Hey folks! So this is my first post in quite some time, and I want you to know that I have not forgotten about my fellow FFN fans! As you might know, I’m an adjunct professor at three colleges in Western New York. COVID-19 has completely restructured the teaching/learning platform and I have been extremely busy at work making online accessible content for my students. I simply don’t have enough time to create FFN articles since all of my time has been allocated towards recording and editing video content for the three subjects I’m teaching this semester.

I’ve taken it upon myself to share videos that are associated with forest ecology, and I just happened to make this video yesterday (November 20th). This lecture is for my environmental biology course at Buffalo State. We are in the second last unit of the semester which focuses on fire regimes and forest management.

Video description:

~~In today’s lecture, we are going to look at the specific fire interactions of the West Coast. I am going to focus on one of my favorite species, the giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). These massive trees require a natural fire regime for multiple reasons. From seed release, germination, and early tree development to the removal of ladder fuels, fire plays an integral role in sequoia recruitment.

Fire suppression and climate change leading to more frequent, more intense droughts have led to the rapid alterations of West Coast fire regimes. Without natural fire regimes, insanely intense, huge canopy fire ensue which changes ecosystem processes. These ecosystems need more natural fire regimes, which is why workers of the United States Forest Service are carrying out prescribed burns and letting natural fires ensue to emulate pre-settlement fire regimes.~~

So anyway, here’s the video of the lecture. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the ongoing support! If you guys would like to see more of these lectures, please leave a comment on facebook, twitter or youtube!