FHX2: Fire History Software

FHX2 Software

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What is FHX2?  Graphics Example  What Comes with FHX2?  Statistics Menu 
Downloading Information  Purchasing Information  Citation and References  Current Users 

What is FHX2?

FHX2 is software developed to analyze the fire history of forests revealed by fire scars and other fire-related injuries found in the annual growth rings of trees. FHX2 provides a means for entering, archiving, storing, editing, and manipulation of fire history information from tree rings, which in turn, provides a more efficient mechanism for data storage and exchange. FHX2 creates master fire charts displaying fire chronologies for individual trees or for individual sites. FHX2 has powerful statistical functions for analyzing the seasonality of past fires, temporal changes in fire regimes, or spatial differences in fire occurrence between sites. FHX2 also provides access to a superposed epoch analysis program for analyzing the relationship between past fire and climate. 



Great Graphics!

The Graphics Module creates, displays, and prints master fire charts. Each horizontal line can represent one tree, a subsite, composite information for an entire site, or an entire region. Each small vertical bar represents a dated fire event. 



What is contained in the FHX2 system:
File NameFunction
FHX2.EXEMain program that launches other modules
FHGRAPH.EXE, FGRAPH2.EXECreates screen and hardcopy graphics
FHSTATS.EXE, FSTATS2.EXEProvides in-depth statistical functions
FHENTER.EXE, FENTER2.EXEAllows easy data entry
FHIMPORT.EXE, FIMPORT2.EXEImports data from the LTRR database
FHEVENT.EXEPerforms superposed epoch analysis
FHREAD.EXEFile viewer called by statistics module
DSHELL.EXEExecutes a DOS shell
VIEW.EXEViews fire history graphics onscreen
PLOT.EXEPlots fire history graphics to hardcopy
INSTALL.EXEInstalls the graphics/printing devices
INSTALL.DLBDriver library for graphics/printing devices
PET.FHXSample demonstration data file
*.SYMAll fonts used for graphing


It does Statistics!

The Main Menu of the Statistics Module. FHX2 can analyze fire seasonality, fire intervals, temporal stability, or spatial differences in past fire regimes. 



Downloading information:

Download the program EXTRACT.EXE (ca 400 KB). If you have difficulty using your Web browser to download this, you might try an FTP client to our anonymous FTP site, ftp.LTRR.Arizona.EDU, remembering to set binary mode when you transfer the file (conversely if you have difficulty with FTP, try here instead). Once you have transferred the file over to the proper subdirectory, simply type extract at the prompt and the file will self-extract. Once the files are extracted, the file EXTRACT.EXE can be copied and stored for later use and deleted from the current subdirectory. Do not attempt to run the EXTRACT file until it is copied to the proper subdirectory. 



Acknowledgements:

Many individuals helped significantly with the development and testing of the FHX2 software. I first must thank the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research for providing me with facilities and computers on which to develop this software. Dr. Thomas W. Swetnam is the driving force behind our fire history/ecology research, and to him I am particularly grateful. Kiyomi Morino offered numerous helpful suggestions in all stages of the development of this software, and this software benefits greatly from her comments, suggestions, and testing. Ramzi Touchan and Craig Allen also tested the software in its earliest stages, and suggested many useful ideas that improved the software. The comments and ideas of Tony Caprio, Chris Baisan, and Linda Mutch are also greatly appreciated. If any users have ideas on how they would like to see this software improved, please drop me a message at the e-mail address below. 



Purchasing Information:

As much as I would like to dispense this software free to research, academic, and federal institutions, I simply can not. I arranged a license agreement with Golden Software to distribute their software and files (programs VIEW, PLOT, INSTALL, and all fonts) in return for a cash payment to be made every time a copy of this software is distributed. Unless otherwise arranged with me, by obtaining this software, you agree to purchase this software for the sum total of $129.95 made payable to me at the address given below. Feel free to contact me for further information. 



Proper Citation:

NOTE: As with any software, I expect proper citation to be given to this software when used for your research, just as you would programs ARSTAN and COFECHA, for example.

Grissino-Mayer, H.D. 1995. Tree-ring reconstructions of climate and fire history at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Arizona, Tucson. 407 pp.



For additional references, this software was extensively used in the following studies:

Abolt, R.A.P. 1997. Fire histories of upper elevation forests in the Gila Wilderness, New Mexico via fire scar and stand age structure analyses. M.S. thesis, The University of Arizona, Tucson. 120 pp.

Baisan, C.H., Swetnam, T.W. 1997. Interactions of fire regimes and land use in the central Rio Grande Valley. USDA Forest Service Research Paper RM-RP-330. 20 pp.

Danzer, S.R. 1998. Fire history and stand structure in the Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona. M.S. thesis, The University of Arizona, Tucson. 110 pp.

Fule, P.Z., Covington, W.W. 1997. Fire regimes and forest structure in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Durango, Mexico. Acta Botanica Mexicana 41: 43-79.

Fule, P.Z., Covington, W.W., and Moore, M.M. 1997. Determining reference conditions for ecosystem management of Southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Ecological Applications 7(3): 895-908.

