Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests
Despite the adaptation of many oak (<i>Quercus</i>) species to repeated surface fire, many public land managers in eastern North America resist using prescribed fire as a regeneration tool because of fire’s perceived negative impacts on timber values through the wounding of overstory tre...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/227 |
| _version_ | 1797620982836363264 |
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| author | Mike R. Saunders David P. Mann Shannon Stanis Jan K. Wiedenbeck Daniel C. Dey Thomas M. Schuler |
| author_facet | Mike R. Saunders David P. Mann Shannon Stanis Jan K. Wiedenbeck Daniel C. Dey Thomas M. Schuler |
| author_sort | Mike R. Saunders |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the adaptation of many oak (<i>Quercus</i>) species to repeated surface fire, many public land managers in eastern North America resist using prescribed fire as a regeneration tool because of fire’s perceived negative impacts on timber values through the wounding of overstory trees. We retrospectively quantified fire-associated wounds in 139 oak-dominated stands across four national forests, each with a history of zero to six prescribed fires within the last 30 years. For trees > 25.4 cm dbh (n = 8093), fire-associated wounds within the first 3.67 m of height were categorized by type, measured for defect size and graded both accounting for and then ignoring the fire-associated wounds. Most fire-associated wounds (n = 3403) were catfaces (32.5%), seams (30.5%) or bark slough (30.1%), although catfaces had 2.1–6.4 times the average volume loss of any other wound type (9.90 ± 0.72 bd ft). Among the 2160 wounded trees sampled, 741 had multiple (≥2) wounds. Although 29.1% of all trees had at least one wound associated with prescribed fire, only 7.0% of those trees exhibited a reduction in tree grade. The likelihood of wounding was greater in stands receiving more prescribed burns, but unaffected by tree diameter for either thin- or thick-barked species. Considering both the likelihoods of wounding and grade reduction, white oak (<i>Q. alba</i>), chestnut oak (<i>Q. montana</i>), hickory (<i>Carya</i> sp.), shortleaf pine (<i>Pinus echinata</i>) and yellow-poplar (<i>Liriodendron tulipifera</i>) trees were more resistant to prescribed fire damage than other species. While our findings cannot be related directly to individual fire parameters, such as fireline intensity or fire duration, these results do provide estimates of the cumulative effects of multiple management-based prescribed fires that can be incorporated into fire effects models. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:49:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d16a6579a87b45e5b208c973c4fcd692 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:49:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-d16a6579a87b45e5b208c973c4fcd6922023-11-16T20:33:03ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-01-0114222710.3390/f14020227Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak ForestsMike R. Saunders0David P. Mann1Shannon Stanis2Jan K. Wiedenbeck3Daniel C. Dey4Thomas M. Schuler5Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2061, USAHardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2061, USAHardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2061, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Princeton, WV 24720-7513, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Columbia, MO 65211-7260, USAUSDA Forest Service, Washington Office, Washington, DC 20250-0003, USADespite the adaptation of many oak (<i>Quercus</i>) species to repeated surface fire, many public land managers in eastern North America resist using prescribed fire as a regeneration tool because of fire’s perceived negative impacts on timber values through the wounding of overstory trees. We retrospectively quantified fire-associated wounds in 139 oak-dominated stands across four national forests, each with a history of zero to six prescribed fires within the last 30 years. For trees > 25.4 cm dbh (n = 8093), fire-associated wounds within the first 3.67 m of height were categorized by type, measured for defect size and graded both accounting for and then ignoring the fire-associated wounds. Most fire-associated wounds (n = 3403) were catfaces (32.5%), seams (30.5%) or bark slough (30.1%), although catfaces had 2.1–6.4 times the average volume loss of any other wound type (9.90 ± 0.72 bd ft). Among the 2160 wounded trees sampled, 741 had multiple (≥2) wounds. Although 29.1% of all trees had at least one wound associated with prescribed fire, only 7.0% of those trees exhibited a reduction in tree grade. The likelihood of wounding was greater in stands receiving more prescribed burns, but unaffected by tree diameter for either thin- or thick-barked species. Considering both the likelihoods of wounding and grade reduction, white oak (<i>Q. alba</i>), chestnut oak (<i>Q. montana</i>), hickory (<i>Carya</i> sp.), shortleaf pine (<i>Pinus echinata</i>) and yellow-poplar (<i>Liriodendron tulipifera</i>) trees were more resistant to prescribed fire damage than other species. While our findings cannot be related directly to individual fire parameters, such as fireline intensity or fire duration, these results do provide estimates of the cumulative effects of multiple management-based prescribed fires that can be incorporated into fire effects models.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/227fire ecology<i>Quercus</i>timber damagefire effectsoak regenerationtree grades |
| spellingShingle | Mike R. Saunders David P. Mann Shannon Stanis Jan K. Wiedenbeck Daniel C. Dey Thomas M. Schuler Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests Forests fire ecology <i>Quercus</i> timber damage fire effects oak regeneration tree grades |
| title | Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests |
| title_full | Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests |
| title_fullStr | Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests |
| title_short | Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests |
| title_sort | prescribed fire causes wounding and minor tree quality degradation in oak forests |
| topic | fire ecology <i>Quercus</i> timber damage fire effects oak regeneration tree grades |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/227 |
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