The effect of low-intensity prescribed burns in two seasons on litterfall biomass and nutrient content

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Espinosa ◽  
J. Madrigal ◽  
V. Pando ◽  
A. C. de la Cruz ◽  
M. Guijarro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Magnesium Content ◽  
Pinus Nigra ◽  
Mixed Stand ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Pure Stand ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Low Intensity

Litterfall production and composition, fall pattern and nutrient content were studied in a mixed stand of Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster (El Pozuelo), as well as in a pure stand of Pinus nigra (Beteta) in the Cuenca Mountains in order to determine the effect of two-season prescribed burning treatments. Needles were the most abundant fraction. Pinecone fraction decreased after burning in the mixed stand and the opposite occurred in the pure stand. The inflorescence fraction showed a decrease in the spring-burned plots at El Pozuelo and Beteta. Bark, branch and miscellaneous fractions were affected mainly by meteorological events. Low-intensity prescribed burning was not found to cause significant perturbations. The perturbation was mitigated over the years. An immediate effect of prescribed burning in spring was seen at El Pozuelo and Beteta, although it was more significant for the pure stand. The effect of prescribed burning in autumn at Beteta had a delayed response. As regards nutrient contents, no differences in carbon concentrations were detected. Overall, an increasing trend in N, P, K concentrations in needles after the burning treatment was found. Calcium was not a limiting factor. Magnesium content exhibited no clear trend.

scholarly journals Use of Bayesian Modeling to Determine the Effects of Meteorological Conditions, Prescribed Burn Season, and Tree Characteristics on Litterfall of Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster Stands

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1006
Author(s):  
Juncal Espinosa ◽  
Óscar Rodríguez De Rivera ◽  
Javier Madrigal ◽  
Mercedes Guijarro ◽  
Carmen Hernando
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Approach ◽  
Pinus Pinaster ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Pinus Nigra ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Meteorological Variables ◽  
Pure Stand ◽  
Tree Traits ◽  
Stand Characteristics

Research Highlights: Litterfall biomass after prescribed burning (PB) is significantly influenced by meteorological variables, stand characteristics, and the fire prescription. Some of the fire-adaptive traits of the species under study (Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster) mitigate the effects of PB on litterfall biomass. The Bayesian approach, tested here for the first time, was shown to be useful for analyzing the complex combination of variables influencing the effect of PB on litterfall. Background and Objectives: The aims of the study focused on explaining the influence of meteorological conditions after PB on litterfall biomass, to explore the potential influence of stand characteristic and tree traits that influence fire protection, and to assess the influence of fire prescription and fire behavior. Materials and Methods: An experimental factorial design including three treatments (control, spring, and autumn burning), each with three replicates, was established at two experimental sites (N = 18; 50 × 50 m2 plots). The methodology of the International Co-operative Program on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP forests) was applied and a Bayesian approach was used to construct a generalized linear mixed model. Results: Litterfall was mainly affected by the meteorological variables and also by the type of stand and the treatment. The effects of minimum bark thickness and the height of the first live branch were random. The maximum scorch height was not high enough to affect the litterfall. Time during which the temperature exceeded 60 °C (cambium and bark) did not have an important effect. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that meteorological conditions were the most significant variables affecting litterfall biomass, with snowy and stormy days having important effects. Significant effects of stand characteristics (mixed and pure stand) and fire prescription regime (spring and autumn PB) were shown. The trees were completely protected by a combination of low-intensity PB and fire-adaptive tree traits, which prevent direct and indirect effects on litterfall. Identification of important variables can help to improve PB and reduce the vulnerability of stands managed by this method.

scholarly journals Tree Growth Response to Low-Intensity Prescribed Burning in Pinus nigra Stands: Effects of Burn Season and Fire Severity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 7462
Author(s):  
Juncal Espinosa ◽  
Dario Martin-Benito ◽  
Óscar Rodríguez de Rivera ◽  
Carmen Hernando ◽  
Mercedes Guijarro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tree Growth ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Pinus Nigra ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Pure Stand ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Tree Characteristics ◽  
Significant Factors

The study of the short-term post-burn tree growth in a mixed stand of Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster and in a pure stand of P. nigra in the Cuenca Mountains (Spain) will enable us to determine the disturbance of prescribed burning conducted in two seasons. Dendrochronological methods and mixed modelling were used to investigate whether tree growth responses are influenced by stand and tree characteristics, fire season and fire severity variables. The findings revealed that prescribed burning scarcely affected tree growth. The type of stand (mixed or pure) was not critical for tree growth. The individual tree characteristics were significant factors in all the scenarios studied. The inclusion of some fire severity variables for the first time in tree growth models showed that the maximum scorch height determined a main part of the variability of tree growth. The time during which the temperature was above 60 °C in the cambium region and temperature was above 300 °C in the bark surface were only significant factors after spring burnings. The litterfall one year after the prescribed burning was not a significant factor in any of the models. Overall, the findings confirm the characteristic resistance of P. nigra to surface fires and favor the potential application of prescribed burning programs for this species in the Mediterranean Basin.