Grissino-Mayer, H.D. 1995. Tree-ring reconstructions of climate and fire history at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Arizona, Tucson. 407 pp.

Grissino-Mayer, H.D., Baisan, C.H., and Swetnam, T.W. 1994. Fire history and age structure analyses in the mixed-conifer and spruce-fir forests of the Pinaleno Mountains, southeastern Arizona. Final Report, Mt. Graham Red Squirrel Study Committee, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service, Phoenix, AZ. 73 pp.

Grissino-Mayer, H.D., Baisan, C.H., and Swetnam, T.W. 1995. Fire history in the Pinaleno Mountains of southern Arizona: Effects of human- related disturbances. In Debano, L.F., Gottfried, G.J., Hamre, R.H., Edminster, C.B., Ffolliott, P.F., and Ortega-Rubio, A., eds., Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago: The Sky Islands of Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. Ft. Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report RM-GTR-264: 399-407.

Guyette, R.P., and Dey, D.C. 1995. A presettlement fire history in an oak-pine forest near Basin Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario. Ontario Forestry Research Institute Forest Research Report 132. 7 pp.

Guyette, R.P., Dey, D.C., and McDonell, C. 1995. Determining fire history from old white pine stumps in an oak-pine forest in Bracebridge, Ontario. Ontario Forestry Research Institute Forest Research Report 133. 9 pp.

Jenkins, S.E., Guyette, R., and Rebertus, A.J. 1997. Vegetation-site relationships and fire history of a savanna-glade-woodland mosaic in the Pzarks. In Pallardy, S.G., Cecich, R.A., Garrett, H.E., and Johnson, P.S., eds., Proceedings, 11th Central Hardwood Forest Conference, 1997 March 23-26, Columbia, Missouri. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report NC-188: 172-183.

Kaib, M. 1998. Fire history in riparian canyon pine-oak forests and the intervening desert grasslands of the Southwest borderlands: A dendroecological, historical, and cultural inquiry. M.S. thesis, The University of Arizona, Tucson. 234 pp.

Kaib, M., Baisan, C.H., Grissino-Mayer, H.D., and Swetnam, T.W. 1996. Fire history in the gallery pine-oak forests and adjacent grasslands of the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. In Ffolliott, P.F., DeBano, L.F., Maker, Jr., M.B., Gottfried, G.J., Solis-Garza, G., Edminster, C.B., Neary, D.G., Allen, L.S., and Hamre, R.H., tech. coord., Effects of Fire on Madrean Province Ecosystems: A Symposium Proceedings. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-GTR-289: 253-264.

Kerr, R.T. 1996. The fire regime of Mt. Gleason, California as a function of climate and vegetation. M.A. thesis, California State University, Northridge. 83 pp.

Kitzberger, T., and Veblen, T.T. 1997. Influences of humans and ENSO on fire history of Austrocedrus chilensis woodlands in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Ecoscience 4(4): 508-520.

Lehtonen, H., and Huttunen, P. 1997. History of forest fires in eastern Finland from the fifteenth century AD - the possible effects of slash-and-burn cultivation. The Holocene 7(2): 223-228.

Lehtonen, H., Huttunen, P., and Zetterberg, P. 1996. Influence of man on forest fire frequency in North Karelia, Finland, as evidenced by fire scars on Scots pine. Annales Botanici Fennici 33: 257-263.

McCord, V.A.S. 1996. Flood history reconstruction in Frijoles Canyon using flood-scarred trees. In C.D. Allen, ed., Fire Effects in Southwestern Forests: Proceedings of the Second La Mesa Fire Symposium. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-GTR-286: 33-46.

Morino, K.A. 1996. Reconstruction and interpretation of historical patterns of fire occurrence in the Organ Mountains, New Mexico. M.S. thesis, The University of Arizona, Tucson. 144 pp.

Ortloff, W., Goldammer, J.G., Schweingruber, F.H., and Swetnam, T.W. 1995. Jahrringanalytische Untersuchungen zur Feuergeschichte eines Bestandes von Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws. in den Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona, USA. [Dendrochronological investigations of fire history in Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws. stands of the Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona, USA.] Forstarchiv 66: 206-214.

Seklecki, M.T., Grissino-Mayer, H.D., and Swetnam, T.W. 1996. Fire history and the possible role of Apache-set fires in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. In Ffolliott, P.F., DeBano, L.F., Maker, Jr., M.B., Gottfried, G.J., Solis-Garza, G., Edminster, C.B., Neary, D.G., Allen, L.S., and Hamre, R.H., tech. coord., Effects of Fire on Madrean Province Ecosystems: A Symposium Proceedings. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-GTR-289: 238-246.

Sutherland, E.K. 1997. History of fire in a southern Ohio second-growth mixed-oak forest. In Pallardy, S.G., Cecich, R.A., Garrett, H.E., and Johnson, P.S., eds., Proceedings, 11th Central Hardwood Forest Conference, 1997 March 23-26, Columbia, Missouri. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report NC-188: 172-183.

