2011 Lyceum Series
"Trying To See The Forest For The Trees: Forest Health In The Rocky Mountains"
Saturday, March 5, 7:00 p.m. Born To Burn? The Impacts of Wildfire on Understory Plants in Colorado's Ponderosa Pine Forests
Colorado's ponderosa pine forests have experienced a marked increase in the frequency, size, and severity of wildfires in the last decade. How might understory plant communities be expected to respond to these fires in the years that follow? Join guest speaker Paula Fornwalt of the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, to explore this question, using the results of several studies conducted following the 2002 Hayman Fire as a foundation.
The theme of the 2011 Lyceum Series is "Trying To See The Forest For The Trees: Forest Health In The Rocky Mountains." The forests in and around Rocky Mountain National Park provide wonderful benefits such as water, recreation, wildlife habitat, timber, and other forest products. They are, however, vulnerable to a wide variety of stressors. RMNP will invite regional experts to answer visitor questions on insects, diseases, exotics, invasives, wildfire, prescribed burns, ozone/pollutants, wildlife/biodiversity, watersheds, soils, and forests as indicators of climate change.
The Lyceum schedule runs through May 14. Financial support for the lyceum series is provided by the park's nonprofit partner, the Rocky Mountain Nature Association. Programs are free and open to the public. They are held at 7:00 p.m. at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center auditorium in Rocky Mountain National Park.
For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park please call (970) 586-1206.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
