Quantifying the Effects of Land Use Change on Forests and Fire Regimes in the Southern Canadian Rocky Mountains: 1610 CE-Present

Abstract

This work examines the effects of land use change in the Southern Canadian Rocky Mountains (SCRM) on forests and fire regimes from the 1600s to present. It begins by examining how the topographic environment has influenced the geographic distribution of human use of the SCRM. It then examines how fire regimes and fire synchrony varied across the region with respect to the nature and intensity of human land use. The third section of the dissertation assesses the viability of a method combining unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with dendrochronology for understanding forest volume dynamics. In summary, the first two parts examine how changes in human use of the landscape have influenced forests and fire regimes, while the third part tests a new method of acquiring and assessing forest data that may help direct future land use policy.