Swetnam, T.W., and Baisan, C.H. 1996. Historical fire regime patterns in the Southwestern United States since AD 1700. In C.D. Allen, ed., Fire Effects in Southwestern Forests: Proceedings of the Second La Mesa Fire Symposium. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-GTR-286: 11-32.

Swetnam, T.W., and Baisan, C.H. 1996. Fire histories of montane forests in the Madrean Borderlands. In Ffolliott, P.F., DeBano, L.F., Maker, Jr., M.B., Gottfried, G.J., Solis-Garza, G., Edminster, C.B., Neary, D.G., Allen, L.S., and Hamre, R.H., tech. coord., Effects of Fire on Madrean Province Ecosystems: A Symposium Proceedings. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-GTR-289: 15-36.

Touchan, R., Allen, C.D., and Swetnam, T.W. 1996. Fire history and climatic patterns in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of the Jemez Mountains, northern New Mexico. In C.D. Allen, ed., Fire Effects in Southwestern Forests: Proceedings of the Second La Mesa Fire Symposium. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-GTR-286: 33-46.

Veblen, T.T., Kitzberger, T., Villalba, R., and Donnegan, J. 1999. Fire history in northern Patagonia: The roles of humans and climatic variations. Ecological Monographs 69(1): 47-67.

Wolf, J.J. 1997. Fire history of mixed-conifer forests on the North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park. M.S. thesis, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. 70 pp.

Wolf, J.J., and Mast, J.N. 1998. Fire history of mixed-conifer forests on the North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Physical Geography 19(1): 1-14.

Wright, C.S. 1996. Fire history of the teanaway River drainage, Washington. M.S. thesis, The University of Washington, Seattle. 190 pp.



A List of Current Users:

Jim Agee, Division of Ecosystem Science and Conservation, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA

Craig Allen, Jemez Mountains Field Station, National Biological Survey, Bandelier National Monument, Los Alamos, NM 87544-9701 USA

Thomas B. Bragg, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska - Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182-0040 USA

Peter Brown, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, 240 W. Prospect Rd., Ft. Collins, CO 80526 USA

Jack Burk, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University - Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA, 92634 USA

Joel Carlson, Woodland and Natural Areas Office, University of New Hampshire, 102 Pettee Hall, Durham, NH 03824 USA

Lori D. Daniels, Department of Geography, Campus Box 270, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0270 USA

Jo Ann Fites, 68 Church Street, Blairsden, CA 96103 USA

Peter Z. Fule, School of Forestry, P.O. Box 15018, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA

Robert W. Gray, San Carlos Apache Tribe, Division of Forestry, San Carlos, AZ 85550 USA

Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA

Rune Groven, Department of Forest Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 USA

Richard P. Guyette, I-30 Agriculture Building, The School of Natural Resources, The University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65211 USA

Tracy Hawkins, Lees College Campus, 601 Jefferson Ave., Jackson, KY 41339 USA

Emily Heyerdahl, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA

Bob Keeland, National Wetlands Research Center, 700 Cajun Dome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70506 USA

Karel Klinka, Forest Sciences Dept., 270-2357 Main Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CANADA V6T 1Z4

Hannu Lehtonen, Karelian Institute, Section of Ecology, P.O. Box 111, University of Joensuu, SF-80101 Joensuu, FINLAND

Ken Lertzman, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, CANADA V5A 1S6

Richard Miller, HC71 4.51 Hwy 205, Burns, OR 97720 USA

Penelope Morgan, College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844 USA

Renzo Motta, Dep. AGROSELVITER, University of Turin, Via Leonardo Da Vinci 44, I - 10095 Grugliasco, ITALY

Michael Murray, 314 Cherry Street, Moscow, ID 83843 USA

Robert Olson, USDA Forest Service, Lassen National Forest, 55 S. Sacramento St., Susanville, CA 96130 USA

Wolfgang Ortloff, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, SWITZERLAND

William Romme, Department of Biology, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO 81301-3999 USA

Richard Schellhaas, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Wenatchee, WA 98801-1229 USA

Thomas M. Schuler, USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Parsons, WV 26287 USA

Carl Skinner, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 2400 Washington Ave., Redding, CA 96001 USA

Sydney Smith, Modoc National Forest, USDA Forest Service, 1800 W. 12th Str., Alturas, CA 96101 USA

Paul Sneed, Department of Environmental Studies, Prescott College, Prescott, AZ 86301 USA

Scott L. Stephens, Natural Resources Management Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 USA

Neil Sugihara, USDA Forest Service, 3735 Neely Way, Mather, CA 95655 USA

Elaine Kennedy Sutherland, U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Str., 359 Main Rd, Delaware, OH 43015 USA

Thomas W. Swetnam, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA

Alan Taylor, Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA

Eugene A. Vaganov, Institute of Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 660036 Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA

Kelli Van Norman, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA

Thomas T. Veblen, Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 USA

Clinton S. Wright, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA


For more information, contact Dr. Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, 31698, (grissino@valdosta.edu)