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Ecosystem Responses To Fuel Reduction Treatments In Stands Killed By Southern Pine Beetle, Aaron Stottlemyer
Ecosystem Responses To Fuel Reduction Treatments In Stands Killed By Southern Pine Beetle, Aaron Stottlemyer
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Heavy fuel loads were created by multiple southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Ehrh.) outbreaks throughout the southern Piedmont between 1999 and 2002. Prescribed burning and mechanical mastication are proposed to reduce fuel loading in beetle-killed pine (Pinus L. spp.) stands in the upper South Carolina Piedmont, but their ecological impacts are unknown. Prescribed burning reduced fuelbed continuity by consuming litter (Oi) and fine (1- and 10-hr timelag size classes) woody fuels immediately after the treatment. Duff (Oe + Oa) layer thickness also decreased and mineral soil was exposed in some areas. Mastication resulted in a thick, continuous layer of shredded …