Forest Sciences Commons^™

Longevity Of Prescribed Fire Effectiveness In Mixed-Evergreen Forests Of The Klamath Mountains, Kaily M. Fineran

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Prescribed fire is a common management tool used across the western United States to create wildfire-resilient ecosystems and communities. The Klamath Mountains of northern California, USA has experienced numerous, large wildfires in recent years. This is due in part to a combination of highly flammable fuels, uncharacteristic weather events, and high fuel accumulations as a result of fire exclusion and forest management practices. Within the last decade, local land management organizations and the Karuk Tribe have begun re-introducing prescribed fire in low elevation, mixed evergreen forests. While the long-term effects of fuel treatments are not well-known, these efforts provided a …

Factors Contributing To Legacy Hardwood Mortality Following Prescribed Fire, Heather D. Rickard

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Interruption of Indigenous stewardship has resulted in hardwood decline along what is now known as the middle Klamath River in northern California related to adverse effects to Tribal food sovereignty and community wellbeing. The survivors of a “legacy” of Indigenous stewardship are highly valued by the Karuk and neighboring Tribes for a myriad of culturally beneficial ecological associations and sources of traditional staple foods. Prescribed fire, following a century of fire exclusion, has resulted in unanticipated mortality of legacy tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus), California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), and madrone (Arbutus menziesii), warranting further investigation. …

Physical Characteristics And Fine Roots Within Duff Mounds Of Old-Growth Sugar And Jeffrey Pine In A Fire-Excluded Sierran Mixed-Conifer Forest, Jules Bartley

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Fire exclusion has profoundly impacted frequent fire forests in western North America, disrupting fundamental ecological processes while leaving large, old pine trees vulnerable to drought, insects and disease, and fire. Forest managers want to increase the pace and scale of prescribed burning, yet heavy accumulations of organic material (duff mounds) at the bases of large pines can smolder for prolonged periods, damaging the cambium or consuming fine roots occupying the O horizon and/or upper mineral soil horizons. Increased duff mound depth is associated with greater mortality risk during prescribed fire, yet the biotic and abiotic drivers of duff mound accumulation …

Changes In Bark Properties And Hydrology Following Prescribed Fire, Courtney Siegert, Anna Ilek, Adam Wade

College of Forest Resources Publications and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Soil Respiration In A Longleaf Pine Forest., Caroline E. Paxton

Honors Theses

Prescribed fire is a common tool used to increase the herbaceous diversity in longleaf pine forest understories and to eliminate competition from undesirable mid-canopy species. Little is known about the effects of these fires on the soil respiration rates within these forests. A study of the effects of prescribed fire on soil respiration was conducted within a longleaf pine stand at the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center to examine soil respiration across seasons and before and after a prescribed fire. Soil CO₂ efflux rates were measured using a LICOR LI-8100A gas flux system with long-term chambers from October 2020 to …

Tree-Ring Based Reconstruction Of Historical Fire In An Endangered Ecosystem In The Florida Keys, Lauren A. Stachowiak, Maegen L. Rochner, Elizabeth A. Schneider, Grant L. Harley, Savannah A. Collins-Key, Hunter A. Bonawitz

SHU Faculty Publications

Big Pine Key, Florida, is home to one of Earth’s largest swaths of the critically-endangered dry forests. Known as pine rocklands, this fire-adapted ecosystem must experience regular fire to persist and remain healthy. Pine rocklands are composed of a sole canopy species: the South Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa), along with a dense understory of various woody and herbaceous species, and minimal surface moisture and soil development. Slash pine record wildfire activity of the surrounding area via fire scars preserved within the annual tree rings formed by the species. Our study used dendrochronology to investigate the fire history …

Vegetative And Edaphic Responses In A Northern Mixed Conifer Forest Three Decades After Harvest And Fire: Implications For Managing Regeneration And Carbon And Nitrogen Pools, R. Kasten Dumroese, Martin Jurgensen, Deborah S. Page-Dumroese

