Silviculture that sustains: the nexus between silviculture, frequent prescribed fire, and conservation of biodiversity in longleaf pine forests of the southeastern United States

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 2724-2736 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Mitchell ◽  
J K Hiers ◽  
J J O'Brien ◽  
S B Jack ◽  
R T Engstrom
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Patterns And Processes ◽  
Conservation Of Biodiversity

The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forest ecosystems of the US southeastern Coastal Plain, among the most biologically diverse ecosystems in North America, originally covered over 24 × 106 ha but now occupy less than 5% of their original extent. The key factor for sustaining their high levels of diversity is the frequent application of prescribed fire uninterrupted in time and space. Pine fuels, critical to application of fire and regulated by canopy distribution, provide the nexus between silviculture and fire management in this system. Typical silvicultural approaches for this type were, in large part, developed to maximize the establishment and growth of regeneration as well as growth and yield of timber, with much less regard to how those practices might influence the ability to sustain prescribed burning regimes or the associated biodiversity. However, many landholdings in the region now include conservation of biodiversity as a primary objective with sustained timber yield as an important but secondary goal. This review synthesizes the literature related to controls of biodiversity for longleaf pine ecosystems, and silvicultural approaches are compared in their ability to sustain natural disturbance such as fire and how closely they mimic the variation, patterns, and processes of natural disturbance regimes while allowing for regeneration.

scholarly journals Influence of Pine Straw Harvesting, Prescribed Fire, and Fertilization on a Louisiana Longleaf Pine Site

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Haywood
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Straw Management ◽  
Pine Straw ◽  
Main Plot ◽  
Direct Seeded

Abstract This research was initiated in a 34-year-old, direct-seeded stand of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) to study how pine straw management practices (harvesting, fire, and fertilization) affected the longleaf pine overstory and pine straw yields. A randomized complete block split-plot design was installed with two main plot treatments: (1) no fertilization and (2) fertilization with 45 lb N and 50 lb P/ac in April 1991 and May 1997 and with 50 lb P and 72 lb K/ac in April 2004. There were four subplot treatments: (1) control—no activity except a standwide thinning in June 1999, (2) prescribed burn 6 times from March 1991 through May 2004, (3) prescribed burned as in subplot treatment 2 and pine straw harvested in early 1992 and 1993, and (4) annual harvest of pine straw 13 times from early 1992 through April 2006. Fertilization did not affect longleaf pine growth and yield over the 15-year study. Subplot management also did not influence longleaf pine growth possibly because the adverse effects that competition, repeated prescribed burning, and litter removal have on longleaf pine growth could not be separated among subplot treatments. Fertilization did not directly affect pine straw yields; however, it appeared that pine straw yields decreased over time.

Fire in the Suburbs: Ecological Impacts of Prescribed Fire in Small Remnants of Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) Sandhill

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Heuberger ◽  
Francis E. Putz
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Ecological Impacts

Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) Branch Pruning by Prescribed Fire

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P McGuire ◽  
John S Kush ◽  
J Morgan Varner ◽  
Dwight K Lauer ◽  
J Ryan Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Wood Quality ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Pine Tree ◽  
Southeastern Us ◽  
Tree Survival ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Efforts to restore longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) in the southeastern US require substantial artificial regeneration. Once established, important questions remain about when to introduce fire. We investigated the impact of initial planting density on tree branching and how prescribed fire might interact with tree architecture and survival. A particular focus was on how prescribed fires could “prune” lower branches. Lower density plantings (897 trees ha−1) had more and larger live lower branches than higher density plantings (2,243 trees ha−1). Fire was effective in pruning lower branches regardless of season burned, but fire in the growing season was more effective at pruning. Branches up to a height of 1.5 to 2 m were killed by fire. Fire applied in August caused greater damage with more needles scorched and/or consumed and more stem char. Prescribed fire did not impact longleaf pine tree survival. In general, fire applied to longleaf pine facilitated pruning lower branches that affect long-term wood quality, an additional argument for its utility in restoration and management of these ecosystems.

scholarly journals The vascular flora of the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center, Forrest and Lamar counties, Mississippi, with comments on compositional change after a decade of prescribed fire

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-433
Author(s):  
William J. McFarland, ◽  
Danielle Cotton, ◽  
Mac H. Alford ◽  
Micheal A. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
University Of Southern Mississippi ◽  
The North ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
North American Coastal Plain

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems exhibit high species diversity and are major contributors to the extraordinary levels of regional biodiversity and endemism found in the North American Coastal Plain Province. These forests require frequent fire return intervals (every 2–3 years) to maintain this rich diversity. In 2009, a floristic inventory was conducted at the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center owned by the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Center is located on 106 ha with approximately half covered by a 100+ year old longleaf pine forest. When the 2009 survey was conducted, fire had been excluded for over 20 years resulting in a dense understory dominated by woody species throughout most of the forest. The 2009 survey recorded 282 vascular plant species. Prescribed fire was reintroduced in 2009 and reapplied again in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. A new survey was conducted in 2019 to assess the effects of prescribed fire on floristic diversity. The new survey found an additional 268 species bringing the total number of plants species to 550. This study highlights the changes in species diversity that occurs when fire is reintroduced into a previously fire-suppressed system and the need to monitor sensitive areas for changes in species composition.

