Research Accomplishment Reports 2007

Prescribed Fire in the Southern Appalachians: Stand Structure, Oak Seedlings, and Fuel

M.A. Arthur
Department of Forestry

 

Project Description

Fire has been an important disturbance agent in our forests for thousands of years, and is thought to have been integral to the long-term development of upland oak forests in the Appalachian region and beyond. Starting in the 1930s fire suppression was initiated as a control measure to limit the negative impacts of fire on forest stands. Although seemingly necessary at the time, recent evidence suggests some negative effects on forest stand structure and species composition resulting from this policy of fire suppression.

This project builds on ten years of research examining the potential role of carefully prescribed fire in the management of stand structure, light availability and tree seedling success, and fuel reduction and accumulation. Prescribed fires have been implemented as part of this study in 2003, 2004 and 2006; data collection on study sites in the Daniel Boone National Forest is ongoing. The publication of a paper (in press) describing the effects of prescribed fire on fuel reduction is an important contribution to the regional dialogue regarding the effectiveness of fires in this region in reducing the potential for unplanned wildfires. Similarly important long term datasets are under development that will describe impacts of burning versus fire exclusion on seedling survival and growth and damage to residual trees.

These components of the research are of interest and importance to forest managers as they plan ongoing and future burning programs across large acreages of public land. In some cases, evidence we have gathered to date does not strongly suggest that prescribed fire can accomplish management objectives, perhaps because fire is an imprecise management tool whose effects unfold over long time periods.

As this works comes to fruition, there are multiple opportunities to disseminate our findings in various trainings, presentations and workshops. During 2007, results were communicated at the 2nd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference in Destin Florida, the Nature Conservancy's Rx-310 Introduction to Fire Effects class in London Kentucky, through the Central Appalachian Fire Learning Network, the Scientific Foundations of Conservation Planning in the Cumberland Plateau and Mountains Conference in Knoxville, TN, and to the US Forest Service Daniel Boone National Forest Management Team, among other venues.

Impact

Experimentation to test the effectiveness of prescribed fire in achieving management objectives articulated by forest managers is very limited throughout the region, and yet necessary to the development of forest and fire management in the southern Appalachian region. Researchers in the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry are collaborating with USDA Forest Service researchers and managers to examine the effects of annual and infrequent prescribed fire on forest stand structure, seedling response, and fuel consumption on a landscape scale on the Daniel Boone National Forest.

This project includes an important outreach component and is contributing to the regional dialogue on hardwood forest management using prescribed fire. Data is made available to land managers who are actively implementing prescribed fires across the landscape through periodic meetings and dissemination of research results. Results of this research are being used in forestry extension activities, including bi-annual training sessions for the US Forest Service Program of Advanced Silvicultural Studies (PASS), Mountain Module. Dissemination of research results to forest managers may lead to the development of realistic goals for short and longterm forest burning to achieve specific management goals.

Publications

Blum, J.D., A.A. Dasch, S.P. Hamburg, R.D. Yanai and M.A. Arthur. 2008. Use of foliar Ca/Sr discrimination and 87Sr/86Sr ratios to determine soil Ca sources to sugar maple foliage in a northern hardwood forest. Biogeochemistry (in press).

Hancock, J.E., M.A. Arthur, K.C. Weathers and G.M. Lovett. 2008. Aboveground net primary production and total belowground carbon allocation along a gradient of beech bark disease impact in the Catskill Mountains, New York. Canadian Journal of Forest Research (in press).

Loucks, E., M.A. Arthur, J.E. Lyons and D.L. Loftis. 2008. Characterization of fuel before and after a single prescribed fire in an Appalachian hardwood forest. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry (in press).

Templer, P.H., M.A. Arthur, G.M. Lovett, and K.C. Weathers. 2007. Plant and 15N: Indicators of relative rates of nitrogen cycling indsoil natural abundance  temperate forest ecosystems. Oecologia 153: 399-406.

Binkley, D., D.M. Kashian, S.Boyden, M.W. Kaye, J.B. Bradford, M.A. Arthur, P.J. Fornwalt, M.G. Ryan. 2006. Patterns of growth dominance in forests of the Rocky Mountains, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 263:193-201.

Alexander, H. D. and Arthur, M. A. 2007. Interspecific differences in N mineralization rates and stemflow chemistry among red maple and upland oaks. Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA.

Alexander, H. D., Arthur, M., Loftis, D., and S. Green. 2007. Landscape-level assessment of prescribed fire effects on oak regeneration. 2nd Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference - The Fire Environment - Innovation, Management, and Policy, Destin, FL.

Royse, J.P.; Arthur, M.A.; Loftis, D.L. 2007. Prescribed fires affect seedling establishment and survival in a central Appalachian forest. Poster presentation. 2nd fire behavior and fuels conference: the fire environment-innovations, management, and policy. Destin, Florida. March 26-30.

Alexander, H.D. and M.A. Arthur. 2007. Interspecific differences in stemflow chemistry and N mineralization among red maple and upland oaks. Abstracts of the 91st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA, August 2007.

Poulette, M.M. and M.A. Arthur. 2007. Single-tree effects of savanna trees and influence of invasive species on soil nitrogen cycling. Abstracts of the 91st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA, August 2007.

Weand, M.P., M.A. Arthur, G.M. Lovett, and K.C. Weathers. 2007. Effects of tree species and nitrogen fertilization on soil phosphorus concentrations. Abstracts of the 91st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA, August 2007.

Yanai, R.D., M.A. Arthur, M. Acker, and B.B. Park. 2007. Variation in mass and nutrient concentration of leaf litter across years and stands in New Hampshire northern hardwoods. Abstracts of the 91st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA, August 2007.