Lake Paranoá, Brasília, Brazil: Integrated Management Plan for its Restoration

1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Paulino Mattos ◽  
Irene Guimarães Altafin ◽  
Hélio José de Freitas ◽  
Cristine Gobbato Brandão Cavalcanti ◽  
Vera Regina Estuqui Alves
Keyword(s):  
Total Phosphorus ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Algal Growth ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Cylindrospermopsis Raciborskii ◽  
Phosphorus Concentration ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Total Phosphorus Concentration

Abstract Built in 1959, Lake Paranoá, in Brasilia, Brazil, has been undergoing an accelerated process of nutrient enrichment, due to inputs of inadequately treated raw sewage, generated by a population of 600,000 inhabitants. Consequently, it shows high nutrient content (40 µg/L of total phosphorus and 1800 µg/L of total nitrogen), low transparency (0.65 m) and high levels of chlorophyll a (65 µg/L), represented mainly by Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and sporadic bloom of Microcystis aeruginosa, which is being combatted with copper sulphate. With the absence of seasonality and a vertical distribution which is not very evident, the horizontal pattern assumes great importance in this reservoir, in which five compartments stand out. Based on this segmentation and on the identification of the total phosphorus parameter as the limiting factor for algal growth, mathematical models were developed which demonstrate the need for advanced treatment of all the sewage produced in its drainage basin. With this, it is expected that a process of restoration will be initiated, with a decline in total phosphorus concentration to readings below 25 µg/L. Additional measures are proposed to accelerate this process.

scholarly journals Prescribed burning in a mediterranean-climate region mitigates the disturbance by bushfire to a critical food resource for an endangered bird, the Carnaby’s cockatoo

Fire Ecology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie S. Densmore ◽  
Emma S. Clingan
Keyword(s):  
Seed Production ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Percentage Survival

Abstract Background Prescribed burning is used to reduce fire hazard in highly flammable vegetation types, including Banksia L.f. woodland that occurs on the Swan Coastal Plain (SCP), Western Australia, Australia. The 2016 census recorded well over 1.9 million people living on the SCP, which also encompasses Perth, the fourth largest city in Australia. Banksia woodland is prone to frequent ignitions that can cause extensive bushfires that consume canopy-stored banksia seeds, a critical food resource for an endangered bird, the Carnaby’s cockatoo (Calyptorynchus latirostris, Carnaby 1948). The time needed for banksias to reach maturity and maximum seed production is several years longer than the typical interval between prescribed burns. We compared prescribed burns to bushfires and unburned sites at three locations in banksia woodland to determine whether low-intensity prescribed burns affect the number of adult banksias and their seed production. Study sites were matched to the same vegetation complex, fire regime, and time-since-fire to isolate fire intensity as a variable. Results Headfire rates of spread and differenced normalized burn ratios indicated that prescribed burning was generally of a much lower intensity than bushfire. The percentage survival of adult banksias and their production of cones and follicles (seeds) did not decrease during the first three years following a prescribed burn. However, survival and seed production were significantly diminished followed high-intensity bushfire. Thus, carrying capacity for Carnaby’s cockatoo was unchanged by prescribed burning but decreased markedly following bushfire in banksia woodland. Conclusions These results suggest that prescribed burning is markedly different from bushfire when considering appropriate fire intervals to conserve canopy habitats in fire-resilient vegetation communities. Therefore, low-intensity prescribed burning represents a viable management tool to reduce the frequency and extent of bushfire impacts on banksia woodland and Carnaby’s cockatoo.

scholarly journals Some Relationships Between Silvicultural Treatments and Symmetry of Stem Growth in a Red Pine Stand

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce C. Larson ◽  
W. Keith Moser ◽  
Vijay K. Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Red Pine ◽  
Mixed Stand ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Pure Stand ◽  
White Pine ◽  
Silvicultural Treatments ◽  
Growth Increments ◽  
Crown Shape ◽  
Asymmetric Growth

Abstract Variations in spacing and the distribution of removed trees have been assumed to affect the pattern of growth on tree boles. Changing crown shapes were believed to affect the symmetry of the stems. This study examined the change of growing space resulting from differential species' growth in a mixed stand. A red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) plantation in southern New Hampshire was planted at 2 × 2 m spacing in 1917. At one end of the stand every second row was planted with white pine (Pinus strobus L.), whereas the other end of the stand was pure red pine. In the mixed portion of the stand, the red pine outgrew the white pine, overtopping and often killing it. The mixed stand was thinned in the 1970s and the pure stand in the 1980s for a variety of products which opened more crown room for some of the trees. We compared growth increments along perpendicular axes to determine if asymmetry was consistent at different bole heights. The study did not show asymmetric boles at age 50 and did not have asymmetric growth patterns attributable to the earlier history up to stand age 70. When current crown shape was compared to current growth there was no relationship between asymmetric crowns and asymmetric growth. Provided the asymmetry is not maintained throughout the entire rotation, silvicultural treatments which greatly affect the stand spatial pattern may not have a lasting effect on the symmetry of the boles. North. J. Appl. For. 15(2):90-93.

