In this talk he describes applied and theoretical work I conducted to understand fire management in northern Florida longleaf pine forests. Forests in this region can be either combustible, open longleaf pine savanna or closed, fire inhibiting oak forest. The transition between these alternative ecological states is strongly influenced by fire frequency.

Over the past century, fire suppression, forest fragmentation, and road construction have changed the pattern of fire and hence the forests. As part of an adaptive management process he used simulation modelling to work with land managers to develop and assess alternative fire management strategies.

This work lead to some general techniques to estimate what areas of a landscape are vulnerable to transition between alternative states.

About Garry Peterson
Garry Peterson's works works at the Center for Limnology University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He focuses on understanding the ecological dynamics of regional ecosystems and the theory and practice of ecological management. His current research combines theoretical work on human-ecological interactions, with large scale estimations of human ecological impact, and collaborative work with a diverse group of ecological managers in Northern Wisconsin.

He currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He recently received a David Smith Conservation Fellowship from the Nature Conservancy.

Publications related to the talk
Peterson, G.D. 2002. Estimating resilience across landscapes. Conservation Ecology 6(1): 17.

Peterson, G.D. 2002. "Resilience of southern pine forests" in Resilience and behaviour of large scale ecosystems. L.H. Gunderson and L. Pritchard Jr., eds. Island Press, Washington, DC.