Prescribed fire effects on understory woody plants and fuels in Quercus–Pinus mixedwoods

Abstract

To enhance forest resilience to predicted increases in forest stressors, managers increasingly desire ecologically based restoration approaches that increase ecosystem adaptation potential. Mixedwood stands, which contain a range of life history and functional traits, may be more resistant and resilient to ecosystem stressors. Management of Quercus–Pinus mixedwood stands includes the use of prescribed fire, which requires an understanding of vegetation-fuels-fire feedbacks in these ecosystems. However, a paucity of knowledge exists on the intra-stand spatial patterns of fire effects. We analyzed the effects of a newly initiated prescribed fire program on the intra-stand characteristics of understory woody plants and fuelbed composition and loading in a long-unburned Quercus –Pinus mixedwood stand in Tennessee, USA. We sampled vegetation and fuels in two plots, one that experienced two prescribed fires (burned plot), and one fire-excluded plot directly adjacent (unburned plot). On the burned plot, we recorded lower sapling and seedling densities across taxa. Spatial analysis of advance reproduction in the burned plot indicated a combination of patchy fire effects, canopy openings, and high-light understory environments. We documented significant reductions in total fuel mass. The combination of spatial analysis and ordination revealed that prescribed fires homogenized fuel loads within the burned plot.