B.S.F. or B.Sc.F. Bachelor of Science in Forestry Bachelor of Science in Forestry: Forest Fire Ecology 5

Question 1

Which metric is used to quantify the degree of departure from historical fire regimes in a given landscape?

Accepted Answer

Fire Return Interval Departure (FRID)

Answer

Fire Return Interval Departure (FRID) compares the current fire-free interval to the historical mean fire return interval to assess how far a landscape has deviated from its natural fire regime.

Question 2

The Composite Burn Index (CBI) is a field-based metric used to assess:

Accepted Answer

Overall fire severity across multiple vegetation strata post-fire

Answer

CBI integrates burn severity observations across substrates (soil, understory, mid-story, overstory) into a single index ranging from 0 (unburned) to 3 (high severity).

Question 3

Which remote sensing product is most commonly used to map post-fire burn severity across large landscapes?

Accepted Answer

Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR)

Answer

The differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) compares pre- and post-fire Landsat shortwave infrared reflectance to map burn severity at landscape scales.

Question 4

What role does biological soil crust (biocrust) play in post-fire watershed hydrology?

Accepted Answer

It stabilizes soil and enhances infiltration but is often destroyed by fire

Answer

Biocrusts composed of cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens stabilize soil and promote infiltration, but combustion destroys them, temporarily increasing runoff and erosion risk.

Question 5

In the context of the 'fire-climate-vegetation feedback,' how does increased fire frequency in boreal forests affect long-term albedo?

Accepted Answer

Frequent fires replace dark conifer canopies with lighter reflective young stands or shrubs, increasing albedo

Answer

High-severity fires replace dark-canopied spruce-fir stands with lighter deciduous shrubs or young trees, increasing surface albedo and potentially producing a regional cooling feedback.

B.S.F. or B.Sc.F. Bachelor of Science in Forestry Practice Test

B.S.F. or B.Sc.F. Bachelor of Science in Forestry Practice Test

B.S.F. or B.Sc.F. Bachelor of Science in Forestry Bachelor of Science in Forestry: Forest Fire Ecology 5