Prescribed burning and mechanical thinning effects on belowground conditions and soil respiration in a mixed-conifer forest, California

2009 ◽  
Vol 257 (4) ◽  
pp. 1324-1332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soung-Ryoul Ryu ◽  
Amy Concilio ◽  
Jiquan Chen ◽  
Malcolm North ◽  
Siyan Ma
Keyword(s):  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Mechanical Thinning

scholarly journals Comparing Modeled Emissions from Wildfire and Prescribed Burning of Post-Thinning Fuel: A Case Study of the 2016 Pioneer Fire

Fire ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Josh Hyde ◽  
Eva K. Strand
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Fuel Treatments ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest

Prescribed fire is often used by land managers as an effective means of implementing fuel treatments to achieve a variety of goals. Smoke generated from these activities can put them at odds with air quality regulations. We set out to characterize the emission tradeoff between wildfire and prescribed fire in activity fuels from thinning in a case study of mixed conifer forest within the Boise National Forest in central Idaho. Custom fuelbeds were developed using information from the forest and emissions were modeled and compared for four scenarios, as follows: Untreated fuels burned in wildfire (UNW), prescribed fire in activity fuels left from thinning (TRX), a wildfire ignited on the post-treatment landscape (PTW), and the combined emissions from TRX followed by PTW (COM). The modeled mean total emissions from TRX were approximately 5% lower, compared to UNW, and between 2–46% lower for individual pollutants. The modeled emissions from PTW were approximately 70% lower than UNW. For the COM scenario, emissions were not significantly different from the UNW scenario for any pollutants, but for CO2. However, for the COM scenario, cumulative emissions would have been comprised of two events occurring at separate times, each with lower emissions than if they occurred at once.

Short-Term Effects of Experimental Burning and Thinning on Soil Respiration in an Old-Growth, Mixed-Conifer Forest

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyan Ma ◽  
Jiquan Chen ◽  
Malcolm North ◽  
Heather E. Erickson ◽  
Mary Bresee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Short Term Effects

Short-term effects of fire and forest thinning on truffle abundance and consumption by Neotamias speciosus in the Sierra Nevada of California

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1061-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc D Meyer ◽  
Malcolm P North ◽  
Douglas A Kelt
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Randomized Design ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Mechanical Thinning

In many western North American forests, prescribed burning and mechanical thinning are widely used to reduce fuels and restore stand conditions after a century of fire suppression. Few studies have followed the relative impacts of these treatments on the production and consumption of truffles in forest ecosystems, particularly in the Sierra Nevada of California. Using a full-factorial completely randomized design, we examined the short-term impacts of prescribed burning (no burn and burn), mechanical thinning (no thin, light thin, and heavy thin), and combinations of these treatments on the production of truffles and their consumption by lodgepole chipmunks (Neotamias speciosus Merriam) in a mixed-conifer forest of the southern Sierra Nevada of California. Truffle frequency, biomass, and species richness were lower in thinned or burned plots than controls, as was the frequency and generic richness of truffles in the diet of N. speciosus. Truffle frequency, biomass, and species richness, and truffle consumption by N. speciosus were lower in heavily thinned and thinned and burned plots than in those exclusively burned. These results suggest that either thinning or burning can reduce short-term truffle production and consumption, and potentially the dispersal of ectomycorrhizal spores by small mammals. Moreover, truffles decreased with treatment intensity, suggesting heavy thinning and higher burn intensity, particularly when applied together, can significantly affect short-term truffle abundance and small mammal consumption.

scholarly journals Do forest fuel reduction treatments confer resistance to beetle infestation and drought mortality?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Steel ◽  
Marissa Goodwin ◽  
Marc Meyer ◽  
G. Andrew Fricker ◽  
Harold Zald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Fuels Reduction ◽  
Jeffrey Pine ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest ◽  
Treatment Type ◽  
Sugar Pine ◽  
Mechanical Thinning

