scholarly journals Does Prescribed Burning Have a Place in Regenerating Uneven-Aged Loblolly-Shortleaf Pine Stands?

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Cain ◽  
Michael G. Shelton

Abstract Before the 1981 growing season, a study was installed in southeastern Arkansas to examine the effects of three dormant-season burn intervals (low, moderate, and high frequency) and an unburned treatment on natural regeneration in uneven-aged stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines (Pinus taeda andP. echinata, respectively). Merchantable pine basal areas were maintained by harvesting on a 5 or 6 yr cutting cycle. When the study began, hardwoods greater than 1 in. dbh were injected with herbicide on all plots. During the next 19 yr, there were eight high frequency, four moderate frequency, and three low frequency prescribed burns. In 1991, the unburned plots received a single, broadcast-herbicide treatment. Single-tree selection harvests were conducted in 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997. Through 1999 (19 yr), herbicides applied at 10 yr intervals were more effective than dormant-season burns for enhancing the growth of submerchantable pines. Although recurring winter burns tended to stop the progression of both pines and hardwoods from seedling to sapling size classes, the data suggest that properly timed dormant-season burns might be used to secure natural pine regeneration in selection management. South. J. Appl. For. 26(3):117–123.

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
MD Cain

The effects of burning cycles and pine basal area levels were assessed on natural pine regeneration and hardwood development in uneven-aged stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines (Pinus taeda L. and P. echinata Mill.). The treatments included an unburned control and prescribed winter burns at 3-, 6-, and 9-yr intervals. Basal area treatments were 9, 14, 18, and 23 m2 ha-1 for the merchantable-pine component and were maintained on a 6-yr cutting cycle using single-tree selection. Ten years after the study was initiated, density and quadrat stocking of pine regeneration were negatively correlated with overstorey basal area. The 6-yr burning cycle had higher pine density and better quadrat stocking of pine regeneration compared with any other bum treatment mainly because the 6-yr burning cycle coincided with a bumper pine seedcrop and the 6-yr cutting cycle. Recurring fires tended to result in reduced size of hardwood competition but had less impact on hardwood density. When considering a prescribed burning program in uneven-aged stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines, more attention should be given to density, quadrat stocking, and size of established pine regeneration and to expected seedcrops rather than to the prosecution of rigid burning schedules.


1982 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
James B. Baker ◽  
Paul A. Murphy

Abstract Four reproduction cutting methods employed on an average site (S.I. = 85 to 90 feet at 50 years) in second-growth loblolly-shortleaf pine (Pinus taeda L.--P. echinata Mill.) in south Arkansas provided adequate pine regeneration to establish or maintain well-stocked stands. During the 36-year study period, heavy seed-tree and diameter-limit cutting methods produced significantly more cubic-foot volume than selection and clearcutting, while clearcutting resulted in significantly less board-foot (Doyle) volume. Since many trees on the clearcut areas are just now reaching sawlog size, board-foot volume production among all treatments will probably equalize as time goes on. Advantages and disadvantages of the four cutting methods for large landholders and private nonindustrial land-owners are discussed.


1995 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A. Tappe ◽  
Michael D. Cain ◽  
T. Bently Wigley ◽  
Derik J. Reed

Abstract The effects of overstory pine basal area on plant community structure and composition were assessed in uneven-aged stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines (Pinus taedaL. and P. echinata Mill.) in southern Arkansas. Basal area treatments were 40, 60, 80, and 100 ft2/ac for the merchantable pine component (>3.5 in. dbh) and were maintained on a 6 yr cutting cycle using single-tree selection. Assessments of plant communities were made 10 yr after a single hardwood control treatment. The four levels of pine basal area had no effect on percent ground cover of most plants <3 ft tall, but ground cover from graminoids decreased as pine basal area increased. Vertical cover above loft height increased 33% as overstory basal area increased from 40 to 100 ft2/ac, but basal area had no effect on horizontal cover in height zones between 0 and 10ft. It is concluded that uneven-aged stands of loblolly-shortleaf pine with merchantable basal areas of from 40 to 100 ft²/ac may support similar plant species in the understory and consequently probably provide similar habitat requirements for a variety of game and nongame wildlife. South. J. Appl. For. 19(2):84-88.


1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Murphy ◽  
Michael G. Shelton

Abstract The effects of three levels of residual basal area (40, 60, and 80 ft2/ac), maximum dbh (12, 16, and 20 in.) and site index (< 81 ft, 81 to 90 ft, and >90 ft) on the growth of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands after 5 yr of uneven-aged silviculture were determined from plots located in south Arkansas and north Louisiana. Designated levels of basal area and maximum dbh were achieved by harvesting; a q factor of 1.2 (using 1 in. dbh classes) was imposed on all plots as closely as possible. Stand-level models were developed for annual per acre net volume growth (merchantable cubic feet, sawtimber cubic feet, and sawtimber board feet, Doyle rule) and annual per acre survivor growth, ingrowth, and mortality components of basal area growth. Growth for all volume measures increased with an increase in basal area. Site index did not significantly affect merchantable cubic-foot growth but had a positive effect on sawtimber growth in both cubic feet and board feet, Doyle. Increases in maximum dbh decreased merchantable and sawtimber cubic-foot growth but increased growth for board-foot volume, Doyle. South. J. Appl. For. 18(3): 128-132.


