Get Off My Lawn
The acreage burned in the Martin Fire
What is 439 million acres?
The term when major and possibly permanent changes in dominant species or functions happens in the ecosystem
What is conversion?
Define forest conversion
What is the change in a preexisting forest type to a different forest type or nonforest vegetation?
The length of time wild horses graze on the range
What is year-round?
The most cost-effective and efficient means of deforestation.
What is Clear-cutting?
The layer cheatgrass creates to aid in survival and competition against native plant species
What is thatch?
Examples of climate change influencing conversion
What is warmer temperatures, drier summers, early snowmelt, increased frequency and intensity wildfires, changes in precipitation?
State the two factors that must happen for forest conversion to occur
What is high-severity fire and little/no regeneration?
The result of stocking a pasture too full, or for too long
What is overgrazing?
A western ideology/thesis that can be quantified to compare land-use and land-cover changes over time.
What is Frontier Thesis?
The positive feedback cycle between cheatgrass and fire
What is the grass-fire cycle
Examples of anthropogenic drivers
What is deforestation, ranching, agricultural land use, urbanization?
Explain how climate change has influenced fire in the Sierra Nevada
What is increased temperatures (3.5-5.8°F) and earlier snowmelt (10-15 days)?
The continuous cycle of difficult native plant regrowth, and further spread of non-native plant species.
What is a positive feedback loop?
Examples of transformative processes that could drive deforestation (anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic).
What is urbanization, transportation sectors, lack of resources, mining, timber production, wildfire, weather phenomena?
The method proven effective by ARS scientists for reducing cheatgrass density and increasing native perennial vegetation biomass
What is selective pre-emergent herbicide?
Government factors that influence conversion
What is policy changes, enforcement decisions, money, and supply/demand?
Define positive and negative fire-vegetation feedbacks
What is positive fire-vegetation feedback that increase/reinforce wildfires and negative fire-vegetation feedback that limits future burning?
Example(s) of places or locations where widespread deforestation is met with agriculture land-use expansion.
What is Côte d’Ivoire, South-West Africa?