Michigan Tech Publications

Research Highlights: This experiment compares a range of combinations of harvest, prescribed fire, and wildfire. Leveraging a 30-year-old forest management-driven experiment, we explored the recovery of woody species composition, regeneration of the charismatic forest tree species Larix occidentalis Nutt., and vegetation and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools. Background and Objectives: Initiated in 1967, this experiment intended to explore combinations of habitat type phases and prescribed fire severity toward supporting regeneration of L. occidentalis. At onset of the experiment, a wildfire affected a portion of the 60 research plots, allowing for additional study. Our objective was to better understand …

Extreme Fire As A Management Tool To Combat Regime Shifts In The Range Of The Endangered American Burying Beetle, Alison K. Ludwig, Daniel R. Uden, Dirac Twidwell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study is focused on the population of federally-endangered American burying beetles in south-central Nebraska. It is focused on changes in land cover over time and at several levels of spatial scale, and how management efforts are impacting both the beetle and a changing landscape. Our findings are applicable to a large portion of the Great Plains, which is undergoing the same shift from grassland to woodland, and to areas where the beetle is still found.

The Role Of Fire And A Fire-Free Interval In The Restoration Of Upland Oak Communities On The Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, Jordan Winkenbach

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

The decline of upland oak (Quercus spp.) communities in our eastern forests has been attributed to the loss of periodic disturbance after decades of fire suppression. As land managers have begun to reintroduce fire, effects on oak regeneration and species composition have varied widely, making it apparent that our understanding of how fire can aid in oak forest management needs refinement. Restoring upland oak communities requires decreasing stand density and opening of the canopy to release shade-intolerant oaks in the understory. This necessitates an extended fire-free interval to allow these oaks to be recruited into larger size classes and …

Temporal Changes In Fruit Production Between Recurrent Prescribed Burns In Pine Woodlands Of The Ouachita Mountains, Tamara B. Wood, Christopher E. Comer, Roger W. Perry, Brian P. Oswald

Faculty Publications

The use of prescribed fire is integral to the restoration of open woodlands and savannas, including shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) woodlands in the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Fire offers many potential benefits to numerous wildlife; however, short-term implications for understory fruit production are not fully understood, especially in stands subjected to frequent, recurrent burns. We examined the effects of dormant season prescribed burns on woody fruit production (kg ha−1) and fruit producing vegetative cover in the understory of restored pine woodlands. We inventoried 32 stands during four temporal periods after dormant season prescribed fires: 1, 2, …

Influence Of Climate Change And Prescribed Fire On Habitat Suitability And Abundance Of The High-Elevation Endemic Cow Knob Salamander (Plethodon Punctatus), Carl David Jacobsen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Amphibians are facing global declines due to climate change, loss and degradation of habitat, invasive species, and disease. The Appalachian region of the eastern USA is a global biodiversity hotspot for salamanders, which are considered keystone species that influence nutrient dynamics in terrestrial and aquatic food webs. There are high rates of salamander endemism in the Appalachian region, with many species restricted to isolated, high elevation areas. The Cow Knob Salamander (Plethodon punctatus) is one such species. It is only found at elevations >675 m (most populations are above 900 m) on Shenandoah Mountain, North Mountain, and Nathaniel …

Monitoring Soft-Mast Production In Pine Woodland Restoration Areas On The Ouachita National Forest, Tamara B. Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of prescribed fire is integral to the restoration of open woodland habitats in the southeast, including shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) woodlands in the Ouachita Mountains. Mature pine habitats maintained with recurrent disturbances have an open understory with a rich floristic diversity that provides quality habitat for many wildlife species, including the endemic and endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis). Fire has many potential benefits for wildlife; however, the effects of fire on several important woody soft-mast producing species are not fully understood. Soft-mast quantity and quality is a key component in determining year-round habitat quality …

Influence Of Prescribed Burning On Upland Soil Properties In Mark Twain National Forest, Southeast Missouri Ozarks, Megan Lynn Hente

