Introduction to Fire Effects RX310
Unit 3 – Fire Effects and Resource Management
C ‐ Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Watershed • The area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.
• Aquatic Ecosystems
• Communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment within a body of water.
• Marine • Freshwater – streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, wetlands and groundwater
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Components
• Physical
• Biological
• Chemical
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Physical Component
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Sunlight
Water
Parent Material/Rocks
Minerals
Topography
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Biological Component
• Micro‐organisms
• Algae, fungi, bacteria, protozoa
• Macro‐organisms
• Flora, fauna
• Food Chain
• Transfer of energy and nutrients
• Algae ‐> Plankton ‐> Aquatic Insects ‐>
Fish ‐> Otters Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Chemical Component
• Elements and Molecules
• Air – N, O, CO2
• Water – H2O
• Chemistry – pH, dissolved nutrients/toxins
• Solar Radiation – visible and infrared
• Temperature
• Hydrolic Cycle
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Landscape Ecology and Watershed Ecology Connection
• Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems. This can occur across at variety of ecological scales.
• Various ecosystems overlap within the same geographic area, such as Forest Ecosystems and Aquatic Ecosystems.
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Legal and Regulatory Framework
• Clean Water Act of 1972 – Environmental Protection Agency
• Goal ‐ Restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters so that they can support the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the water.
• Point Source Pollutants –
• Industry, Water Treatment
• Non‐Point Source Pollutants –
• Agriculture, Storm Sewers
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Legal and Regulatory Framework
• Federal Regulation 40 CFR §131.3(e) – “existing use” definition.
• "Those uses actually attained in the water body on or after Nov. 28, 1975, whether or not they are included in the water quality standards."
• DEP ‐ Title 25, § 93.1‐93.3 – Existing Use Designation
• High Quality Waters (HQ) • Exceptional Value Waters (EV).
• An "existing use" is different than a "designated use." • A "designated use" is defined in §93.1 as those uses specified in §§93.9a‐
93.9z for each waterbody or segment whether or not the use is being attained. • Designated uses are regulations promulgated by the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) through the rulemaking process.
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Watershed Dynamics
• The interactions of watershed components and various ecosystems with the aquatic ecosystem and the human environment, including non‐
visible components such as the ground water and nutrient and energy cycles.
Primary Recharge Source
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Karst Topography
• Uniquely capable of moving water from surface to subsurface
• Disappearing streams, “dry” valleys,
sink holes, limestone outcrops
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Threatened and Endangered Species
• Federal – ESA, DOI USFWS
• State – PFBC
• 47 Species in Pennsylvania with aquatic/wetland connections
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Aquatic Organisms
• Any organism that breeds, breathes, grows, lives, and eats in water. But it must do all of these in the water. Frogs are only aquatic in their tadpole stage. Fish and fresh water mussels are truly aquatic organisms.
• These species are more vulnerable to aquatic disturbances, because they have no life stage or opportunity to escape the water around them.
• EPA Designations
• Human Health Criteria (Fish Consumption)
• Aquatic Life Criteria
• Acute
• Chronic
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• CFR 40 D ‐ Drinking Water Quality Standards – EPA • National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs or primary standards) are legally enforceable standards that apply to public water systems. • Primary standards protect public health by limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water.
• Includes Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) that are in gasoline and diesel fuel
• Benzene (0.005 PPM), Ethylbenzene, Toluene
• Drip torch fuel, equipment fuel spills or leaks
• Concern of various local Water Authorities for their drinking water supply
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Fire Management Related Substances with Toxicity
• Herbicides
• 2‐4D, Dalapon, Diquat, Endothall, Glyphosate
• Foam
• Class A – Wildland fire – Surfactant, lowers surface tension
• Class B – Petroleum fires – toxic • Retardant
• Antimony (0.006 PPM)
• Nitrates/Ammonia
• Ignition Devices
• Petroleum Fuels
• Fuzees (strontium nitrate, potassium perchlorate)
• PSD ‐ Potassium permanganate/ethylene glycol
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Exotic Aquatic Flora
• Compete with native plants
• Don’t provide habitat for native animals
• Examples: knotweed, bittercress, purple loosestrife
rock snot (didymo), watermilfoil, water chestnut,
hydrilla, fanwort, golden algae
• Can be moved between water bodies
on equipment, boots, water pumps/tanks,
water drops
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Exotic Aquatic Fauna
Compete with native fauna
Prey on native fauna
Can cause local extirpations
Examples: rusty crayfish in PA,
snakeheads in Chesapeake Bay,
zebra mussels in Great Lakes,
sea lamprey, Asian clam
• Can be moved on and in equipment
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Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Exotic Aquatic Diseases
• Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS)
• Great Lakes Watershed
• Chytridiomycosis
• Fungal disease of amphibians
• Ranavirus
• Disease of fish, amphibians, and insects
• Ichthyophonus fungus
• Disease of fish and salamanders
• Salmonid Whirling Disease
• Disease of trout and salmon – western US
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Seasonal Concerns
• Historical Fire Season and
Current Prescribed Fire Seasons
in the Eastern US
• NJ is the exception, with most
of their burning for fuel reduction
in the winter dormant season.
