Predicted Crown Fire Risk Adds Incentive to Restore Open-Canopy Pine Barrens at the Wildland-Urban Interface

Abstract

Thinning forest to restore fire-dependent, open-canopy pine barrens is important for promoting shrubland and young forest biodiversity and wildlife habitat and to mitigate chances for extreme fire behavior. Crown fire potential at the wildland-urban interface is a concern in northeastern (USA) pine barrens which contain extremely volatile fuels adjacent to densely populated areas. We used the Crown Fire Initiation and Spread simulator to model pitch pine (Pinus rigida) crown fire potential under simulated stand density reductions to help develop strategies for long-term management and conservation of pine barrens communities. Empirical data for model inputs were collected from pitch pine stands at the Albany Pine Bush (New York State, USA). Canopy structure, surface fuel moisture, and wind speed were used to predict crown fire occurrence, type (active vs. passive), and rate-of-spread. At winds > 20 km hr −1 and ≤ 9% fine fuel moisture, passive crown fire probabilities exceed 60%, and one stand near sensitive human infrastructure appears vulnerable to active crowning. Simulations suggest thinning to < 50 trees ha −1 , 10-30% mean canopy cover, or about 5-10 m 2 ha −1 basal area to minimize crown fire threat and restore ecologically high-quality pine barrens.

Mapping edaphic soils' conditions to identify conservation targets for pine barren and sandplain ecosystems in New York State

“…A variety of projects in New York and surrounding states have successfully applied such management tools as removing tree cover, managing disturbances through mechanical harvest, fire, and selective grazing, and reintroducing key plant and animal species (Albany Pine Bush Commission, 2017 ; Beattie et al, 2017 ; Bried et al, 2015 ; Malcolm et al, 2008 ; Pfitsch & Williams, 2009 ; B. Hawthorne, personal communication). For example, removal of white pine trees at Rome Sand Plains boosted the populations of wild blue lupine plants and the threatened frosted elfin butterfly (Pfitsch & Williams, 2009 ).…”

Biological soil crusts inhibit seed germination in a temperate pine barren ecosystem

“…Areas of the APB were invaded by the non-native black locust tree ( Robinia pseudoacacia ) in the latter 20 th Century and subsequently restored with mechanical removal of locust stems and roots [29]. Both native pine-oak scrub and areas from which black locust trees have been removed are managed using prescribed fire [30].…”

Temperate biocrusts: mesic counterparts to their better‐known dryland cousins

“…Today, prescribed fire (Little 1998; Sedia and Ehrenfeld 2005; Bried et al . 2015), grazing (Langhans et al . 2009; Büdel et al .…”

“…Considerable effort and resources are expended annually to manage these systems as open, early‐successional ecosystems, including the use of prescribed fire (Little 1998; Bried et al . 2015), invasive species management (Malcolm et al . 2008), and restoration of degraded sites (Koster 2009; Pfitsch and Williams 2009; Büdel et al .…”