MSU Graduate Theses

In the Mark Twain National forest there is a collaborative effort to restore parts of the forest to its original shortleaf pine-oak woodland areas by using a combination of silviculture and prescribed fire. The purpose of this project is to assess the effects of prescribed burning on upland forest and soil physical properties that influence erosion processes across a gradient of burned sites of different ages and unburned sites. A combination of geospatial, field, laboratory, statistical (one-way ANOVA) and modeling (USLE) methods were used to assess the effects of prescribed burns on forest and soil characteristics in Big Barren Creek …

Vegetation Response To Repeated Prescribed Burning And Varied Wildfire Severity In Upland Forests On The Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, Zachary W. Poynter

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

As a result of decades of fire suppression, oaks (Quercus L.) and other disturbance-dependent tree species are experiencing widespread regeneration failure. Today, fire takes the form of relatively low to moderate intensity prescribed fire, used to restore fire adapted ecosystems, and wildfires which often vary in severity. I investigated long-term changes to forest structure and composition in response to repeated prescribed burning followed by an extended period of no fire. Burning reduced total basal area, midstory stem density and sapling stem density. However, the fire-free interval significantly increased sapling layer stem densities of oaks and competitor species. This research …

Predicting Post-Fire Change In West Virginia, Usa From Remotely-Sensed Data, Michael Strager P. Strager, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Aaron E. Maxwell

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Prescribed burning is used in West Virginia, USA to return the important disturbance process of fire to oak and oak-pine forests. Species composition and structure are often the main goals for re-establishing fire with less emphasis on fuel reduction or reducing catastrophic wildfire. In planning prescribed fires land managers could benefit from the ability to predict mortality to overstory trees. In this study, wildfires and prescribed fires in West Virginia were examined to determine if specific landscape and terrain characteristics were associated with patches of high/moderate post-fire change. Using the ensemble machine learning approach of Random Forest, we determined that …

Forage Availability And Nutritional Carrying Capacity For Cervids Following Prescribed Fire And Herbicide Applications In Young Mixed-Hardwood Forest Stands In The Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee, Jordan Scott Nanney

Masters Theses

I evaluated the influence of timber harvest combined with prescribed fire and/or herbicide in young mixed-hardwood forest on forage availability and nutritional carrying capacity (NCC) for elk (Cervus elaphus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area (WMA), July-August, 2013-15. I combined land cover data, forest management data, field management data, and forage availability data to model summer elk forage availability across the WMA.

I compared forage availability, NCC (animal days/ha) using 12 and 14% crude protein (CP) nutritional constraints, and vegetation composition among 6 young forest treatments, reclaimed surface mines (MINE), and closed-canopy mature forest …

Invasive And Native Plant Response To Fire In A Pennsylvania Piedmont Woodland, Joan M. Welch

Joan Welch

No abstract provided.

Conditions Inside Fisher Dens During Prescribed Fires; What Is The Risk Posed By Spring Underburns?, Craig M. Thompson, Kathryn L. Purcell

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

The use of spring prescribed fires to reduce accumulated fuel loads in western forests and facilitate the return of natural fire regimes is a controversial topic. While spring burns can be effective at reducing fuel loads and restoring heterogeneous landscapes, concerns exist over the potential impacts of unnaturally timed fires to native species. To protect native wildlife from disturbance during critical periods, limited operating periods (LOPs) are often implemented. However when LOPs for multiple species are combined into an integrated management plan, very few time windows for implementing prescribed fires remain. The use of spring burns is often effectively eliminated, …

Restoration Of A Wet Longleaf Pine (Pinus Palustris) Savanna In Southeast Louisiana: Burning Toward Reference Conditions, Alex K. Entrup

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study quantifies the changes in vegetation composition and structure of a fire-excluded Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) wetland savanna restoration site in southeastern in comparison to a proximate contemporary reference site. The restoration site was invaded by hardwood species and off-site pines, and never underwent extensive soil disturbance. The restoration treatments involved logging across portions of the site and the reintroduction of fire across the entire site. All species present in 10m² quadrats were recorded prior to treatment and throughout the 17 year study at reference and treatment sites. The community composition of both logged and unlogged sites converged …

