Prescribed fire effects on soils and vegetation in Pinus pinaster forests in northern Portugal

The Wombat Fire Effects Study was established to address a number of questions in relation to the effects of repeated low-intensity fires in mixed species eucalypt forest in the foothills of Victoria. This study has now been going for 25 years and has included the study of understorey plants, fuels, bats, terrestrial mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, fungi, birds, soils, tree growth, fire behaviour and weather. This forest system has shown a high resilience to fire that is attributed here to the patchiness and variability in the fire characteristics within a fire and the relatively small proportion of the landscape being affected. A means of comparing the level of “injury” caused by low-intensity prescribed fire with high intensity wildfire is proposed so that the debate about leverage benefits (the reduction in wildfire area compared to the area of planned burning) can be more rational. There are some significant implications for assessing the relative environmental impacts of wildfire compared with the planned burning program being implemented in Victoria since the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommendations (Teague et al. 2010).

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Thinning and prescribed fire effects on dwarf mistletoe severity in an eastern Cascade Range dry forest, Washington

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2008.01.066 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 255 (7) ◽

pp. 2907-2915 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Paul F. Hessburg ◽

Nicholas A. Povak ◽

R. Brion Salter

Keyword(s):

Prescribed Fire ◽

Fire Effects ◽

Cascade Range ◽

Dry Forest ◽

Dwarf Mistletoe

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Prescribed Fire Effects on Advanced Regeneration in Mixed Hardwood Stands

Southern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/sjaf/22.3.138 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 138-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

T.A. Barnes ◽

D.H. Van Lear

Keyword(s):

South Carolina ◽

Prescribed Fire ◽

Prescribed Burning ◽

Subsequent Development ◽

Fire Effects ◽

Hardwood Forests ◽

Prescribed Fires ◽

Oak Regeneration ◽

Advanced Regeneration ◽

Composition And Structure

Abstract Fire treatments were initiated in 1990 to evaluate effects of low-intensity prescribed fires on composition and structure of the advanced regeneration pool under mature mixed-hardwood stands on upland sites in the Piedmont of South Carolina. One spring burn was as effective as three winter burns in reducing midstory density, considered a prerequisite for subsequent development of oak (Quercus spp.) advanced regeneration. Burning increased the number of oak rootstocks, reduced the relative position of competing species, and increased root-to-shoot ratios of oak stems in the regeneration layer. These favorable effects of fire on oak regeneration outweigh the removal of small, poorly formed oak stems from the midstory/understory strata during burning. Prescribed burning in hardwood forests may solve some of the current oak regeneration problems, especially on better upland sites in the South. South. J. Appl. For. 22(3):138-142.

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Evaluation of Mechanized Thinning and Prescribed Fire Effects on Long-Term Fuels Accumulations in Uneven-Aged Jeffrey Pine

Journal of Sustainable Forestry ◽

10.1080/10549811.2014.966919 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 33 (8) ◽

pp. 827-859

Author(s):

Shannon L. Swim ◽

Roger F. Walker ◽

Dale W. Johnson ◽

Robert M. Fecko ◽

Watkins W. Miller

Keyword(s):

Prescribed Fire ◽

Fire Effects ◽

Jeffrey Pine

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Prescribed fire effects on field-derived and simulated forest carbon stocks over time

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2013.09.016 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 310 ◽

pp. 711-719 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Nicole M. Vaillant ◽

Alicia L. Reiner ◽

Erin K. Noonan-Wright

Keyword(s):

Prescribed Fire ◽

Fire Effects ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Forest Carbon ◽

Over Time

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Effect of thinning and prescribed burning on crown fire severity in ponderosa pine forests

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf01045 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 223

Author(s):

Jolie Pollet ◽

Philip N. Omi

Keyword(s):

Prescribed Fire ◽

Ponderosa Pine ◽

Stand Structure ◽

Fire Severity ◽

Fire Effects ◽

Pine Forests ◽

Crown Fire ◽

Fuel Treatments ◽

Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽

Wildfire Hazard

Fire exclusion policies have affected stand structure and wildfire hazard in north American ponderosa pine forests. Wildfires are becoming more severe in stands where trees are densely stocked with shade-tolerant understory trees. Although forest managers have been employing fuel treatment techniques to reduce wildfire hazard for decades, little scientific evidence documents the success of treatments in reducing fire severity. Our research quantitatively examined fire effects in treated and untreated stands in western United States national forests. Four ponderosa pine sites in Montana, Washington, California and Arizona were selected for study. Fuel treatments studied include: prescribed fire only, whole-tree thinning, and thinning followed by prescribed fire. On-the-ground fire effects were measured in adjacent treated and untreated forests. We developed post facto fire severity and stand structure measurement techniques to complete field data collection. We found that crown fire severity was mitigated in stands that had some type of fuel treatment compared to stands without any treatment. At all four of the sites, the fire severity and crown scorch were significantly lower at the treated sites. Results from this research indicate that fuel treatments, which remove small diameter trees, may be beneficial for reducing crown fire hazard in ponderosa pine sites.

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Useful Life of Prescribed Fires in a Southern Mediterranean Basin: An Application to Pinus pinaster Stands in the Sierra Morena Range

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12040486 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 486

Author(s):

Juan Ramón Molina ◽

Macarena Ortega ◽

Francisco Rodríguez y Silva

Keyword(s):

Moisture Content ◽

Prescribed Fire ◽

Pinus Pinaster ◽

Prescribed Fires ◽

Fuel Moisture ◽

Fuel Treatment ◽

Fuel Dynamics ◽

Useful Life ◽

Fuel Moisture Content ◽

Stand Characteristics

Prescribed fire is a globally relevant fuel treatment for surface fuel management and wildfire hazard reduction. However, Mediterranean ecosystems are adapted to low and moderate fires; hence, the useful life of prescribed fires is limited. Useful life is defined as the effective rotation length of prescribed fires to mitigate fire spread based on critical surface intensity for crown combustion. In this sense, the useful life of a prescribed fire focuses on surface fuel dynamics and its potential fire behavior. In Pinus pinaster stands, the useful life can be established between 0 and 4 years. Canopy base height, time elapsed from the burning, postfire precipitation, and fine fuel moisture content during the burning were identified as the most important variables in postburn fuel dynamics. Other stand characteristics and postfire precipitation can improve the fine fuel and live fuel dynamics models. Our findings support prescribed fires as an effective fuel treatment in the medium term for forest fire prevention, according to stand characteristics and burning implementation conditions. In this sense, forest managers can use the proposed decision tree to identify the useful life of each prescribed fire based on fine fuel moisture content during burning implementation.

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