaults, the flames are chewing through coal seams 20 feet thick, spanning 22 acres. They're also belching greenhouse gases and contaminants, contributing to an out-of-sight, out-of-mind environmental hazard that extends far beyond Wyoming's borders.

Maybe this will be the ignition switch that sets off the inevetible conflagration of the decimated lodgepole pine forests.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

Going a little bit deeper: Deep Underground, Miles of Hidden Wildfires Rage

Their flames are concealed deep underground, in coal seams and oxygen-rich fissures, which makes containment near impossible. Shielded from fire hoses and aerial assaults, the flames are chewing through coal seams 20 feet thick, spanning 22 acres. They're also belching greenhouse gases and contaminants, contributing to an out-of-sight, out-of-mind environmental hazard that extends far beyond Wyoming's borders.

Maybe this will be the ignition switch that sets off the inevetible conflagration of the decimated lodgepole pine forests.

The interesting thing about coal seam fires, especially those burning in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, is that a number of them were naturally ignited. Several of the Wyoming fires were believed to be ignited by lightning hitting the coal seams where they were exposed at the surface.

And, yes, coal seam fires have ignited forest fires, like the one a few years ago ignited by the coal seam fire near New Castle, Colorado. That coal seam fire has been burning since around 1916.

That said, the most likely things to light off dead lodgepole forests will be lightning or humans.

[Idunn]

"Moscow region chief Boris Gromov asked Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to allocate 25 billion roubles ($827 million) to fight the fires smoldering in the forests around Moscow." [1]


Not just underground coal fires. Moscow, Russia is presently experiencing very poor air quality due numerous fires on it outskirts. These are both forest fires and fires within the peat bogs that inhabit the area. A fair number of deaths are expected due to the decreased air quality.

The cause of these fires is said to be the unusually high temperatures. In looking into this I encountered similar accounts from previous years, such as 2008, 2009, in other regions of Russia as well. Related to changing climate.

No idea if Denver would experience such an unpleasantness, suppose it would depend on prevailing winds. In my experience this is key, as the smoke from even relatively small fires can travel long distances. Unfortunately there is a lot of fuel now in Colorado's mountains, fuel that not long ago were perfectly beautiful, live trees.

Here are three related references:

1) 'Scientist Says Hundreds May Die as Smog Blankets Moscow,' ABC News
Scientist Says Hundreds May Die as Smog Blankets Moscow - ABC News

2) 'Fire smog covers Moscow,' News 24.com
Fire smog covers Moscow: News24: World: News

3) 'Russia: Unprecedented heat, fires, smog, fumes,' KavkazCenter.com
Russia: Unprecedented heat, fires, smog, fumes - Kavkazcenter.com

[Neditate]

I thought I would pass along this recent article about the findings from a study in the Yellowstone region that the infestations actually reduced the risk of wildfire:
Bark beetles may kill trees, but that may not raise fire risk A study in the Yellowstone region finds that the infestations actually reduced the risk of wildfire by thinning tree crowns. The bark beetle has spread across the West since the 1990s. - L

Dire warnings have accompanied the armies of bark beetles that bored their way across the Mountain West in the past decade: Millions of acres had turned into a tinderbox of scraggly, dead trees ready to explode in flames.
But scientists are pouring water on that conventional wisdom.



A new study in the lodgepole pine forests of the greater Yellowstone region concludes that rather than increasing the wildfire risk, beetle attacks reduce it by thinning tree crowns.
"It's really counterintuitive," said University of Wisconsin ecology professor Monica Turner, coauthor of a paper that has been accepted for publication in Ecological Monographs. "The beetles are good foresters, thinning the forests for us in a way."

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Neditate

I thought I would pass along this recent article about the findings from a study in the Yellowstone region that the infestations actually reduced the risk of wildfire:
Bark beetles may kill trees, but that may not raise fire risk A study in the Yellowstone region finds that the infestations actually reduced the risk of wildfire by thinning tree crowns. The bark beetle has spread across the West since the 1990s. - L

Dire warnings have accompanied the armies of bark beetles that bored their way across the Mountain West in the past decade: Millions of acres had turned into a tinderbox of scraggly, dead trees ready to explode in flames.
But scientists are pouring water on that conventional wisdom.



A new study in the lodgepole pine forests of the greater Yellowstone region concludes that rather than increasing the wildfire risk, beetle attacks reduce it by thinning tree crowns.
"It's really counterintuitive," said University of Wisconsin ecology professor Monica Turner, coauthor of a paper that has been accepted for publication in Ecological Monographs. "The beetles are good foresters, thinning the forests for us in a way."

I think it is matter of timing. Back in 1988, Yellowstone was in the stages of a pine beetle infestation pretty similar to what we have now in Colorado--with lots of dead and dying trees that still had needles on them. Of course, that dry summer they went up like gangbusters. A friend who got sent up there with the Forest Service that year to help fight the fires told me bluntly that all of man's efforts that summer (over $100 million worth) did almost nothing to stop the fires. They went out when it started snowing that fall.

Now, if those dead trees currently found in Colorado's diseased lodgepole forests manage not to burn before they lose all of those needles, then I think the study you cite makes sense--there isn't much of a crown left for the fire to burn into. We are a long ways from that in most Colorado lodgepole forests, though. Either way, those lodgepole forests are going to be gone for one or more human generations. If the theories about long-term droughts and long-term global warming (from whatever source) are true, they may never grow back in many locations where they can be found now.

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Either way, those lodgepole forests are going to be gone for one or more human generations. If the theories about long-term droughts and long-term global warming (from whatever source) are true, they may never grow back in many locations where they can be found now.

Which is probably a good thing in the long run. Forests that are all lodgepole (or any one species) lack the variety that make for a healthy forest.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by Neditate

Which is probably a good thing in the long run. Forests that are all lodgepole (or any one species) lack the variety that make for a healthy forest.

Good point! What is generally replacing the lodgepoles?

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

Good point! What is generally replacing the lodgepoles?

That is not a simple question. Depending on location, lodgepoles can be a "pioneer" tree that grows after a climax forest is removed by fire or humans. In that situation, the climax species--spruce and fir, for example--may start colonizing in the lodgepole stands, eventually choking out the lodgepoles and creating a new climax forest. In most of Colorado's northern half, though, lodgepole tend to be themselves a climax species. When they burn (the heat from the fire is what it takes to open their cones to release their seeds), they will re-seed their own site, and a new "doghair" lodgepole forest will begin to grow--eventually monopolizing the site--choking out most other vegetation. This is the "sterile" lodgepole forest referred to in the above post. Eventually, it becomes unhealthy and will burn again.

In the scenario where the lodgepole simply die and there is no fire, the site will probably be colonized eventually by new lodgepole, but it will take much longer. In the meantime, it is likely to revert to be being a mountain grassland if the soil, moisture, and other factors will permit that.

To be honest, I do not especially like doghair lodgepole forests for the very reason that they tend to have a "sterile" understory. That is why I prefer the ecological niche that the southern Rockies hold--where lodgepole are largely not present. In southern Colorado, aspen forests tend to occupy the ecological niche that the lodgepoles occupy farther north. Aspen forests are much more ecologically diverse than lodgepole forests. Unfortunately, aspen are having their own issues now with Sudden Aspen Decline, which may also be related to changing climate.

[brightdoglover]

Allow me to say yet again that I so appreciate Jazz's extensive knowledge about southern Colorado in many aspects.

[nelumbo]

RealClimate is doing a series of posts (of a scientific bent, RC being a science blog) on the spread of pine beetles and climate: RealClimate: Seeing Red