Decadal Scale Responses Of Soil And Ecosystem Processes To Forest Restoration In Rocky Mountain Conifer Forests, Peter Ganzlin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Decades of fire suppression have left much of the forest in the intermountain western United States exceedingly dense, and forest restoration techniques – including thinning and prescribed fire – are increasingly being used in an attempt to mitigate the potentially disastrous effects of severe wildfire, to enhance tree growth and regeneration, and to stimulate soil nutrient cycling. While many of the short-term effects of forest restoration have been established, the long-term effects on soil biogeochemical and ecosystem processes are largely unknown. In this thesis I present two manuscripts documenting and synthesizing these long-term impacts. The first chapter focuses on the …

Wildland Fire In Ecosystems Effects Of Fire On Cultural Resources And Archaeology, Krista Deal, Leaonard Debano, Michael L. Elliot, Charles Haecker, Ann Trinkle Jones, Roger Kelly, Kristine M. Lee, Daniel F. Mccarthy, Elizabeth Oster, Trisha Rude, Samantha M. Ruscava-Barz, Kevin C. Ryan, Nelson Siefkin, Rebecca S. Timmons, John R. Welch

Joint Fire Science Program Synthesis Reports

This state-of-knowledge review provides a synthesis of the effects of fire on cultural resources, which can be used by fire managers, cultural resource (CR) specialists, and archaeologists to more effectively manage wildland vegetation, fuels, and fire. The goal of the volume is twofold: (1) to provide cultural resource/archaeological professionals and policy makers with a primer on fuels, fire behavior, and fire effects to enable them to work more effectively with the fire management community to protect resources during fuels treatment and restoration projects and wildfire suppression activities; and (2) to provide fire and land management professionals and policy makers with …

Invasive And Native Plant Response To Fire In A Pennsylvania Piedmont Woodland, Joan M. Welch

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Canopy And Cultural Treatments On Fine Fuel Production, Fire Behavior, And Short-Term Fire Effects In Loblolly Pine (>I/I< L.) Stands Being Restored To Longleaf Pine (>I/I< Mill.), Carsyn Tennant

All Theses

Across the southeastern United States, anthropogenic factors such as land conversion and fire suppression have resulted in the prevalence of loblolly pine in areas historically occupied by longleaf pine. Compared to longleaf pine forests, loblolly stands often contain a substantial broad-leaved midstory and lack the ground layer that contributes fuels essential for the frequent, low intensity surface fire regime necessary to sustain the longleaf ecosystem. Currently, there is considerable interest in restoring longleaf pine habitats to areas occupied by loblolly pine. The retention of mature canopy trees is often necessary to maintain ecosystem function, to preserve habitat features, and to …

Mitigating Old Tree Mortality In Long-Unburned,Fire-Dependent Forests: A Synthesis, Sharon M. Hood

Joint Fire Science Program Synthesis Reports

This report synthesizes the literature and current state of knowledge pertaining to reintroducing fire in stands where it has been excluded for long periods and the impact of these introductory fires on overstory tree injury and mortality. Only forested ecosystems in the United States that are adapted to survive frequent fire are included. Treatment options that minimize large-diameter and old tree injury and mortality in areas with deep duff and methods to manage and reduce duff accumulations are discussed. Pertinent background information on tree physiology, properties of duff, and historical versus current disturbance regimes are also discussed.

