Fire in Floridas Ecosystems

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Fire inFloridasEcosystems
Welcome to
Presentation 3 Wildfire and Prescribed Fire

• Implemented by Pandion Systems, Inc.
• with funding and support from the
• Florida Division of Forestry

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Fire in Floridas EcosystemsTodays
LessonWildfire and Prescribed Fire
Fire in natural areas
Prescribed Fire
Wildfire
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Wildfire
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Wildfire

• How would you define a wildfire?
• Look at the picture and describe what you see.

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Wildfire can be a powerful and destructive force

• For example, in 1998, 506,000 acres were
  burned by wildfire in Florida.

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Why is wildfire dangerous?
1. It is out of control
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Why is wildfire dangerous?
2. It often burns heavy fuels in areas that have
not had
fire in a long time.
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Why is wildfire dangerous?

• 3. Wildfires burn very hot.

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Florida is a Wildfire State

• Florida ranks 4th in the U.S. in number of
  wildfires each year about 7,000.
  
• Florida ranks 2nd to Alaska in number of acres
  burned by wildfire each year.

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What are some problems of wildfire?

• Loss of homes and property
• Damage to natural areas
• Smoke pollution
• Danger to animals

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What creates the potentialfor wildfire?
What do humans do to increase the possibility t
hat wildfire
will occur?
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What are the causes of wildfire?
Causes of Florida wildfires and acreage burned
1995-2001
38,754 1,043 1,734 23,581 1,869

• Lightning
• Camp fires
• Smoking
• Debris
• Incendiary

Equipment Railroad Children Unknown Miscellan
eous
114,625 3,616 708 12,616 43,643
Total 252,193 acres per year, average
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How can we prevent wildfires?

• What are some of the things you can do to prevent
  wildfire from happening?
  
• What do Florida land managers do to keep wildfire
  from happening?
  

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Prescribed Fire
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Prescribed Fire

• How would you define a Prescribed Fire?
• Look at the picture and describe what you see.

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What is a prescription?

• What does the word prescription mean?
• How is this similar to what land managers do with
  prescribed fire?

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What goes into creating a prescription for fire?

• Goals
• Weather
• Site Characteristics
• Fuels
• Smoke Management

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What makes a prescribed fire different from a
wildfire?
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Why would people want to create a prescribed
fire?
To manage natural areas and maintain native
ecosystems.
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Why would people want to create a prescribed fire?
To reduce hazardous fuel buildup
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Why would people want to create a prescribed fire?
Prescribed fire helps to minimize the frequency
and impact of wildfires
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Why would people want to create a prescribed fire?

• To clear areas for recreation or farming.

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Why would people want to create a prescribed fire?

• To improve food and habitat for wildlife.

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Prescribed fire is used much more than you may
think!

• Average acreage burned by wildfires in Florida
  each year 237,907 acres
  
• Average acreage burned using prescribed fire in
  Florida each year
  
• 2,500,000 acres

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One month after a prescribed fire
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One year after a prescribed fire
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Wildfire and Prescribed FireSummary Discussion

• What are the two kinds of fire that can occur in
  natural areas?
  
• Why is wildfire so dangerous?
• What is prescribed fire? How is prescribed fire
  planned? What are some of the benefits of
  prescribed fire?