Fuel reduction treatments affect stand structure of hardwood forests in Western North Carolina and Southern Ohio, USA

Waldrop, Thomas A.; Yaussy, Daniel A.; Phillips, Ross J.; Hutchinson, Todd F.; Brudnak, Lucy; Boerner, Ralph E. J.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.11.010

Cited by 71 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…A single lowintensity fire after an extended fire-free period (e.g., >20 years) often causes little damage to oak's competitors because they have grown large enough in diameter and in bark thickness to be fairly fire resistant (Hutchinson et al 2005b, Waldrop et al 2008. Harmon (1984) estimated that red maple could grow large enough and have thick enough bark in 23 years to have a 50 percent chance of surviving a low intensity fire.…”

Section: Saplingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most reported ambiguous effects (Franklin et al 2003, McGee et al 1995, Merritt and Pope 1991 on the oak reproduction with some showing positive outcomes (Barnes andVan Lear 1998, Schuler et al 2013) and a few showing negative outcomes (Arthur et al 1998, Luken andShea 2000). Two oak sites that were part of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate Project illustrate this confusion as they report differing outcomes between sites as well as among topographic positions (Iverson et al 2008, Waldrop et al 2008). …”

Section: Dual Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The oak sites from the National Fire and Fire Surrogates Project were used to examine the responses of hardwood reproduction and many other variables to prescribed fire and mechanical fuel reduction treatments in western North Carolina and southern Ohio (Waldrop et al 2008). Dormant season strip-heading fires were conducted twice at both sites with and without a mechanical treatment.…”

Section: Dual Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The burn-only treatment changed stand structure by reducing the sapling/shrub layer, but it did little to thin the overstory. Iverson et al (2008) used the same study area in Ohio as Waldrop et al (2008) to compare treatment impacts as they varied across different positions of the landscape. Study plots in Ohio were larger than those in North Carolina (50 acres vs. 20 acres) thus allowing a comparison of treatment impacts across dry and mesic sites.…”

Section: Dual Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prescribed burning alone generally produces increases in herbaceous species coverage and richness when trying to restore oak savannas from mature forests conditions, but improvements are most dramatic where the overstory is opened up either by the fire or companion thinning/harvesting operations (Hutchinson 2006 2005b, Kinkead et al 2013, Waldrop et al 2008. Even without fire, positive short-term responses in herbaceous richness and coverage have been achieved by timber harvesting (Kinkead et al 2013, Zenner et al 2006.…”

Section: Oak Savannasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The fireoak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

Brose¹,

Dey²,

Waldrop³

2014

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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, oak's 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.

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Section: Saplingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dual Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dual Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dual Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Oak Savannasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The fireoak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

Brose¹,

Dey²,

Waldrop³

2014

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Sustaining eastern oak forests: Synergistic effects of fire and topography on vegetation and fuels

Hutchinson,

Adams,

Dickinson

et al. 2024

Ecological Applications

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Across much of the eastern United States, oak forests are undergoing mesophication as shade‐tolerant competitors become more abundant and suppress oak regeneration. Given the historical role of anthropogenic surface fires in promoting oak dominance, prescribed fire has become important in efforts to reverse mesophication and sustain oaks. In 2000 we established the Ohio Hills Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) study to examine whether repeated prescribed fire (Fire), mechanical partial harvest (Mech), and their combined application (Mech + Fire) reduced the dominance of subcanopy mesophytic competitors, increased the abundance of large oak–hickory advance regeneration, created a more diverse and productive ground‐layer flora, and produced fuel beds more conducive to prescribed fire, reducing the risk of high‐severity wildfire. Here we report on the ~20‐year effects of treatments on vegetation and fuels and examine the support for interactive effects across a topographic‐moisture and energy gradient. In general, we found that Fire and Mech + Fire treatments tended to reverse mesophication while the Mech‐only treatment did not. The moderate and occasionally high‐intensity fires resulted in effects that were ultimately very similar between the two fire treatments but were modulated by topography with increasing fire severity on drier sites. In particular, we found support for an interaction effect between treatment and topography on forest structure and tree regeneration responses. Fire generally reduced mesophytic tree density in the midstory and sapling strata across all site conditions, while leading to substantial gains in the abundance of large oak–hickory advance regeneration on dry and intermediate landscape positions. Fire also promoted ground‐layer diversity and created compositionally distinct communities across all site conditions, primarily through the increased richness of native perennial herbs. However, the fire had limited effects on fine surface fuel loading and increased the loading of large woody fuels, potentially increasing the risk of high‐severity wildfire during drought conditions. We conclude that two decades of repeated fires, with and without mechanical density reduction, significantly shifted the trajectory of mesophication across most of the landscape, particularly on dry and intermediate sites, highlighting the capacity of a periodic fire regime to sustain eastern oak forests and promote plant diversity but modulated by topography.