2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Cain ◽  
Michael G. Shelton

Abstract In southeastern Arkansas, pine growth was monitored for 19 yr after mechanically strip thinning a dense, naturally regenerated, even-aged stand of 6-yr-old loblolly pines (Pinus taeda L.) and shortleaf pines (P. echinata Mill.) that averaged 16,600 stems/ac. Prescribed winter burns were conducted biennially between ages 9 and 20 yr and at 24 yr. Commercial thinnings during the 17th and 23rd growing seasons left a residual stocking of either 85 ft2/ac or 200 crop trees/ac (75 ft2/ac) in merchantable-sized (> 3.5 in. dbh) pines on plots that were precommercially thinned and on plots that were not. Precommercial thinning enhanced pine growth in dbh and sawlog volume through 25 yr. Because of increased sawlog production, present net value averaged highest on plots that were precommercially thinned at age 6 then commercially thinned during the 17th yr to 200 crop trees/ac and during the 23rd yr to 75 ft2/ac. In the year following prescribed winter burns, both dbh growth and volume growth were reduced by about one-half when crown scorch was 75%. South. J. Appl. For. 27(1):18–29.


2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-211
Author(s):  
Robert F. Wittwer ◽  
Michael G. Shelton ◽  
James M. Guldin

Abstract Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) seed production was monitored for 4 yr in stands harvested by a range of even- and uneven-aged reproduction cutting methods. The fifty-two 35–40 ac stands were distributed throughout the Ouachita Mountains from central Arkansas to eastern Oklahoma. Seed crops were characterized as good, poor, poor, and bumper, averaging 109,000, 18,000, 5,000, and 379,000 sound seeds/ac, respectively. Seed production the first year after harvest was generally correlated with residual density of shortleaf pines; unharvested control stands, single-tree selection, and shelterwood stands produced more seeds than seed tree stands. Differences in seed production among regeneration cutting methods were not significant for the crop dispersed 4 yr after harvest; this is attributed to release and response of residual seed-producing trees in the seed tree and shelterwood stands. Results also indicated that seed production was lowest for stands located in the western section of the Ouachita Mountains. South. J. Appl. For. 27(3):206–211.


2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 1830-1836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D Cain ◽  
Michael G Shelton

First-year seedlings of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.), southern red oak (Quercus falcata Michx.), and white oak (Quercus alba L.) were subjected to simulated prescribed burns during August (growing season) or January (dormant season) on an Upper Coastal Plain site in southeastern Arkansas, U.S.A. Survival and growth of resprouting rootstocks were compared with control seedlings through one growing season after burning. Although 100% of the oaks and 99% of the pines were topkilled by the fires, survival of resprouting rootstocks exceeded 95% for all three species in the year following the winter burn. No pines resprouted following the summer burn, but rootstock survival of oaks averaged >65%. Compared with controls, winter burns reduced (P < 0.01) mean height and groundline diameter (GLD) of shortleaf pine sprouts through the next growing season. For southern red oak, season of burning did not negatively affect (P > 0.05) the growth of sprouts during the year after burning. Although mean heights and GLDs of white oak sprouts versus controls were reduced (P [Formula: see text] 0.04) when means were averaged across burns, white oak sprouts on winter-burn plots were comparable in size with the control seedlings.


1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2448-2458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Shelton ◽  
Paul A. Murphy

The effects of three basal areas (9.2, 13.8, and 18.4 m2/ha), maximum diameters (30.5, 40.6, and 50.8 cm), and site indices (≤24.6, 24.7–27.4, and ≥27.5 m at 50 years) on establishment and development of loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) regeneration and competing vegetation were determined on 81 permanent, 0.20-ha plots in south Arkansas and north Louisiana. Plots were harvested to the designated basal areas, maximum diameters, and a q-factor of 1.2 using the single-tree selection method during 1983 (a bumper seed year) and 1985 (a seed year failure); this necessitated including the year of harvest as a fourth variable. Pine regeneration and competing vegetation were evaluated 4 or 5 years after treatment. Models were developed to predict the number and percent stocking of pine seedlings and saplings and the percent coverage of competing vegetation. Fit indices ranged from 0.21 to 0.52 for pine regeneration and from 0.15 to 0.73 for coverage of competing vegetation. Pine regeneration was generally greatest for the 1983 harvest, the largest maximum diameters, and the poorest sites. Coverage for vines, hardwoods, and total vegetation was greatest on the good sites and generally for the lowest basal areas. Coverage of grasses, herbs, and shrubs did not vary significantly among treatments. Results suggest that seed production and competing vegetation influence the initial amounts of loblolly pine regeneration obtained with uneven-aged silviculture using single-tree selection.


2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 202-206
Author(s):  
David W. Patterson ◽  
Paul A. Murphy ◽  
Michael G. Shelton

Abstract Uneven-aged silviculture using single-tree selection provides the landowner with periodic income from a continuous forest which has a varied canopy. Data were collected from 24 plots of a larger study to determine if site index, basal area, and maximum dbh affected volume and value of lumber from loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees in uneven-aged stands. Tree grades and lumber yield equations were used to determine the volume of lumber by grade for each tree. Market prices from May 1997 and May 1998 were used to estimate lumber value. Analysis of variance showed that study variables significantly affected lumber volume, lumber value/mbf, and stand value/ac. With 1997 prices, increases in site index and maximum dbh significantly increased lumber value/mbf, but only maximum dbh was significant with 1998 prices. Stand values ranged from $4,100 to $12,350/ac and were significantly higher for the higher site index, basal area, and maximum dbh. South. J. Appl. For. 24(4):202-206.


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