Effects of Restoring Oak Savannas on Bird Communities and Populations

Abstract:  Efforts to restore and maintain oak savannas in North America, with emphasis on the use of prescribed fire, have become common. Little is known, however, about how restoration affects animal populations, especially those of birds. I compared the breeding densities, community structure, and reproductive success of birds in oak savannas maintained by prescribed fire (12 sites) with those in closed-canopy forests (13 sites). All sampling was conducted in Illinois (U.S.A.). Of the 31 bird species analyzed, 12 were more common in savannas, 14 were not affected by habitat structure, and 5 were more common in forest habitat. The species favored by disturbance and restoration included Northern Bobwhites ( Colinus virginianus ), Mourning Doves (  Zenaida macroura ), Red-headed Woodpeckers (  Melanerpes erythrocephalus ), Indigo Buntings (  Passerina cyanea ), and Baltimore Orioles ( Icterus galbula ). Those more common in closed-canopy forest included Ovenbirds ( Seiurus aurocapilla ) and Wood Thrushes (  Hylocichla mustelina ). Few species were unique to one type of habitat, but overall avian community structure in oak savannas and closed-canopy forests was generally distinctive. Estimates of nesting success (derived from 785 nests) revealed that 6 of the 13 species considered experienced greater productivity in the savanna habitat. Rates of brood parasitism were unaffected by restoration and habitat structure. Within savannas, tract size had little effect on breeding abundances and reproductive success. My results illustrate that restoration techniques can significantly affect the ecology of constituent animal populations and communities and have key implications regarding avian conservation and the management of forest habitat in fragmented landscapes. Small patches of forest habitat that regularly function as population sinks may offer far better prospects for birds if they are subjected to disturbance and ecosystem restoration.     

Postfire Logging in Riparian Areas

Abstract:  We reviewed the behavior of wildfire in riparian zones, primarily in the western United States, and the potential ecological consequences of postfire logging. Fire behavior in riparian zones is complex, but many aquatic and riparian organisms exhibit a suite of adaptations that allow relatively rapid recovery after fire. Unless constrained by other factors, fish tend to rebound relatively quickly, usually within a decade after a wildfire. Additionally, fire and subsequent erosion events contribute wood and coarse sediment that can create and maintain productive aquatic habitats over time. The potential effects of postfire logging in riparian areas depend on the landscape context and disturbance history of a site; however, available evidence suggests two key management implications: (1) fire in riparian areas creates conditions that may not require intervention to sustain the long-term productivity of the aquatic network and (2) protection of burned riparian areas gives priority to what is left rather than what is removed. Research is needed to determine how postfire logging in riparian areas has affected the spread of invasive species and the vulnerability of upland forests to insect and disease outbreaks and how postfire logging will affect the frequency and behavior of future fires. The effectiveness of using postfire logging to restore desired riparian structure and function is therefore unproven, but such projects are gaining interest with the departure of forest conditions from those that existed prior to timber harvest, fire suppression, and climate change. In the absence of reliable information about the potential consequence of postfire timber harvest, we conclude that providing postfire riparian zones with the same environmental protections they received before they burned is justified ecologically. Without a commitment to monitor management experiments, the effects of postfire riparian logging will remain unknown and highly contentious.     

Assessing spatial uncertainty of the Portuguese fire risk through direct sequential simulation

Forest fires have a significant economic, social, and environmental impact in Portugal. For that its fire risk was assessed through Bayes Formalism, where the main component of the risk of fire was assessed by the conditional probability of fire I(u,t) given a class of the daily severity rating (DSR) for a specific period of time—P[I(u,t)|R(u,t)]. The evaluation of this a posterior probability, P[I(u,t)|R(u,t)], was based on the update of marginal local probability of fire in each chosen region u (Durão, 2006).DSR values were used to calculate fire's risk, taking into account historical data, I(s,t), in a given region s, and also to define DSR's local thresholds in order to have P [I(u,t)|R(u,t)] ≥ 0.65.In this paper we characterize these posterior probabilities using direct sequential simulation models (DSS models) to obtain the spatial distribution of these probabilities over the entire Portugal, in order to assess the risk of fire and associated spatial uncertainty. Local probability density functions (pdfs) and spatial uncertainty are evaluated by a set of equiprobable simulated images of these posterior probabilities.Results are presented and discussed for the Portuguese fire seasons of the 2-year period, 2003-2004. The conditional probabilities reproduced reasonably well what was officially published for the studied fire seasons. We expect that a better understanding of both spatial and temporal patterns of fire in Portugal together with uncertainty measures constitutes an important tool for managers, helping to improve the effectiveness of fire prevention, detection and fire fighting resources allocation in critical social and environmental areas.     

池火灾模型在安全评价中应用的研究

随着我国对燃油需求的不断增加,城市中出现了大量的燃油储灌。这些储罐一旦发生泄漏事故,很有可能引发火灾,给临近的工作人员和居民的生命财产安全造成严重的威胁。因此,要对这些储罐进行安全评价———根据储量和四周环境预测出池火灾面积的大小及伤害范围,以此为依据判断储灌的安全等级,从而对其进行有效的管理。将安全疏散的原理应用于危险源的安全评价当中,使之更加合理化、性能化。     

高校宿舍火灾评估体系构建

本文基于灾害系统理论,并结合高校校园人口密度大等实际问题,从火灾孕灾环境、火灾承灾体、火灾致灾因子、火灾灾情四个方面构建出基于高校宿舍的火灾评估体系.最终补充了灾害系统理论,为高校防火工作提供了新的方法,也为其他相关工作拓展了思路.     

安全信息工程的体系结构研究

安全信息工程是安全技术及工程专业一门重要的专业课,是计算机技术、电子信息技术、网络与通信技术等在安全领域的具体应用。近年来,随着科学技术的进步,安全信息工程学科得到了长足的发展。但由于它是一门非常年轻的学科,涉及到与众多学科知识的交叉融合,在专业建设上又面临一定的滞后。如何既能充分利用现代化的信息技术手段,又要满足不同安全领域的发展要求,是安全信息工程学科建设面临的重要课题。根据安全信息工程的学科特点和发展现状,结合作者多年来从事计算机安全监测与控制系统开发的实际经验和教学实践,提出了课程的教学内容及学时分配,探讨了每一个章节包括的基本内容,给出了课程的完整体系结构,针对不同的专业特点给出了具体的实例,并指出了安全信息工程教学中应注意的问题。通过本研究,希望为安全信息工程的学科发展献计献策,为安全信息工程的教材规划、教学改革等提供有意义的参考。     

泉州市森林消防队伍现状与发展意见

概述了泉州市森林消防队伍建设情况,针对森林消防队伍建设中存在的问题,结合实际情况,提出加强森林消防队伍建设的发展意见。