0 or 3 credits
Spring 2025 Laboratory Lecture Upper Division
Fire, either as a natural disturbance or anthropogenically mediated disturbance, has been a feature of almost every major terrestrial ecosystem in North America. In this era of climate change, land management agencies are increasingly using fire both to manage terrestrial ecosystems and to actively contain wildfire. This class will provide basic understanding to both fire behavior and its ecological impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, focusing on systems common to the Central Hardwood Region. Students will get experience conducting prescribed fire and take Firefighter Type II (FFT2) online training modules, in partial fulfillment of requirements of an Incident Qualification Card (i.e., "red card"). Students will learn how to develop a burn plan for a given property, including assessment of risks, prediction of fire behavior (i.e., BEHAVE model), and estimation of burn effects.
Learning Outcomes1Explain the role of fire in the development of North American ecosystems.
2Describe fire as a physical and ecological process.
3Demonstrate the ability to utilize prescribed fire safely.
4Develop a burn plan to complete a prescribed fire safely and effectively.
5Evaluate the role of fire as a contemporary management tool.
Prerequisites
Attachments
made by Purdue students.