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Seasonal Concerns
• Greater sedimentation following winter burns than spring or fall burns
• Sediments fill pools/dams and obscure free stone streams/fish breeding sites
• Greater leaching of nutrients following winter burns
• Longer time before plants are actively growing, uptaking nutrients
• Riparian area burns
• Fall – increased native species richness, and overall richness
• Spring – increased native species richness, and decrease in overall richness
• Summer – decrease in species richness and overall richness
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Fire Regime
• The general pattern in which fires naturally occur in a particular ecosystem over an extended period of time. • Fire regimes are classified using a combination of factors including frequency, intensity, size, pattern, season, and severity.
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Oxygen, Temperature, Precipitation
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• First Order Fire Effects • The immediate consequences of a fire, whether direct or indirect.
• Metrics: tree mortality, fuel consumption, emissions or smoke production, and soil heating
• Metrics: vegetation in vernal pools burned, ash or charred wood in vernal pools or streams, VOC’s in water (testing required), muddy water/sediment in streams.
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Water Quantity
• Hydrophobic Soils – water runs off faster, soaks in less, results in increased surface water quantity in streams following rain events. Not common in the east.
• Reduced live vegetation from burning can reduce water uptake and evapotranspiration by plants, increasing the amount of water flowing into streams and percolating into ground water.
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Water Quality
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Nitrogen – little change, more for wildfires
Phosphorus – no change, tied to sediment
Cations (Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, and Potassium) – no change
Carbon (Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC’s)) – no change
Mercury – needs more study
Ions (Sulfate, Chloride) – no change
pH, Alkalinity, Conductivity – depends on fire severity
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Water Quality and Chemistry
• Prescribed fire has limited effects on soils, nutrient cycling, and hydrologic systems of coastal forests. Hydrologic fluxes of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and basic cations, from burned litter to ground and stream waters, are not likely to have appreciable impacts on water quality in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain.
• Generally, prescribed fire in the northeast doesn’t alter infiltration or percolation rates, doesn’t lead to significant increases in surface runoff and, hence, does not lead to higher sediment transport or greater Total Suspended Sediment in surface waters.
• However, in rare cases, wildfires and high severity prescribed fires can have 20x ‐40x the effect on sedimentation as low severity prescribed fires, and increased sediment loads can persist for 1‐6 years.
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• Key goals to reduce first order fire effects:
1. Retain some unburned organic material above the surface of the soil
• Realize that if your goal is to burn to mineral soil that water quality issues could result
2. Avoid using ignition devices immediately adjacent to water bodies or streams
3. Clean water handling equipment before and after use to avoid transmission of invasive aquatic plants and animals
4. Avoid/Reduce the amount of driving equipment through running streams and standing water
• When streams bisect units, consider using streams as Division breaks for holding
Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
• EXERCISE
• 4 Breakout Groups – 25 minutes
• Each Group should identify at least 3 ways to accomplish the assigned goal in the previous slide, and identify where in the planning process, burn plan, IAP and/or pre‐burn briefing that information would be provided. – 10 minutes.
• Choose a person to report back, and have them report back and discuss with the rest of the class. – 15 minutes.
References
• Guyette, R.P., M.C. Stambaugh, D.C. Dey, and R. Muzika. 2012. Predicting fire frequency with chemistry and climate. Ecosystems 15: 322‐335. • 1982. D.D. Richter, C.W. Ralston, and W.R. Harms. Prescribed Fire: Effects on Water Quality and Forest Nutrient Cycling. Science. Vol. 215 no. 4533 pp. 661‐663