Patrick H. Brose

Using shelterwood harvests and prescribed fire to regenerate oak stands on productive upland sites

Regenerating oak stands on productive upland sites in the Piedmont region is a major problem because of intense competition from yellow-poplar. As a potential solution to this problem, we tested the hypothesis that a shelterwood harvest of an oak-dominated stand, followed several years later by a prescribed fire, would adequately regenerate the stand. Three oak-dominated stands, in which shelterwood harvests had been conducted several years earlier, were each divided into spring burn, summer burn, winter burn, and control treatments. Three years after the prescribed fires, oak had higher density and stocking in burned as compared to unburned areas while yellow-poplar had its highest density and stocking in the controls. Season-of-burn interacted with fire intensity to create several probable outcomes of stand development. Areas treated with high-intensity fire during the spring will develop into oak-dominated stands after just one burn. Controls and areas treated with low-intensity fire will become dominated by yellow-poplar. Other combinations of fire intensity and season-of-burn will produce mixed hardwood stands with varying proportions of oak. Combining shelterwood harvesting with prescribed fire appears to be a viable method for regenerating oak stands on productive upland sites in the Piedmont region and may be applicable elsewhere.

Potential fire behavior in pine flatwood forests following three different fuel reduction techniques

Abstract A computer modeling study to determine the potential fire behavior in pine flatwood forests following three fuel hazard reduction treatments: herbicide, prescribed fire and thinning was conducted in Florida following the 1998 wildfire season. Prescribed fire provided immediate protection but this protection quickly disappeared as the rough recovered. Thinning had a similar effect on fireline intensity. Herbicides produced a dramatic decrease in fireline intensity from year 2 to 6 but had little effect on fire severity, thus increasing the likehood of root kill resulting in tree death if wildfire occurs during drought conditions. Treatment combinations, such as thinning and herbicide may provide immediate and long-term fireline intensity reductions as long as forest managers take into account each alternative’s strengths and weaknesses.

Prescribing regeneration treatments for mixed-oak forests in the Mid-Atlantic region

Includes guidelines for using the SILVAH decision-support system to perpetuate oak forests in the Mid-Atlantic region. Six chapters provide information on values of oak forests, inventory methods, key decision variables, decision charts, and silvicultural prescriptions, as well as guidance on fostering young stands. Sample tally sheets and SILVAH computer printouts are included in the Appendix.

Fire and the origin of Table Mountain pine - pitch pine communities in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA

The prevalence of stand-replacing fire in the formation of Table Mountain pine - pitch pine (Pinus pungens Lamb. and Pinus rigida Mill., respectively) communities was investigated with dendrochronological techniques. Nine stands in Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee were analyzed for age structure, species recruitment trends, and radial growth patterns to determine whether they had originated as a result of stand-replacing fires. The oldest pines date from the late 1700s or early 1800s. Continuous or frequent episodic pine regeneration from those times to the early to mid 1900s was evident at all sites. During the first half of the 20th century, all sites experienced large surges in pine regeneration. However, no clear evidence of stand-replacing wildfires could be definitively linked to these surges. Rather, the regeneration appeared to have been caused by noncatastrophic surface fires and canopy disturbances occurring together or by the cessation of a frequent fire regime. For the past 25-50 years, there has been little pine regeneration at any of the sites. Restoring the dual disturbance regime of periodic fires and canopy disturbances should help sustain Table Mountain pine - pitch pine communities in southern Appalachian Mountains landscapes.

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems Effects of Fire on Flora

____________________________________ Brown, James K.; Smith, Jane Kapler, eds. 2000. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on flora. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 2. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 257 p. This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on flora and fuels can assist land managers with ecosystem and fire management planning and in their efforts to inform others about the ecological role of fire. Chapter topics include fire regime classification, autecological effects of fire, fire regime characteristics and postfire plant community developments in ecosystems throughout the United States and Canada, global climate change, ecological principles of fire regimes, and practical considerations for managing fire in an ecosytem context.