Ecological Effects Of Prescribed Fire Season: A Literature Review And Synthesis For Managers, Eric Knapp, Becky Estes, Carl N. Skinner

JFSP Research Project Reports

Prescribed burning may be conducted at times of the year when fires were infrequent historically, leading to concerns about potential adverse effects on vegetation and wildlife. Historical and prescribed fire regimes for different regions in the continental United States were compared and literature on season of prescribed burning synthesized. In regions and vegetation types where considerable differences in fuel consumption exist among burning seasons, the effects of prescribed fire season appears, for many ecological variables, to be driven more by fire-intensity differences among seasons than by phenology or growth stage of organisms at the time of fire. Where fuel consumption …

Ecological Effects Of Prescribed Fire Season: A Literature Review And Synthesis For Managers, Eric E. Knapp, Becky L. Estes, Carl N. Skinner

Joint Fire Science Program Synthesis Reports

Prescribed burning may be conducted at times of the year when fires were infrequent historically, leading to concerns about potential adverse effects on vegetation and wildlife. Historical and prescribed fire regimes for different regions in the continental United States were compared and literature on season of prescribed burning synthesized. In regions and vegetation types where considerable differences in fuel consumption exist among burning seasons, the effects of prescribed fire season appears, for many ecological variables, to be driven more by fire-intensity differences among seasons than by phenology or growth stage of organisms at the time of fire. Where fuel consumption …

Recreation Visitor Attitudes Towards Management-Ignited Prescribed Fires In The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Montana, Katie Knotek, Alan E. Watson, William T. Borrie, Joshua G. Whitmore, David Turner

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Research at the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex in Montana explored differences in recreation visitors’ attitudes towards the use of management-ignited prescribed fires in the wilderness. A mail-back survey of visitors (n = 291) during the 2004 season revealed that over half of visitors would accept prescribed fires in wilderness. This support did not vary by ignition purpose: (a) to restore the natural role of fire or (b) to reduce hazardous fuels and potential for fire escaping to non-wilderness lands. Local visitors, however, were significantly more accepting of prescribed fires than non-local visitors across both ignition purposes. A smaller proportion …

A Comprehensive Guide To Fuels Treatment Fractices For Ponderosa Pine In The Black Hills, Colorado Front Range, And Southwest, M. E. Hunter, W. D. Shepperd, L. B. Lentile, J. E. Lundquist, M. G. Andreu, J. L. Butler, F. W. Smith

JFSP Research Project Reports

The objective of this paper is to present recommendations for fuels treatments in ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest, Colorado Front Range, and Black Hills of South Dakota. We have synthesized existing knowledge from the peer-reviewed literature and administrative studies and acquired local knowledge through a series of discussions with fuels treatment practitioners. We describe specific treatments, the circumstances under which they can be applied, and treatment effects. We provide recommendations related to where, how, and how often fuels treatments may be prescribed to achieve desired outcomes. Desired outcomes address social, political, economic, and ecological factors.

A Comprehensive Guide To Fuels Treatment Practices For Ponderosa Pine In The Black Hills, Colorado Front Range, And Southwest, M. E. Hunter, W. E. Shepperd, L. B. Lentile, J. E. Lundquist, M. G. Andreu, J. L. Butler, F. W. Smith

Joint Fire Science Program Synthesis Reports

The objective of this paper is to present recommendations for fuels treatments in ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest, Colorado Front Range, and Black Hills of South Dakota. We have synthesized existing knowledge from the peer-reviewed literature and administrative studies and acquired local knowledge through a series of discussions with fuels treatment practitioners. We describe specific treatments, the circumstances under which they can be applied, and treatment effects. We provide recommendations related to where, how, and how often fuels treatments may be prescribed to achieve desired outcomes. Desired outcomes address social, political, economic, and ecological factors.

The Effects Of Prescribed Fire On The Herbaceous Layer In The Southern Appalachian Mountains., Michael Lee Zimmerman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prescribed fire in the southern Appalachians is a frequently used and controversial forest management practice. Research is limited on the effects of prescribed fire in the mesic southern Appalachians, where many of Tennessee's rare and regionally endemic plant species occur. This study examined the effects of prescribed fire on the herbaceous layer. Field work was conducted on six previously burned sites within the Cherokee National Forest in northeast Tennessee. Complimentary non-burned sites were selected based on similarity of physical characteristics and forest structure. The numbers of herbaceous species and individuals and the total numbers of species and individuals were determined …