A 400-year history of fire and oak recruitment in an old-growth oak forest in western Maryland, U.S.A.

Shumway, Durland L.; Abrams, Marc D.; Ruffner, Charles M.

doi:10.1139/x01-079

Cited by 119 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Since the 1960s, most stands displayed a pronounced shift in species establishment from oak to shade-tolerant, fire-intolerant species. Such a pattern has been observed by other investigators in oak forests outside the Ozarks (Lorimer et al 1994;Abrams et al 1997;Abrams 1998;Abrams and Copenheaver 1999;Shumway et al 2001). The lack of fire likely allowed the shade-tolerant species to outcompete the slower growing oaks and prevented oak regeneration from recruiting into the overstory.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

The establishment and development of oak forests in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

Soucy¹,

Heitzman²,

Spetich³

2005

Can. J. For. Res.

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Abstract:The disturbance history of six mature white oak (Quercus alba L.) -northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) -hickory (Carya spp.) stands in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas were reconstructed using tree-ring and firescar analysis. Results indicate that all six stands originated in the early 1900s following timber harvesting and (or) fire. These disturbances initiated a pulse of oak-dominated establishment. Most sites were periodically burned during the next several decades. Abrupt radial growth increases in all stands during the 1920s to 1940s reflected additional disturbances. These perturbations likely provided growing space for existing trees, but did not result in increased seedling establishment. Thus, multiple disturbances were important in the origin and development of the stands studied. By the 1930s and 1940s, oak establishment was replaced by shade-tolerant, fire-intolerant non-oak species; few oak recruited into tree size classes after the 1950s. The decrease in oaks and the increase in non-oaks coincided with fire suppression. Few scars were recorded during the past 60-70 years. Prescribed fire may be an important management tool in regenerating oak forests in northern Arkansas.Résumé : L'historique des perturbations dans six peuplements matures composés de chêne blanc (Quercus alba L.), de chêne rouge (Quercus rubra L.) et de caryer (Carya spp.) situés dans les monts Ozark du nord de l'Arkansas a été reconstitué grâce à l'analyse des cernes annuels et des blessures de feu. Les résultats indiquent que les six peuplements datent du début des années 1900 et se sont établis après une coupe, un feu ou les deux. Ces perturbations ont déclen-ché une vague d'établissement dominée par le chêne. La plupart des sites ont été périodiquement brûlés au cours de plusieurs des décades qui ont suivi. Des augmentations abruptes de croissance radiale dans tous les peuplements durant les années 1920-1940 indiquent qu'il y a eu d'autres perturbations. Ces perturbations ont vraisemblablement créé de l'espace pour la croissance des arbres existants mais n'ont pas eu comme effet l'établissement de nouveaux semis. Par conséquent, de multiples perturbations ont été importantes pour l'établissement et le développement des peuplements étudiés. Vers la fin des années 1930 et 1940, l'établissement du chêne a été remplacé par d'autres espèces tolérantes à l'ombre mais intolérantes au feu; peu de chênes ont été recrutés dans les classes de dimension des arbres après les années 1950. La diminution chez les chênes et l'augmentation chez les autres espèces ont coïncidé avec la suppression des feux. Peu de cicatrices de feu ont été notées au cours des derniers 60-70 ans. Le brûlage dirigé pourrait s'avérer un outil important pour régénérer les forêts de chêne dans le nord de l'Arkansas.[Traduit par la Rédaction] Soucy et al. 1797

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

The establishment and development of oak forests in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

Soucy¹,

Heitzman²,

Spetich³

2005

Can. J. For. Res.

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“…Dendrochronological studies in the Appalachians have provided useful information regarding fire frequency in oak-pine dominated forests during the past several centuries (Guyette and Cutter 1991, Abrams et al 1995, Nowacki and Abrams 1997, Shumway et al 2001, Ruffner and Abrams 2002, Schuler and McClain 2003. However, fire-scarred trees older than 400 yr are exceedingly rare in this region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing Holocene fire history in a southern Appalachian forest using soil charcoal

Fesenmyer

Christensen

2010

Ecology

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Abstract. Lacking long-term dendrochronological and lake sediment data, little is known regarding the history of fire in southern Appalachian forests through the Holocene. Here we used 82 radiocarbon ages for soil charcoal collected from local depositional sites along a topographic gradient from mixed hardwood (Liriodendron tulipifera and Quercus spp.) to oakpine (Quercus prinus and Pinus rigida) forest to provide a coarse-grained picture of changes in fire frequency within a 10-ha area during the Holocene. Charcoal ages ranged from 0 to 10 570 yr BP, with a single date older than 4000 yr BP. The data indicate that fires occurred regularly across the study area over the past 4000 yr. Further, such fires were not confined to dry oakpine dominated ridges, but extended downslope into areas that are today dominated by mesic hardwood forest. Summed probability analysis taking into account radiometric errors suggests that fires became more frequent ;1000 yr ago, coinciding with the appearance of Woodland Tradition Native Americans in this region. We provide a direct demonstration of relatively frequent fire at the forest stand scale in Appalachian forests over a significant portion of the Holocene. Our results are consistent with the widely held view that fires have become less frequent in this region over the past 250 years. We discuss the difficulties in calculating the inbuilt error associated with estimating actual fire dates from charcoal fragments. But we conclude that such analysis of soil charcoal is a promising approach for reconstructing general trends in fire behavior within forest stands in this region.

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“…In several North American oak forests different maple (Acer saccharum Marshall, A. rubrum L.) and other shade-tolerant species gain ground in the subcanopy layer (Lorimer 1984, Pallardy et al 1988, Shotola et al 1992, Goebel & Hix 1996, McCarthy & Bailey 1996, Abrams et al 1997, Lin & Augspurger 2008. The transitional nature of oak forests are often explained by the exclusion of fire in North America in the last century (Abrams 1992, McCarthy et al 2001, Shumway et al 2001, Signell et al 2005, except oak forests on xeric sites, which experiences less successional pressure (Abrams et al 1997). In Europe, one of the leading theories is the wood-pasture concept (Vera 2000), which…”

Section: Shade-tolerant Species Gain Ground In the Sub-canopy Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

First signs of old-growth structure and composition of an oak forest after four decades of abandonment

et al. 2017

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A 400-year history of fire and oak recruitment in an old-growth oak forest in western Maryland, U.S.A.

Cited by 119 publications

References 21 publications

The establishment and development of oak forests in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

The establishment and development of oak forests in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

Reconstructing Holocene fire history in a southern Appalachian forest using soil charcoal

First signs of old-growth structure and composition of an oak forest after four decades of abandonment

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