In the Firefighter Problem, a fire breaks out at a vertex of a graph G, then f firefighters protect f vertices. At each subsequent time step, the fire spreads from each “burned” vertex to all of its unprotected neighbours, then f firefighters “protect” f unburned vertices. Once a vertex is protected or burned, it remains so from then onward. A common objective is to determine the minimum number...

Using the extensive archive of historical ERS-1 and -2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, this analysis demonstrates that fire disturbance can be effectively detected and monitored in high northern latitudes using radar technology. A total of 392 SAR images from May to August spanning 1992–2010 were analyzed from three study fires in the Alaskan tundra. The investigated fires included the 2...

Soil respiration is a major pathway for carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems yet little is known about its response to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. This study examined soil respiration response to prescribed burning and thinning treatments in an old-growth, mixedconifer forest on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Experimental treatments were applied in 2001 using ...

The interactions between fire and grazing are widespread throughout fire-dependent landscapes. The utilization of burned areas by grazing animals establishes the fire-grazing interaction, but the preference for recently burned areas relative to other influences (water, topography, etc.) is unknown. In this study, we determine the strength of the fire-grazing interaction by quantifying the influ...

Catchment-scale land-use change is recognised as a major threat to aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning globally. In the UK uplands rotational vegetation burning is practised widely to boost production of recreational game birds, and while some recent studies have suggested burning can alter river water quality there has been minimal attention paid to effects on aquatic biota. We stud...

The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of patients with burns on 30 to 40% and 60% or greater of their BSA to thermoregulate their core temperature during exercise in the heat. Two groups (n = 3 in each) of subjects with healed third-degree burns (34.0 +/- 1.4% and 77.7 +/- 12.4%, respectively) and a group of unburned subjects (n = 2) exercised for 1 hour on a cycle ergometer at 75...

Historical disturbance regimes are often considered a critical element in maintaining native plant communities. However, the response of plant communities to disturbance may be fundamentally altered as a consequence of invasive plants, climate change, or prior disturbances. The appropriateness of historical disturbance patterns under modern conditions and the interactions among disturbances are...

Forest fires are important contributors of C, N, and Hg to the atmosphere. In the fall of 2011, a large wildfire occurred in northern Minnesota and we were able to quickly access the area to sample the forest floor and mineral soil for C, N, and Hg pools. When compared with unburned reference soils, the mean loss of C resulting from fire in the forest floor and the upper 20 cm of mineral soil w...

Disturbance can directly affect the interactions among species at different trophic levels. Because disturbances are typically localized, and many consumers are constrained in their mobility, disturbances can generate spatial variability in trophic interactions. Here, we consider how fire alters plant–insect interactions in a longleaf pine ecosystem in central Florida, USA. We hypothesized that...