Acknowledgments ................................................ xi
About the companion website .................................. xiii
1 Introduction ................................................. 1
The boreal forest biome ...................................... 2
Geographical distribution ................................. 4
Distinguishing features ................................... 6
Boreal wildfires ............................................. 9
Major characteristics ..................................... 9
Ecological significance .................................. 11
Goals and scope of the book ................................. 12
References .................................................. 14
2 Formation of wildfire residuals ............................. 18
Factors that affect the formation of residuals .............. 19
Boreal forest communities ................................ 20
Boreal wildfires ......................................... 31
Residual formation and distribution ......................... 40
Spatial heterogeneity in fire behavior ................... 41
Process of residual formation ............................ 44
Summary ..................................................... 59
References .................................................. 61
3 Types of wildfire residuals and their extent ................ 65
Types of wildfire residuals ................................. 66
A post-wildfire scene .................................... 66
Past descriptions of wildfire residuals .................. 71
Abundance and extent of wildfire residuals .................. 79
Snag residuals ........................................... 80
Live tree residuals ...................................... 81
Residual patches ......................................... 84
Changes in residuals after wildfires ........................ 88
Snag residuals ........................................... 88
Live tree residuals ...................................... 89
Residual patches ......................................... 92
Toward improved definitions and assessment .................. 93
Reasons for improvement .................................. 93
Definitions of wildfire residuals ........................ 95
Improved study approaches ............................... 103
Summary .................................................... 107
References ................................................. 113
4 Ecological roles of wildfire residuals ..................... 119
Ecological processes involving snag residuals .............. 121
Invasion by beetles ..................................... 121
Colonization by woodpeckers ............................. 132
Occupation by other bird species ........................ 140
Forest regeneration ..................................... 142
Roles of the residual patches .............................. 148
Providing temporary shelter ............................. 149
Supplementing the recovery .............................. 151
Creating heterogeneity .................................. 161
Ecological significance ................................. 161
Wildfire residuals and the carbon cycle .................... 162
Wildfire residuals and nutrient and hydrological cycles .... 165
Summary .................................................... 168
References ................................................. 173
5 Role of wildfire residuals in forest management
applications ............................................... 184
Restoring wildfire residuals ............................... 185
Ecological expectations ................................. 186
Considerations for application .......................... 187
Challenges and uncertainties ............................ 190
Emulating wildfire disturbance ............................. 191
Background .............................................. 191
Emulating wildfire residuals by forest harvest .......... 193
Expectations and uncertainties .......................... 197
Salvage logging ............................................ 202
Background .............................................. 202
Ecological consequences ................................. 204
Practical considerations ................................ 212
Uncertainties ........................................... 217
Summary .................................................... 220
References ................................................. 222
6 Ecology of boreal wildfire residuals - a summary and
synthesis .................................................. 227
Wildfire residuals and their occurrence .................... 227
Residual vegetation types ............................... 228
Spatial patterns of residuals ........................... 231
Ecological roles of wildfire residuals ..................... 235
Snag residuals .......................................... 235
Residual patches ........................................ 236
A conceptual view ....................................... 237
Knowledge uncertainties ................................. 239
Management applications and wildfire residuals ............. 240
Salvage logging ......................................... 240
Emulating wildfire disturbances ......................... 240
Restoring wildfire residuals ............................ 242
Suppressing fire ........................................ 243
Research needs on wildfire residuals ....................... 243
Advancing research methods .............................. 243
Expanding research topics ............................... 244
Conclusion ................................................. 245
Index ......................................................... 247
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