Climate change is amplifying the frequency and severity of droughts and wildfires in many forests. In the western U.S., fuels reduction treatments, both mechanical and prescribed fire, are widely used to increase resilience to wildfire but their effect on resistance to drought and beetle mortality is not as well understood. We followed more than 10,000 mapped and tagged trees in a mixed-conifer forest following mechanical thinning and/or prescribed burning treatments in 2001 through the extreme 2012-2016 drought in California. Mortality varied by tree species from 3% of incense-cedar to 38% of red fir with proportionally higher mortality rates in the larger size classes for sugar pine, red fir and white fir. Treatment reductions in stem density were associated with increased diameter growth and rapidly growing trees had lower rates of mortality. However, the ultimate effects of treatment on drought-related mortality varied greatly by treatment type. All species had neutral to reduced mortality rates following mechanical thinning alone, but treatments that included prescribed burning increased beetle infestation rates and increased mortality of red fir and sugar pine. Fuels reduction treatments appear to benefit some species such as Jeffrey pine, but can reduce resistance to extreme drought and beetle outbreaks in other species when treatments include prescribed burning. In a non-analog future, fuels reduction treatments may require modification to provide resistance to beetle infestation and severe droughts.

scholarly journals Macro-Particle Charcoal C Content following Prescribed Burning in a Mixed-Conifer Forest, Sierra Nevada, California

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e0135014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan L. Wiechmann ◽  
Matthew D. Hurteau ◽  
Jason P. Kaye ◽  
Jessica R. Miesel
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest

Role of burning season on initial understory vegetation response to prescribed fire in a mixed conifer forest

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric E Knapp ◽  
Dylan W Schwilk ◽  
Jeffrey M Kane ◽  
Jon E Keeley
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Understory Vegetation ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
Early Season ◽  
Late Season ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest

Although the majority of fires in the western United States historically occurred during the late summer or early fall when fuels were dry and plants were dormant or nearly so, early-season prescribed burns are often ignited when fuels are still moist and plants are actively growing. The purpose of this study was to determine if burn season influences postfire vegetation recovery. Replicated early-season burn, late-season burn, and unburned control units were established in a mixed conifer forest, and understory vegetation was evaluated before and after treatment. Vegetation generally recovered rapidly after prescribed burning. However, late-season burns resulted in a temporary but significant drop in cover and a decline in species richness at the 1 m2 scale in the following year. For two of the several taxa that were negatively affected by burning, the reduction in frequency was greater after late-season than early-season burns. Early-season burns may have moderated the effect of fire by consuming less fuel and lessening the amount of soil heating. Our results suggest that, when burned under high fuel loading conditions, many plant species respond more strongly to differences in fire intensity and severity than to timing of the burn relative to stage of plant growth.

Soil respiration response to prescribed burning and thinning in mixed-conifer and hardwood forests

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1581-1591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Concilio ◽  
Siyan Ma ◽  
Qinglin Li ◽  
James LeMoine ◽  
Jiquan Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Mixed Conifer ◽  
Patch Type ◽  
Litter Depth ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forest

The effects of management on soil carbon efflux in different ecosystems are still largely unknown yet crucial to both our understanding and management of global carbon flux. To compare the effects of common forest management practices on soil carbon cycling, we measured soil respiration rate (SRR) in a mixed-conifer and hardwood forest that had undergone various treatments from June to August 2003. The mixed-conifer forest, located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, had been treated with thinning and burning manipulations in 2001, and the hardwood forest, located in the southeastern Missouri Ozarks, had been treated with harvesting manipulations in 1996 and 1997. Litter depth, soil temperature, and soil moisture were also measured. We found that selective thinning produced a similar effect on both forests by elevating SRR, soil moisture, and soil temperature, although the magnitude of response was greater in the mixed-conifer forest. Selective harvest increased SRR by 43% (from 3.38 to 4.82 µmol·m–2·s–1) in the mixed-conifer forest and by 14% (from 4.25 to 4.84 µmol·m–2·s–1) in the hardwood forest. Burning at the conifer site and even-aged harvesting at the mixed-hardwood site did not produce significantly different SRR from controls. Mean SRR were 3.24, 3.42, and 4.52 µmol·m–2·s–1, respectively. At both sites, manipulations did significantly alter SRR by changing litter depth, soil structure, and forest microclimate. SRR response varied by vegetation patch type, the scale at which treatments altered these biotic factors. Our findings provide forest managers first-hand information on the response of soil carbon efflux to various management strategies in different forests.

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