Latest Ecological succession Stories
Project will address safety for nearby communities; preserve Barrens unique habitat STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today announced that they plan to conduct controlled burns on the Scotia Barrens on State Game Land 176 in Patton Township, Centre County, to improve habitat conditions within this unique ecosystem. Originally outlined in public meetings and meetings with news media in the area in March of 2009, Game Commission...
A team of Catalan researchers has studied the changes in the make-up of animal populations following forest fires, and have concluded that malacological fauna are a good indicator of forest recovery. The conclusions of this study will help to ensure that post-fire forestry operations that do not harm these species of molluscs, which are sensitive to microclimatic conditions of the soil and vegetation structure.The researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Natural Areas...
A national early warning system designed to assist land managers in rapidly detecting threats to forest health is featured in the cover article of the October 2009 issue of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS), the journal of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). The article, entitled "Toward a National Early Warning System for Forest Disturbances Using Remotely Sensed Canopy Phenology," describes the vision and progress of the...
LONDON, November 25 /PRNewswire/ -- - Potentially Life-Saving Invention Inspired by Children's Real Life Experience of Devastating Forest Fires Sony Europe today announces that its partnership with a young team called Forest Guard has reached a vital stage as the youngsters have the enormous satisfaction of seeing their forest wildfire detection system idea deployed in their local forest for testing. The team of six, whose idea won the Climate Actions part of the global...
Authorities are asking residents in some parts of south Australia to evacuate their homes as an impending heat wave prompted the nation to issue its first "catastrophic" brush fire warning.Unseasonably hot and dry weather combined with strong winds to fan scores of blazes in the country's southeastern states, many of which were sparked by overnight lightning strikes.Nathan Rees, New South Wales state premier, says, "It has never been this hot, dry or windy in combination in...
Fire is often thought of something that trees should be protected from, but a new study suggests that some trees may themselves contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in order to promote their own abundance at the expense of their competitors.The study, which appears in the December 2009 issue of the journal The American Naturalist, says that positive feedback loops between fire and trees associated with savannas can make fires more likely in these ecosystems."We used a mathematical...
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Wildfires are in the news, with images of devastation and ruin. And as humans struggle to build their lives after a fire, so do the plants and animals of Southern California. Learn more about the ecology of wildfires as the Orange County Great Park concludes its Fall Natural History Lecture series, a series of evening events offering new insights into our natural and dynamic Southern Californian environment. The final lecture in the Fall series,...
TreePeople and partners prepare for reforestation in fire-devastated national parks LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The historic Angeles Forest Station Fire devastated more than 160,500 acres of forest lands, including the heart of Los Angeles' upper watershed and the headwaters of the Los Angeles River. TreePeople's California Wildfire Restoration Initiative, a private/public partnership, is already receiving requests from volunteers to replant the fire-damaged mountains,...
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As the Station fire continues to burn in Southern California and insured losses continue to mount, First American Spatial Solutions, a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) family of companies and a leader in spatial and natural hazard risk solutions, today released its estimated value of residential real estate exposed in the fire area. First American Spatial Solutions used property information coupled with its...
Investigators said a four-alarm brush fire in San Jose, Calif., may have been caused by a pigeon perched on a high-voltage power line.Jennifer Zerwer, spokeswoman for Pacific Gas & Electric, said utility crews at the site of the fire, which blackened about 15 acres Wednesday in the city's Communications Hill area, discovered a downed 12-kilovolt power line and the charred remains of a pigeon at the spot where the fire is believed to have started, the San Jose Mercury News reported...
