Read the article from the Texas Observer here.
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Webinar Recording: Did Your Prescribed Burn Meet Your Goals and Objectives?
McRee Anderson, Beth Buchanan, Gabe De Jong and Virginia McDaniel spoke about developing a first order fire effects monitoring protocol in this South Central FLN webinar.
Recording: https://tnc.box.com/s/
Science Needs of Southeastern Grassland Species of Conservation Concern: A Framework for Species Status Assessments
The unglaciated southeastern United States is a biodiversity hotspot, with a disproportionate amount of this biodiversity concentrated in grasslands. Like most hotspots, the Southeast is also threatened by human activities, with the total reduction of southeastern grasslands estimated as 90 percent (upwards to 100 percent for some types) and with many threats escalating today. This report summarizes the results of a multistakeholder workshop organized by the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative and the U.S. Geological Survey, held in January 2020 to provide a scientific needs assessment to help inform the Species Status Assessment (SSA) process under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, with a focus on grassland species and communities of conservation concern in the southeastern United States. This report reviews the ecology of southeastern grasslands, including influences on their origin, maintenance, and high species richness and endemism; presents findings from the workshop; and discusses science questions, hypotheses, and possibilities for future research projects to help fill key knowledge gaps.
Continue ReadingNew Paper: Working Towards a More Ethical Ecology
A new paper published in Nature Ecology and Evolution by Drs. Christopher H. Trisos, Jess Auerbach & Madhusudan Katti addresses Decoloniality and anti-oppressive practices for a more ethical ecology. The publication addresses how “ecology as a discipline and the diversity of those who call themselves ecologists have been shaped and held back by often exclusionary Western approaches to knowing and doing ecology.” It also discusses possible shifts to help address these issues and change ecological practice.
Continue ReadingWebinar Recording: SFE Webinar: Prescribed Burn Associations in the Southeast – A Conversation With Experts
The recording of the SFE webinar, Prescribed Burn Associations in the Southeast – A Conversation With Experts is now available on the SFE YouTube channel.
Continue ReadingWorkshop Recording: Using Soil Moisture Information to Better Understand and Predict Wildfire Danger: A Symposium for Researchers and Fire Managers
This online symposium presented the latest advances in using soil moisture information to better understand and predict wildfire danger. Recent discoveries are revealing the potential for soil moisture estimates from in situ monitoring stations, remote sensing, and models to improve fire danger predictions and to advance our understanding of fire behavior.
This interactive symposium provided a forum to build connections between researchers and managers, to share relevant research in this area, and to identify ways to move forward with new research and end uses.
You can access recordings of all the workshop presentations here.
Continue ReadingEPA Scientists Develop Recommendations for Testing and Evaluating Air Sensor Performance
Commercially available, lower-cost air sensors have become a popular way to measure local air quality. Air sensors are often used by the public and researchers to understand air quality trends, study air quality in remote locations, supplement regulatory air monitoring, and support air quality education.
While there’s been a surge in their use, lower-cost sensors still pose certain challenges. Data quality from air sensors can widely vary, and, with no consistent methods to evaluate their performance, users can have a hard time knowing how their sensor data compares to that of regulatory air monitors. Users also face challenges with figuring out what sensors might best suit their desired application.
To address these issues, EPA researchers published two reports that recommend an approach for testing and evaluating the performance of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) air sensors for use in non-regulatory supplemental and informational monitoring (NSIM) applications. The reports – designed to be used by sensor manufacturers, developers, and testing organizations – provide a set of protocols for testing O3 and PM2.5 air sensors, metrics, and target values to evaluate sensor performance, and templates for reporting testing results. The testing protocols are entirely voluntary, and testers do not receive certification or endorsement by EPA.
Continue ReadingNWCG FCESC 2021 Spring Refresher Webinar Recordings
The videos from the Fire Environment Continuing Education Subcommittee (FCESC) Spring Refresher Webinar are now available on the Committee website.
Continue ReadingInterior and Agriculture Departments Outline Wildland Fire Preparedness, Climate Resiliency Plans
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today shared their vision for the Biden-Harris administration’s wildland fire preparedness and response, including supporting science and research into the effects of climate change on wildland fire.
Continue ReadingPeople May Have Used Fire to Clear Forests More Than 80,000 Years Ago
A new article from Scientific American details how bushland around northern Lake Malawi in Africa might be the legacy of people burning forests tens of thousands of years earlier.
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