Lisa-Natalie Anjozian | Writings
Lisa has written countless stories over the years, and developed or contributed to multimedia projects, as well as presented them to audiences—lesson plans for an educator's guide for the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory; amphitheatre and visitor center programs for North Cascades National Park; educational programs for horse owners on equine healthcare and best land management practices for a global manufacturer of veterinary pharmaceuticals; and story analysis for a number of studios and film organizations in Hollywood and London. Her personal essays have also appeared in magazines such as The East Bay Monthly and the North American Review. Below are some of her pieces:
Checking the Range for Signs of Climate Change in the Past, Present, and Future
Rocky Mountain Research Station Grassland, Shrubland, and Desert Ecosystem Science Program GSDUpdate July 2011
Download a pdf with images - click here
By Lisa-Natalie Anjozian
Imagine you have access to a machine that can make particles move faster and faster until they approach the speed of light, and essentially travel through time. The machine might look like the Large Hadron Collider—the particle accelerator below ground in Switzerland—but instead of producing teeny, tiny, short-lived, exotic particles no one’s ever seen before, it transports you, a person of ample curiosity, into the future. You disembark your time travel machine, look around, and though you believe you’re in the same geography, things don’t look quite the same. If you began your trip somewhere in the interior American West where familiar grasslands, shrublands, or deserts were found, you have reason to be perplexed. The ecosystems of the future world have changed. What does that future world look like? Scientists in the Grassland, Shrubland, and Desert Ecosystems Science Program (GSD) – a unit of the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) – are not waiting for the future to arrive to have a look—they are working on revealing the story to us now.
Read more: Checking the Range for Signs of Climate Change in the Past, Present, and Future
The Good Earth: Run-off, Erosion, and Recovery in the Post-fire Chaparral Steeplands of Southern California
Joint Fire Science Program at www.firescience.gov October, 2010
Download a pdf with images - click here
By Lisa-Natalie Anjozian
Summary
In September 2002, the Williams Fire burned 38,184 acres of chaparral steeplands, including more than 90 percent of the San Dimas Experimental Forest. The 1960 Johnstone Fire had burned many of the same watersheds some forty years earlier, thus providing opportunities to compare post-fire watershed response coupled with management efforts that had converted some native chaparral areas to grassland. With scant studies on soil water repellency, plant recovery, and their effects on watershed hydrology, managers face difficulties in planning for erosion/run-off problems. The researchers delivered quantified data on changing soil properties, the character and structure of regenerating plants, and the factors that produced sediment movement and run-off in the post-fire landscape.
Nature in a Name: Paulownia tomentosa—Exotic Tree, Native Problem
Joint Fire Science Program at www.firescience.gov July, 2010
Download a pdf with images - click here
By Lisa-Natalie Anjozian
Summary
While awareness of fire’s importance in dry Appalachian forests, and the application of fire as a restoration tool have increased over the last two decades, so too has the post-fire invasion of Paulownia tomentosa (Princess tree). For the last ten years, managers have witnessed Paulownia invasion grow following fire events. To understand this better, the team studied five life history transitions for the species: seed dispersal, seed germination, seed survival over time through incorporation in the seed bank, initial habitat requirements, and seedling persistence to maturity. Paulownia seeds were found to disperse over two miles from their source tree. Fires of greater severity promote conditions Paulownia favors—exposed soil free of organic litter, and openings in the canopy cover that allow ample light. Subsequent persistence by Paulownia is greatest in the drier and more exposed areas, such as ridges and steep slopes.
Read more: Nature in a Name: Paulownia tomentosa—Exotic Tree, Native Problem
Naked Eyes and Hyperspectral Images Build Fuel Maps in the Southern Appalachian Mountains
Joint Fire Science Program at www.firescience.gov July, 2010
Download a pdf with images - click here
By Lisa-Natalie Anjozian
Summary
With the limited knowledge previously available about the types of fuels, and how they are distributed in the southern Appalachian Mountains, managers have faced difficulties in developing fire plans for the region, including whether or where to apply prescribed fire. For this study, the scientists took a two phase approach to determine fuel loads on the land—by ground surveys, and by remote sensing technology using hyperspectral images. Examining over 1,000 study plots in diverse topographic locations affected by various disturbances (or no disturbance) across four states, the researchers found few differences in undisturbed plots regardless of topographic location. This means that fuel accumulation is no greater on highly productive sites than on less productive sites. Problem fuels such as the shrubs mountain laurel and rhododendron were not as common as the researchers anticipated, and may be a concern in only limited areas. Disturbance history and type played a greater role in determining fuel loads than topographic location. Fire decreased some fuels while beetle attack, harvesting, and windthrow increased most fuels. The second phase of the study used remote sensing and the Strom Thurmond Institute Hyperspectral Library to detect and map rhododendron and mountain laurel under the thick canopy found in the region, helping the scientists see into vast areas and remote terrain.
Read more: Naked Eyes and Hyperspectral Images Build Fuel Maps in the Southern Appalachian Mountains
Bending, Like the Reed in the Wind: A System to Restore Northwestern Forests
Joint Fire Science Program at www.firescience.gov June, 2010
Download a pdf with images - click here
By Lisa-Natalie Anjozian
Summary
Silviculture is the study, cultivation, and management of forest trees. It is rooted in science, but often is an art based on the experience of the forester. This story explores free-selection, a silvicultural system developed by scientists that allows managers and stakeholders greater flexibility in growing new forests. By using this system for applying treatments, managers craft a vision of the desired short- and long-term conditions of the forest. The focus is placed on how the remaining forest components will function, rather than focusing on stand structure guidelines that dictate stand treatments and tree removal.
Read more: Bending, Like the Reed in the Wind: A System to Restore Northwestern Forests
More Articles...
- Lookouts in the Sky with Algorithms: Forecasting Air Quality with Satellite-sent Data
- That Liquefaction of Her Clothes: Mitigating Debris Flows in the Post-wildfire Landscape
- ArcFuels: Integrating Wildfire Models and Risk Analysis into Landscape Fuels Management
- Searching, Witnessing, Testing: Plants and Fire in Southern California
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