The Impact of Prescribed Burning on Native Bee Communities (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) in Longleaf Pine Savannas in the North Carolina Sandhills

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-219
Author(s):  
Heather Moylett ◽  
Elsa Youngsteadt ◽  
Clyde Sorenson
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
The North ◽  
Time Since Fire ◽  
Native Bee ◽  
Silvicultural Practice ◽  
Bee Community ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Prescribed burning is a common silvicultural practice used in the management of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill., Pinales: Pinaceae) savannas to reduce hardwood encroachment and ground cover and to maintain biodiversity. We investigated the response of the native bee community (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) in the Sandhills of North Carolina to prescribed burning on a 3-yr rotation over two consecutive years (2012 and 2013). We deployed bee bowl traps in sites that had been burned the year of sampling, 1 yr before, 2 yr before, and in unburned controls. In total, 2,276 bees of 109 species were captured. Bee abundance declined with time since fire, with 2.3 times more bees captured in the most recently burned sites than in unburned controls. Bee diversity also declined with time since fire, with 2.1 times more species captured in the most recently burned sites than in controls. Bee community composition also responded to fire; we present evidence that this response was mediated in part by the effect of fire on the amount of bare ground and canopy cover. Bees nesting aboveground were unaffected by fire, contrary to our expectation that fire would destroy the wood and stems in which these species nest. Our results indicate that prescribed burning is a silvicultural practice consistent with pollinator conservation in longleaf pine ecosystems of the North Carolina sandhills.

scholarly journals Intra-Annual Variation in Soil C, N and Nutrients Pools after Prescribed Fire in a Mississippi Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) Plantation

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
John R. Butnor ◽  
Kurt H. Johnsen ◽  
Christopher A. Maier ◽  
C. Dana Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Soil Chemistry ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Southern Pine ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N

Prescribed fire is an essential tool that is widely used for longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) stand management; periodic burning serves to reduce competition from woody shrubs and fire-intolerant trees and enhance herbaceous diversity. Low-intensity, prescribed burning is thought to have minimal long-term impact on soil chemistry in southern pine forests, although few studies report the intra-annual variation in soil chemistry after burning. We monitored changes in C, N, oxidation resistant C (CR), pH and elemental nutrients in the forest floor and soil (0–5, 5–10 cm depths) before and after burning (1, 3, 6, 12 months) in a mature longleaf pine plantation at the Harrison Experimental Forest, near Saucier, Mississippi. Prescribed fire consumed much of the forest floor (11.3 Mg ha−1; −69%), increased soil pH and caused a pulse of C, N and elemental nutrients to flow to the near surface soils. In the initial one to three months post-burn coinciding with the start of the growing season, retention of nutrients by soil peaked. Most of the N (93%), Ca (88%), K (96%) and Mg (101%), roughly half of the P (48%) and Mn (52%) and 25% of the C lost from the forest floor were detected in the soil and apparently not lost to volatilization. By month 12, soil C and N pools were not different at depths of 0–5 cm but declined significantly below pre-burn levels at depths of 5–10 cm, C −36% (p < 0.0001), N −26% (p = 0.003), contrary to other examples in southern pine ecosystems. In the upper 5 cm of soil, only Cu (−49%) remained significantly lower than pre-burn contents by month 12, at depths of 5–10 cm, Cu (−76%), Fe (−22%), K (−51%), Mg (−57%), Mn (−82%) and P (−52%) remain lower at month 12 than pre-burn contents. Burning did not increase soil CR content, conversely significant declines in CR occurred. It appears that recovery of soil C and N pools post-burn will require more time on this site than other southern pine forests.

scholarly journals A Height–Diameter Curve for Longleaf Pine Plantations in the Gulf Coastal Plain

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 164-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Leduc ◽  
Jeffery Goelz
Keyword(s):  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Yield Model ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Volume Calculation ◽  
Sigmoidal Curve ◽  
Quadratic Mean Diameter

Abstract Tree height is a critical component of a complete growth-and-yield model because it is one of the primary components used in volume calculation. To develop an equation to predict total height from dbh for longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) plantations in the West Gulf region, many different sigmoidal curve forms, weighting functions, and ways of expressing height and diameter were explored. Most of the functional forms tried produced very similar results, but ultimately the form developed by Levakovic was chosen as best. Another useful result was that scaling diameters by the quadratic mean diameter on a plot and height by the average height of dominant and codominant trees in the target stand resulted in dramatically better fits than using these variables in their raw forms.

scholarly journals Compatible Stem Taper, Volume, and Weight Equations for Young Longleaf Pine Plantations in Southwest Georgia

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Brooks ◽  
Lichun Jiang ◽  
Alexander Clark
Keyword(s):  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Average Error ◽  
Nonlinear Fitting ◽  
Fitting Procedure ◽  
Stem Taper ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Intensively Managed ◽  
Generalized Newton

Abstract Outside and inside bark diameter measurements were recorded from tree disks obtained at 0-, 0.5-, 2.0-, 4.5-, 6.0-, 16.6-, and at 4-ft-height intervals above 6 ft to a 2-in. diameter outside bark top diameter on 42 longleaf pine trees selected from intensively managed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) plantations in Dougherty and Worth Counties in southwest Georgia. Trees were sampled from unthinned, cutover stands in their 11th and 14th growing season, which are currently part of an existing growth and yield study. Sample trees ranged from 2 to 7 in. in diameter and from 18 to 40 ft in total height. Parameters for a segmented polynomial taper and compatible cubic foot volume and weight equation were simultaneously estimated using a seemingly unrelated nonlinear fitting procedure to volumes based on a generalized Newton formula and an overlapping bolt methodology. Average error was approximately 0.25 in., 0.04 ft3, and 2.5 lb for taper, volume, and weight estimation, respectively.

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