Long-term interdisciplinary research on the Goosenest Adaptive Management Area, Klamath National Forest, California

1999 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Ritchie ◽  
K. A. Harcksen
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Management ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Mixed Stands ◽  
Treatment Unit ◽  
White Fir ◽  
Management Area

The Goosenest Adaptive Management Area (AMA) was established on the Klamath National Forest in northern California in 1994. The AMA was created to encourage development and testing of management strategies so as to improve the planning and implementation of management activities on the National Forest. A primary objective for the Goosenest AMA is to evaluate the extent to which different silvicultural treatments (specifically tree harvesting and prescribed fire) can accelerate development of late-successional forest attributes in mixed stands of ponderosa pine and white fir. A long-term research project was initiated to evaluate changes in response to a suite of treatments. Treatments include two different thinning regimes, prescribed fire, and a control. Treatments are applied to 40 ha units and are each replicated five times. Interdisciplinary research is facilitated by a permanently monumented data reference system. Within each treatment unit, permanent reference points are established on a 100-meter grid with accuracy to 15 cm. In addition to monitoring vegetative changes over time, researchers are also monitoring response of passerine birds and small mammals to the treatments. Key words: interior ponderosa pine, white fir, thinning, prescribed fire

scholarly journals Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Effects on Forest Floor Properties and Erosion Potential in the Central Appalachian Region, USA

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 493
Author(s):  
Emma Georgia Thompson ◽  
Thomas Adam Coates ◽  
Wallace Michael Aust ◽  
Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Appalachian Region ◽  
Litter Depth ◽  
Burned Forest

Short- and long-term impacts of wildland fires on forest floor properties and erosion potential were examined at three locations in the Central Appalachian region, U.S.A. In 2018, two wildfires were investigated within six months of burning on the George Washington–Jefferson National Forest (GWJNF) in Bland County, Virginia and the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) in Grant County, West Virginia. An additional wildfire was studied eight years post-fire on the Fishburn Forest (FF) in Montgomery County, Virginia. A 2018 prescribed fire was also studied within six months of burning on the MNF in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Litter and duff consumption were examined to evaluate fire severity and char heights were measured to better understand fire intensity. The Universal Soil Loss Equation for forestlands (USLE-Forest) was utilized to estimate potential erosion values. For the 2018 comparisons, litter depth was least as a result of the wildfires on both the MNF and GWJNF (p < 0.001). Wildfire burned duff depths in 2018 did not differ from unburned duff depths on either the MNF or GWJNF. Eight years after the FF wildfire, post-fire litter depth was less than that of an adjacent non-burned forest (p = 0.29) and duff depth was greater than that of an adjacent non-burned forest (p = 0.76). Mean GWJNF wildfire char heights were greatest of all disturbance regimes at 10.0 m, indicating high fire intensity, followed by the MNF wildfire and then the MNF prescribed fire. USLE-Forest potential erosion estimates were greatest on the MNF wildfire at 21.6 Mg soil ha−1 year−1 due to slope steepness. The next largest USLE-Forest value was 6.9 Mg soil ha−1 year−1 on the GWJNF wildfire. Both the prescribed fire and the 2010 wildfire USLE-Forest values were approximately 0.00 Mg soil ha−1 year−1. Implications for potential long-term soil erosion resulting from similar wildfires in Central Appalachian forests appeared to be minimal given the 2010 wildfire results.

scholarly journals Short- and long-term effects of ponderosa pine fuel treatments intersected by the Egley Fire Complex, Oregon, USA

Fire Ecology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie M. Dodge ◽  
Eva K. Strand ◽  
Andrew T. Hudak ◽  
Benjamin C. Bright ◽  
Darcy H. Hammond ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Tree Density ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Fuel Treatments ◽  
Dead Tree ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
One Year

Abstract Background Fuel treatments are widely used to alter fuels in forested ecosystems to mitigate wildfire behavior and effects. However, few studies have examined long-term ecological effects of interacting fuel treatments (commercial harvests, pre-commercial thinnings, pile and burning, and prescribed fire) and wildfire. Using annually fitted Landsat satellite-derived Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) curves and paired pre-fire treated and untreated field sites, we tested changes in the differenced NBR (dNBR) and years since treatment as predictors of biophysical attributes one and nine years after the 2007 Egley Fire Complex in Oregon, USA. We also assessed short- and long-term fuel treatment impacts on field-measured attributes one and nine years post fire. Results One-year post-fire burn severity (dNBR) was lower in treated than in untreated sites across the Egley Fire Complex. Annual NBR trends showed that treated sites nearly recovered to pre-fire values four years post fire, while untreated sites had a slower recovery rate. Time since treatment and dNBR significantly predicted tree canopy and understory green vegetation cover in 2008, suggesting that tree canopy and understory vegetation cover increased in areas that were treated recently pre fire. Live tree density was more affected by severity than by pre-fire treatment in either year, as was dead tree density one year post fire. In 2008, neither treatment nor severity affected percent cover of functional groups (shrub, graminoid, forb, invasive, and moss–lichen–fungi); however, by 2016, shrub, graminoid, forb, and invasive cover were higher in high-severity burn sites than in low-severity burn sites. Total fuel loads nine years post fire were higher in untreated, high-severity burn sites than any other sites. Tree canopy cover and density of trees, saplings, and seedlings were lower nine years post fire than one year post fire across treatments and severity, whereas live and dead tree basal area, understory surface cover, and fuel loads increased. Conclusions Pre-fire fuel treatments effectively lowered the occurrence of high-severity wildfire, likely due to successful pre-fire tree and sapling density and surface fuels reduction. This study also quantified the changes in vegetation and fuels from one to nine years post fire. We suggest that low-severity wildfire can meet prescribed fire management objectives of lowering surface fuel accumulations while not increasing overstory tree mortality.

Reproductive output of ponderosa pine in response to thinning and prescribed burning in western Montana

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 844-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Peters ◽  
Anna Sala
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Western Montana ◽  
Cone Production

Thinning and thinning followed by prescribed fire are common management practices intended to restore historic conditions in low-elevation ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) forests of the northern Rocky Mountains. While these treatments generally ameliorate the physiology and growth of residual trees, treatment-specific effects on reproductive output are not known. We examined reproductive output of second-growth ponderosa pine in western Montana 9 years after the application of four treatments: thinning, thinning followed by spring prescribed fire, thinning followed by fall prescribed fire, and unthinned control stands. Field and greenhouse observations indicated that reproductive traits vary depending on the specific management treatment. Cone production was significantly higher in trees from all actively managed stands relative to control trees. Trees subjected to prescribed fire produced cones with higher numbers of filled seeds than trees in unburned treatments. Seed mass, percentage germination, and seedling biomass were significantly lower for seeds from trees in spring burn treatments relative to all others and were generally higher in trees from fall burn treatments. We show for the first time that thinning and prescribed-burning treatments can influence reproductive output in ponderosa pine.

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