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Long‐term response of oak‐hickory regeneration to partial harvest and repeated fires: influence of light and moisture

et al. 2017

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Abstract. By tracking oak-hickory (Quercus-Carya) regeneration for 13 yr across management-manipulated light and topographically driven moisture gradients after partial harvest and three prescribed fires, we document best-case conditions to promote advanced oak regeneration, and thereby provide a promising management tool to reverse the downward spiral in oak that plagues much of the Central Hardwoods within the eastern United States. This study was established in 2000 to assess regeneration following prescribed fire (spring of 2001, 2005, and 2010) in combination with partial harvest (late 2000) across two sites in southern Ohio. Each of the four 20+ ha treatment units (two partial harvest and burn, two controls) were modeled and mapped for long-term moisture regime using the Integrated Moisture Index (IMI) , and a 50-m grid of sampling points established throughout the units. Vegetation and light were sampled at each gridpoint before and after treatments, in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2013. The partial harvest and burn treatments generally had more light which resulted in an increased number of oak stems. The fires promoted heterogeneity (pyrodiversity) in tree mortality and light availability, and consequently oakhickory regeneration, mostly following IMI patterns with the drier portions of the landscape having more fire, more light penetration, and greater regeneration compared to moist locations. Several other species also had marked variations in numbers and size throughout this period, depending on landscape variation in fire intensity and moisture regimes. These included Acer rubrum and Liriodendron tulipifera which expanded initially then collapsed after repeated fire, and Sassafras albidum which continued to flourish on dry sites. Based on this study, we recommend for topographically appropriate dry and intermediate sites, a partial harvest followed by two or three dormant-season fires (depending on fire intensity) allowing roughly 6-18% light to penetrate the forest floor. This will promote oak-hickory into the advanced oak regeneration status. Then, following a hiatus from burning for some years to further advance oak-hickory growth without topkill, some proportion of oaks and hickories can be expected to advance to the canopy following natural disturbance or harvest of current canopy. On mesic sites, though treatments demonstrated here do improve oak-hickory regeneration, the relative cost to benefit would be high.

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Fuel reduction treatments affect stand structure of hardwood forests in Western North Carolina and Southern Ohio, USA

Cited by 71 publications

References 25 publications

The fireoak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

The fireoak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

Sustaining eastern oak forests: Synergistic effects of fire and topography on vegetation and fuels

Long‐term response of oak‐hickory regeneration to partial harvest and repeated fires: influence of light and moisture

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Fuel reduction treatments affect stand structure of hardwood forests in Western North Carolina and Southern Ohio, USA

Cited by 71 publications

References 25 publications

The fire&#151;oak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

The fire&#151;oak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

Sustaining eastern oak forests: Synergistic effects of fire and topography on vegetation and fuels

Long‐term response of oak‐hickory regeneration to partial harvest and repeated fires: influence of light and moisture

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The fireoak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines

The fireoak literature of eastern North America: synthesis and guidelines