Journal article
Post-fire tree stress and growth following smoldering duff fires
Forest Ecology and Management, Vol.258(11), pp.2467-2474
2009
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Source: InCites
Abstract
<p>Understanding the proximate causes of post-fire conifer mortality due to smoldering duff fires is essential to the restoration and management of coniferous forests throughout North America. To better understand duff fire-caused mortality, we investigated tree stress and radial growth following experimental fires in a long-unburned forest on deep sands in northern Florida, USA. We burned basal fuels surrounding 80 mature <em>Pinus palustris</em> Mill. in a randomized experiment comparing the effects of basal burning treatments on stem vascular meristems; surficial roots; root and stem combinations; and a non-smoldering control. We examined the effects of duration of lethal temperatures (>60 °C) on subsequent pine radial growth and root non-structural carbohydrates (starch and sugar). Duff and mineral soil temperatures in the experimental fires consistently exceeded 60 °C for over an hour following ignition, with lethal temperatures of shorter duration recorded 20 cm below the mineral soil surface. Duff heating was best explained by day-of-burn Oe horizon moisture (<em>P</em> = 0.01), although little variation was explained (<em>R</em><sup>2</sup> = 0.24). Post-fire changes in latewood radial increment in the year following fires was related to duration of temperatures >60 °C 10 cm deep in the mineral soil (<em>P</em> = 0.07), but explained little variability in post-fire growth (<em>R</em><sup>2</sup> = 0.17). In contrast, changes in non-structural carbohydrate content in coarse roots (2–5 mm diameter) 120 days following burning were more strongly correlated with the duration of lethal heating 5 cm below the mineral soil surface (<em>P</em> = 0.02;<em>R</em><sup>2</sup> = 0.53). Results from this study implicate the role of mineral soil heating in the post-fire decline of mature longleaf pine following restoration fires in sandy soils.</p>
Details
- Title
- Post-fire tree stress and growth following smoldering duff fires
- Creators
- J Morgan Varner - Humboldt State UniversityFrancis E Putz - University of FloridaJoseph J O'Brien - USDA Forest Service Southern Research StationJ Kevin Hiers - J.W. Jones Ecological Research CenterRobert J Mitchell - J.W. Jones Ecological Research CenterDoria R Gordon - University of Florida
- Publication Details
- Forest Ecology and Management, Vol.258(11), pp.2467-2474
- Identifiers
- 3285; 991012821110602368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; School of Environment, Science and Engineering
- Resource Type
- Journal article