The effects of fire in Ponderosa pine forests: some examples of mathematics in forest ecology

This talk was presented on 4/3/2008 to the Mathematics Department at Colorado College in fulfillment of the requirement for graduating with distinction in mathematics. It describes a spatially-explicit individual-based simulation model of tree growth in a Ponderosa pine forest. The model was used to explore how fire frequency and intensity altered spatial patterning and size structure of trees.