Oak regeneration using the shelterwood-burn technique: management options and implications for songbird conservation in the southeastern United States

Shelterwood silviculture is commonly used to regenerate oaks in upland stands. However, competition from other species such as tulip-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) may deter oak regeneration when these traditional shelterwood techniques are used. The shelterwood-burn technique is a relatively new tool for regenerating oak-dominated stands on some upland sites while simultaneously minimizing undesirable hardwood intrusion with prescribed fire. Once successful oak regeneration has been achieved, three options are available which will result in different vegetative structure and composition within a stand and subsequently different habitats for songbirds. These options are: complete or partial canopy retention, post-harvest prescribed burning and complete canopy removal. Canopy retention, burning and removal treatments will create, respectively, two-age stands that are likely to harbor a diverse mixture of mature forest and early successional species; park-like woodlands with open woodland species; or early-successional habitats with shrubland species. We suggest that shelterwood-burn systems and the management options associated with them offer viable alternatives for managing both songbird and timber resources where oak-dominated stands are the desired goal in upland southeastern sites.

The fireoak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

Guidelines for using prescribed fire to regenerate and restore upland oak forests, woodlands, and savannas in eastern North America were developed by synthesizing the results of more than 100 scientific publications. The first four chapters provide background information on the values of oak ecosystems, eastern fire history, oaks adaptations to fire, and the findings of fire-oak research conducted over the past 50 years. The final chapter synthesizes that background information into guidelines that explain how to use prescribed fire to facilitate oak seedling establishment, release oak reproduction from competing mesophytic hardwoods, and rehabilitate open oak woodlands, oak savannas, and scrub oak communities. A reference section is also provided for readers desiring to delve more deeply into the associations between periodic fire and oak forests, woodlands, and savannas.

Residual overstory density affects survival and growth of sheltered oak seedlings on the Allegheny Plateau

When unplanned major disturbances affect desirable mixed-oak forests, both the amount of time and viable options available for influencing the composition of postdisturbance regeneration are reduced greatly. We evaluated the use of tree shelters to protect planted northern red oak seedlings following salvage logging that resulted in a range of residual stand densities. This practice was common on the Allegheny National Forest in the early 1990?s following widespread gypsy moth defoliation and subsequent mortality. A better understanding of this practice will enhance efforts to implement artificial regeneration of oak after unplanned major disturbance due to insects and diseases or factors such as storm damage.

Fire history reflects human history in the Pine Creek Gorge of north-central Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT Fire history studies are important tools for understanding past fire regimes and the roles humans played in those regimes. Beginning in 2010, we conducted a fire history study in the Pine Creek Gorge area of north-central Pennsylvania to ascertain the number of fires and fire-free intervals, their variability through time, and the role of human influences. We collected 93 cross sections from fire-scarred red pine (Pinus resinosa) snags, stumps, and living trees at three separate sites along the western rim of Pine Creek Gorge. From these, we found 79 fire years and 11 multidecadal fire-free intervals between 1600 and 2010. The three fire histories were quite synchronous; their fire years and fire-free periods mirrored one another despite being 12 to 14 km apart. Before 1791, fires were rare, suggesting a low population of American Indians and (or) little woodland burning by the tribes. A prolonged fire-free interval from 1650 to 1735 coincided with the Beaver Wars and the introduction of European diseases. Another fire-free period coincided with the American Revolutionary War. After that, fires became quite common with nearly all of them occurring within the next 125 years while Pine Creek Gorge was intensively logged. Since logging ended and fire control started in the 1910s, fires have been virtually absent from the three sites. Based on the fire and human histories, we conclude that human activities and culture are the driving forces behind the fire regimes of Pine Creek Gorge.

Restoring Fire-Adapted Forests in Eastern North America for Biodiversity Conservation and Hazardous Fuels Reduction

Fire-adapted ecosystems have degraded over the past 100 years as fuel accumulation and changes in species composition have resulted from fire suppression and altered disturbance regimes. Species that are dependent on or adapted to fire are in decline as fire intolerant species become established, altering stand structure, species diversity, fire susceptibility and fire behavior, nutrient cycling, and other ecosystem properties. Efforts to understand the effects of these changes on fire-adapted communities and to restore biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, through the re-introduction of fire and (or) the use of alternative silvicultural techniques for hazard fuel reduction, are important issues for land managers. These topics and other associated challenges as they are related to fire-adapted forests in eastern North America are discussed in this chapter. In general, re-introduction of fire alone provided mixed results for obtaining restoration goals. Silvicultural treatments can be used in some situations where fire may not be a feasible option (e.g. wildland urban interface), but these treatments do not provide ecosystem functions associated with fire.