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Raelene M. Crandall

Specialist

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Raelene M. Crandall

Orcid ID0000-0002-0229-5418

Specialist

associate professor, fire ecology, UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, Gainesville, FL

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Southern Fire Exchange leadership team

Publications

thumbnail for publication: Prescribed Fire Size, Patchiness, and Pyrodiversity in the Southeastern United States

Prescribed Fire Size, Patchiness, and Pyrodiversity in the Southeastern United States

Jennifer M. Fill and Raelene M. Crandall

This publication aims to provide information on how variation in prescribed fire size and heterogeneity and their impact over time relate to the habitat needs of animals and plants that live in frequently burned savannas. Written by Jennifer M. Fill and Raelene M. Crandall, and published by the UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, August 2023.

thumbnail for publication: Developing Land in Florida with Fire in Mind: Recommendations for Designers, Developers, and Decision-Makers

Developing Land in Florida with Fire in Mind: Recommendations for Designers, Developers, and Decision-Makers

Martha C. Monroe, Jennifer M. Fill, Raelene M. Crandall, and Susan Marynowski

Fire protection is a necessary consideration when building homes and designing neighborhoods in Florida. The type, amount, and structure of vegetation surrounding the development and individual houses will affect the risk that homes will catch fire. Architects and developers can significantly reduce wildfire risk for those living and working in Florida by using fire-resistant materials and managing the landscape around developments. This publication details specific recommendations for planning and designing defensible developments, including wildfire mitigation planning, vegetation management, and home construction, and how to balance the risks with the costs of risk mitigation strategies.

thumbnail for publication: Prescribed Fire as a Tool for Controlling Tick Populations in the Southeastern United States

Prescribed Fire as a Tool for Controlling Tick Populations in the Southeastern United States

Jennifer M. Fill, Hope M. Miller, and Raelene M. Crandall

There is an increase in reported tick-borne illnesses as the tick geographic range expands past historical boundaries. Prescribed fires, ignited intentionally for specific management goals, can indirectly affect tick abundance by disrupting tick predator and prey interactions and altering suitable tick habitat. The high temperatures during prescribed fires can also directly induce tick mortality. Repeated prescribed fires in southeastern United States tick habitat can be an affordable and environmentally conscious management option.

thumbnail for publication: Hurricane and Tropical Storm Impacts on Prescribed Fire and Wildfire Management Practices

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Impacts on Prescribed Fire and Wildfire Management Practices

David R. Godwin, Breanne Ward, Jennifer E. Fawcett, Gary C. Wood, and Raelene M. Crandall

Hurricanes and tropical storms can significantly alter forested and non-forested areas, creating unique hazards and considerations for wildland firefighters and prescribed burners. Prior to responding to wildfires and planning prescribed fires, fire managers should anticipate how these changes will affect fire behavior, smoke, hazards, and access to the fire.

thumbnail for publication: Resources for Prescribed Fires on Private Lands in Florida

Resources for Prescribed Fires on Private Lands in Florida

Raelene M. Crandall,Brier Ryver, David R. Godwin, Shelly A. Johnson, Alicia Halbritter, and Ludie A. Bond

Fire is an integral part of the Florida landscape. But what resources exist to support our private landowners who want to incorporate prescribed fires into their management plans? Without a team of skilled professionals on the payroll, safety and fire knowledge are of utmost importance to anyone wanting to ignite prescribed fires on their land. This publication aims to connect Florida landowners with the resources they need for prescribed burning, from planning to ignition to mop up and declaring a fire out. Resources are presented for local, boots-on-the-ground help, as well as training and regional information. Although this is not a comprehensive list, it will guide private landowners who wish to manage their properties with prescribed fire.

thumbnail for publication: Forest Management in the Interface: Reducing Fire Risk

Forest Management in the Interface: Reducing Fire Risk

Bruce Hull, Raelene M. Crandall, and Martha C. Monroe

Managing wildfire in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) is challenging. Maintaining community preparedness is a crucial step in mitigating wildfire risk. Wise management of vegetation in and around communities, including procedures such as mechanical fuel reduction, herbiciding, and prescribed fire can be used to keep fuel loads low and increase the safety of developments in fire-prone areas. Using fire-resistant materials for building construction and landscaping with firewise plants are also important steps to decrease wildfire risk.

thumbnail for publication: Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Selecting Firewise Shrubs to Reduce Wildfire Risk

Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Selecting Firewise Shrubs to Reduce Wildfire Risk

