Evaluating the impact of prescribed surface fire on seedlings in the Central Hardwood Region, USA

Abstract

Abstract Oak (Quercus) is being successionally replaced by maple (Acer) across much of the eastern deciduous forest. Past research on the close relationship between oak and fire has led forest managers to use prescribed surface fires to deter this replacement. However, there has not been a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of prescribed fire by managers, particularly in the Central Hardwood Region. For example, it is not known how many repeat applications of prescribed fire are needed to accumulate enough oak reproduction to successfully re-establish oak-dominated stands. Tree reproduction and midstory composition were systematically surveyed across 63 mature, oak-dominated stands ranging in prescribed fire histories and aspects on the Hoosier and Wayne National Forests in southern Indiana and Ohio, respectively. These stands represent the vast majority of stands burned to promote oak regeneration since 1990 in these two National Forests. Across all sites, seedlings in the white oak group (section Quercus) and red oak group (section Lobatae) comprised 47.8 ± 3.3 per cent and 8.2 ± 1.6 per cent (mean ± SE), respectively, of all seedlings. In comparison, common competing species (maples and American beech) comprised 5.4 ± 1.4 per cent of all seedlings. Mid- and overstory basal area, percent slope, years since last burn, and total number of burns significantly affected oak seedling density. Greater increases in taller, competitive oak seedling density occurred after sites had been burned three times and with high frequency (≤4 years between burns). However, results also suggest that if an established midstory already exists or fire has not been used on the landscape for almost a decade, repeat applications of prescribed fire will not likely increase oak regeneration in the short term without concurrent treatment of midstory stems.