USDA Forest Service
 

Fire Effects Information
 

Contact:
Jane Kapler Smith
406 329-4805, jsmith09@fs.fed.us

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

USDA Link Forest Service Link

 

Tutorial

To find a particular species review in FEIS, either

1. Enter the species name (scientific or common) in the FEIS search window  or

2. Use the life-form menus at left to find the correct life form, then search the list of species.

The tutorial below is designed to show you the capabilities of FEIS and illustrate several ways to find information. It will take 20-40 minutes to complete. If you can answer these questions, you can navigate FEIS successfully.  Go to the link at the bottom of the page for the answers.

1. Look on the Home Page sidebar. What are the 5 main types of reviews available in FEIS?
a) ______________________________
b) ______________________________
c) ______________________________
d) ______________________________
e) ______________________________

2. Suppose you find the word "caudex" in a species review. What does it mean? Locate the Glossary on the System Help sidebar and look it up: _______________________________________________________________________________

3. Suppose you need information on the Clark's nutcracker. Use the search engine on the FEIS Home Page to find the Clark's nutcracker species review. Who wrote it?________________________ When was this individual species review written? __________________

4. Look at the Table of Contents in the Clark's nutcracker review, where it says "Wildlife distribution and occurrence." Click on that link. Does the Clark's nutcracker occur in Idaho? _______________

5. In what 3 National Forests has prescribed fire been used in improve Clark's nutcracker habitat? (In the "Fire Effects and Use" section, use your browser's "edit-find" command and search for "National Forest".)
_________________________    __________________________   ________________________

6. Go back to the Home Page FEIS Reviews sidebar; choose "Animal species," then "Reptiles" to find the desert tortoise species review. What is the desert tortoise's federal legal status? _________________________

7. Find the bison review. Go to "Fire Case Studies" for bison. What is the location of the study? _____________________________________________________________
What time of year was burning conducted? _____________________________________________________________
How did the burn affect bison in the first year after fire? _____________________________________________________________

8. From the FEIS Home Page, click on "Plant Species" and view the list of Plant Species Life Forms (Tree, Shrub, etc. "Graminoid" means "grasslike".) How many kinds of plants (life forms) are described in FEIS? _____________

9. How many cactus species are reviewed in FEIS? __________

10. List 1 kind of animal that eats plains prickly-pear: ________________________

11. Find the 4-species review for saltcedar and other Tamarix species. Are they trees, shrubs, or do they occur as either trees or shrubs?______________________________________

12. Does saltcedar sprout after fire? _______
Who says so? List the author(s) and date for one reference cited for that fact:
_______________________________________________________________________

13. Go to the "Tree list" under "Plant Species Life Form." Can you find Rocky Mountain maple there? ______________ Now, go to the "Shrub List" and find it there. (Try using "Find" under the edit menu). Name 2 ways Rocky Mountain maple regenerates after fire. __________________________________    ___________________________________

14. Under "Plant species" on the Home Page sidebar, click on "Invasive plants" and "FEIS Invasive Plants List" to find the review for spotted knapweed. Under the "edit" menu, use "find" or "search" to locate every time "fire regime" is mentioned.
How many times? _______ In what section? ________________________

15. Find the review for interior ponderosa pine. What is the scientific name of this variety? ________________________________________________
It has 3 Fire Case Studies. What are the locations of the 3 studies?

__________________________     __________________________      _________________________
 
16. Use the search engine to find the species review for Elymus lanceolatus. (Notice the search engine also found a Research Project Summary with information on that species.) What is one of this species' common names? _____________________________________
Is this species tolerant of fire? ______
How long after burning before it begins to increase? __________________
Who says so? List author(s) and date for one reference cited: ______________________________________________________________

17. Go to the "Fire Studies" menu and click on the "FEIS Fire Studies List". Select the review that gives fire information about ponderosa pine communities in northern Idaho. Scroll down to the 2nd table and name a shrub that increased in cover after low-intensity fire. ______________________________

18. Suppose you need to cite FEIS in a report. It is best to cite reviews individually. Look in the middle of the Home Page for an example citation. What species is shown there? ________________________ When as it written?___________

Tutorial answers
FEIS Home Page

USDA Forest Service - FEIS
USDA logo which links to the department's national site. Forest Service logo which links to the agency's national site.