Annie Hermansen-Báez, Raelene M. Crandall, Wayne C. Zipperer, Alan J. Long, Anna L. Behm, Dawn McKinstry, and Anne Andreu

Properties in the wildland-urban interface frequently use shrubs in landscaping. Although shrubs are attractive, some types can be risky to plant near structures in fire-prone areas. Property owners in such areas should consult existing guides for shrubs that do not burn easily and should routinely maintain shrubs and other vegetation within the defensible space around houses and other structures.

thumbnail for publication: Management Considerations for Prescribed Fires in Riparian Zones of Florida

Management Considerations for Prescribed Fires in Riparian Zones of Florida

Coleson F. Wrege, Santiago A. Casanova, and Raelene M. Crandall

Riparian zones connect a body of water and upland habitat and provide many ecosystem services. In many southeastern US ecosystems, prescribed fires are a management tool, yet little is known about how fire impacts the riparian zone. This publication relates research from the western United States to riparian zones in the southeastern United States, with emphasis on wetlands. It discusses fire behavior in relation to riparian zone vegetation, weather (particularly seasonality), and fire interactions with various water body types. It lists and defines relevant fire terms and considers various land management goals. To manage wetlands effectively, managers must understand their historical fire regimes and may need to develop specialized alternative burn plans. Riparian zones should be monitored and specific burn objectives developed within the larger upland pine savanna ecosystem to better understand how these ecotones are impacted by prescribed fire and vice versa. 

thumbnail for publication: Landscaping in Florida with Fire in Mind

Landscaping in Florida with Fire in Mind

Martha C. Monroe, Raelene M. Crandall, Jennifer M. Fill, and Alan J. Long

Wildfire risk depends on the landscape surrounding communities and the vegetation immediately surrounding homes. To protect their homes, residents should consider both the materials used to construct their houses and the vegetation type and arrangement in the area around them. This publication presents information on how to landscape the vegetation, selecting plants with low flammability, pruning ladder fuels, and removing highly combustible materials to create a low-risk area of defensible space around their houses.

thumbnail for publication: Bees and Fire: How does Fire in Longleaf Pine Savannas Affect Bee Communities?

Bees and Fire: How does Fire in Longleaf Pine Savannas Affect Bee Communities?

Nicole Mitchell, Sarah Anderson Weaver, and Raelene M. Crandall

Bees are efficient pollinators known to be key components of healthy forests. Thus, bees are often used as indicators of community response to restoration and disturbances, including fire. In longleaf pine savannas, the open canopies and floral resources that increase bee diversity and abundance are promoted by applying frequent, patchy prescribed fires. This publication is aimed to help fire and natural resource managers, landowners, and interested citizens learn more about the benefits of using fire to promote bee diversity in longleaf pine savannas.

thumbnail for publication: The Fire Ecology of Saw Palmetto

The Fire Ecology of Saw Palmetto

By Vânia Maria Pereira, Thiago Souza Campos, Wagner Vendrame, and Raelene M. Crandall

This publication informs fire and natural resources managers as well as other interested people about the relationship between saw palmetto and fire. Saw palmetto is a palm native to the southeastern United States. Like other southeastern palms, saw palmetto thrives in frequently burned environments. Its highly combustible dead leaves fuel fires, after which saw palmetto benefits from the post-fire environment, exhibiting increased growth, resprouting, and induction of flowering. Saw palmettos can survive fires because of their well-insulated buds and waxy leaves. The meristem, where new growth originates, is located inside the top of the stem-like rhizome. Younger leaves grow in the center under several layers of older leaves. Old leaves persist over time and insulate and protect the meristem. This publication includes best management practices for managing saw palmetto to reduce fire hazard and maintain the health of saw palmetto and the entire the landscape.

thumbnail for publication: Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Selecting and Maintaining Firewise Plants for Landscaping

Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Selecting and Maintaining Firewise Plants for Landscaping

J. Douglas Doran, Jennifer M. Fill, Raelene M. Crandall, Cotton K. Randall, and Alan J. Long

For homeowners who live in an area with a medium to high risk of wildfire, creating an area of defensible space is crucial for protecting houses and other structures. The movement of a wildfire is controlled primarily by the flammability of the plants present and how those plants are arranged, both vertically and horizontally. This publication details how the structure and composition of the vegetation, from leaf to the whole plant, affect the likelihood that a fire will ignite and spread. It also describes how plants' horizontal and vertical arrangement can affect wildfire ignition and spread near homes, concluding with recommendations for firewise landscaping.