Soil organic matter and phosphorus dynamics after low intensity prescribed burning in forests and shrubland

2019 ◽  
Vol 234 ◽  
pp. 214-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustín Merino ◽  
Enrique Jiménez ◽  
Cristina Fernández ◽  
Maria T. Fontúrbel ◽  
Julio Campo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Phosphorus Dynamics

scholarly journals Drought Superimposes the Positive Effect of Silver Fir on Water Relations of European Beech in Mature Forest Stands

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magh ◽  
Bonn ◽  
Grote ◽  
Burzlaff ◽  
Pfautsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Relations ◽  
Sap Flow ◽  
Mixed Stand ◽  
Ratio Method ◽  
Silver Fir ◽  
Pure Stand ◽  
Mixed Stands ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Beech Stand

Research Highlights: Investigations of evapotranspiration in a mature mixed beech-fir forest stand do not indicate higher resilience towards intensified drying-wetting cycles as compared with pure beech stands. Background and Objectives: Forest management seeks to implement adaptive measures, for example, the introduction of more drought resistant species into prevailing monospecific stands to minimize forest mortality and monetary losses. In Central Europe this includes the introduction of native silver fir (Abies alba) into monospecific beech (Fagus sylvatica) stands. In order to determine, if the introduction of fir would improve the resilience against drier conditions, this study investigates water relations of a mature pure beech and a mature mixed beech-fir stand under natural as well as reduced water availability. Materials and Methods: Sap flow rates and densities were measured in two consecutive years using the heat ratio method and scaled using stand inventory data and modeling. Results: Transpiration rates estimated from sap flow were significantly higher for beech trees as compared with silver fir which was attributed to the more anisohydric water-use strategy of the beech trees. We estimate that stand evapotranspiration was slightly higher for mixed stands due to higher interception losses from the mixed stand during times of above average water supply. When precipitation was restricted, beech was not able to support its transpiration demands, and therefore there was reduced sap flow rates in the mixed, as well as in the pure stand, whereas transpiration of fir was largely unaffected, likely due to its more isohydric behavior toward water use and access to moister soil layers. Thus, we found the rates of evapotranspiration in the mixed beech-fir stand to be smaller during times with no precipitation as compared with the pure beech stand, which was accountable to the severely reduced transpiration of beech in the mixed stand. Conclusions: We conclude that smaller evapotranspiration rates in the mixed beech-fir stand might not be the result of increased water use efficiency but rather caused by restricted hydraulic conductivity of the root system of beech, making mixed beech-fir stands at this site less resilient towards drought.

scholarly journals Correction to: The effect of prescribed burning on the drought resilience of Pinus nigra ssp. salzmannii Dunal (Franco) and P. sylvestris L.

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Valor ◽  
Giovanna Battipaglia ◽  
Míriam Piqué ◽  
Simona Altieri ◽  
José Ramón González-Olabarria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Pinus Nigra ◽  
Drought Resilience

scholarly journals Physiological, nutritional, and molecular responses of Brazilian sugarcane cultivars under stress by aluminum

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11461
Author(s):  
Mariane de Souza Oliveira ◽  
Sâmara Vieira Rocha ◽  
Vanessa Karine Schneider ◽  
Flavio Henrique-Silva ◽  
Marcio Roberto Soares ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Stomatal Conductance ◽  
Plant Tissue ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Al Tolerance ◽  
Acidic Soils ◽  
Al Content

Background Sugarcane is a crop of global importance and has been expanding to areas with soils containing high levels of exchangeable aluminum (Al), which is a limiting factor for crop development in acidic soils. The study of the sugarcane physiological and nutritional behavior together with patterns of gene expression in response to Al stress may provide a basis for effective strategies to increase crop productivity in acidic soils. Methods Sugarcane cultivars were evaluated for physiological parameters (photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration), nutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S) and Al contents in leaves and roots and gene expression, of the genes MDH, SDH by qPCR, both related to the production of organic acids, and SOD, related to oxidative stress. Results Brazilian sugarcane RB867515, RB928064, and RB935744 cultivars exhibited very different responses to induced stress by Al. Exposure to Al caused up-regulation (SOD and MDH) or down-regulation (SDH, MDH, and SOD), depending on the cultivar, Al level, and plant tissue. The RB867515 cultivar was the most Al-tolerant, showing no decline of nutrient content in plant tissue, photosynthesis, transpiration, and stomatal conductance after exposure to Al; it exhibited the highest Al content in the roots, and showed important MDH and SOD gene expression in the roots. RB928064 only showed low expression of SOD in roots and leaves, while RB935744 showed important expression of the SOD gene only in the leaves. Sugarcane cultivars were classified in the following descending Al-tolerance order: RB867515 > RB928064 = RB935744. These results may contribute to the obtention of Al-tolerant cultivars that can play their genetic potential in soils of low fertility and with low demand for agricultural inputs; the selection of potential plants for breeding programs; the elucidation of Al detoxification mechanisms employed by sugarcane cultivars.

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