Chapter 8. Assessing the Impacts of Severe Fire on Forest Ecosystem Recovery

Cromack, Kermit; Landsberg, Johanna D.; Everett, Richard L.; Zeleny, Ronald; Giardina, Christian P.; Strand, Eva K.; Anderson, Tom D.; Averill, Robert D.; Smyrski, Rose

doi:10.1300/j091v11n01_08

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…Piling and burning of such fuels generates severely burned areas that often remain unvegetated (Covington, DeBano & Huntsberger 1991) or are susceptible to invasion by exotic plant species (Haskins & Gehring 2004;Korb, Johnson & Covington 2004). Even though fire historically played an important role in structuring forests and the EMF community in the Blue Mountains, the complexity of the historical condition, previous disturbances and the recovery potential of the site must be considered in plans to achieve the desired future condition (Neary et al 1999;Cromack et al 2000;Heyerdahl et al 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early impacts of forest restoration treatments on the ectomycorrhizal fungal community and fine root biomass in a mixed conifer forest

Smith

McKay

Brenner

et al. 2005

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1.The obligate symbiosis formed between ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) and roots of tree species in the Pinaceae influences nutrient uptake and surrounding soil structure. Understanding how EMF respond to prescribed fire and thinning will assist forest managers in selecting fuel-reducing restoration treatments that maintain critical soil processes and site productivity. 2. The response of EMF species richness, live fine root biomass and duff levels to various forms and combinations of thinning and burning was investigated in mixed ponderosa pine and Douglas fir stands in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. The below-ground community composition and structure of EMF at the site was characterized using molecular methods. 3. The EMF community consisted of a large number of infrequently detected species. The distribution of a few abundant species ( Cenococcum sp., Piloderma sp., Rhizopogon salebrosus and Wilcoxina rehmii ) in a majority of the treatments both before and after treatment application demonstrates that some EMF species survive or rapidly re-establish after disturbance. 4. EMF species richness, live root biomass and duff levels were reduced significantly by prescribed fire treatments compared to the non-burned treatments. Synthesis and applications.These results indicate that prescribed fire results in a short-term reduction in EMF species richness and live root biomass and may influence whether managers can achieve the desired future condition of stands with large-tree retention and low fuel loads. EMF mortality and complete duff reduction after fire have been implicated with poor tree survival and slow stand recovery in forest ecosystems world-wide. The results of this study, along with the recovery potential of a site, and the impending risk of stand-replacing wildfire in stands differing in structure from historic conditions, bear consideration when reintroducing fire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early impacts of forest restoration treatments on the ectomycorrhizal fungal community and fine root biomass in a mixed conifer forest

Smith

McKay

Brenner

et al. 2005

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…However, the successful reintroduction of fire into an ecosystem (where decades of wildfire suppression have resulted in heavy fuel accumulations) may not be as simple as selecting a single season to burn. It is important to consider the complexity of the historical condition and the recovery potential of the site (Cromack et al 2000). Clearly, the goal of reducing fuel loads must be tempered with retaining ponderosa pines established before Euro-American settlement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term effects of seasonal prescribed burning on the ectomycorrhizal fungal community and fine root biomass in ponderosa pine stands in the Blue Mountains of Oregon

Smith¹,

McKay²,

Niwa³

et al. 2004

Can. J. For. Res.

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The effects of seasonal prescribed fire on the belowground ectomycorrhizal community and live fine root biomass were investigated before, 1 year after, and 2 years after prescribed underburning. Ectomycorrhizas were sampled from four replications of three treatments (fall underburning, spring underburning, and a nonburned control) in a randomized complete block design. Samples were separated in two subsamples representing the upper 5 cm and lower 5 cm of a soil core. Molecular tools were used to distinguish 140 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) species of fungi directly from the ectomycorrhizas. Prior to underburning, the number of RFLP species and amount of live root biomass were similar among treatment units and between upper and lower core samples. Fall underburning largely removed live root biomass to a depth of 10 cm and significantly reduced ectomycorrhizal species richness compared with spring underburning and the nonburned control for at least 2 years. RFLP species richness and live root biomass following spring underburning were generally similar to the nonburned treatment. The successful reintroduction of fire to the ecosystem to retain high species diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi and achieve the desired future condition of large-tree ponderosa pine retention with low fuel loads may require more than underburning in a single season.Résumé : Les effets du brûlage dirigé saisonnier sur la communauté ectomycorhizienne dans le sol et la biomasse de racines fines vivantes ont été étudiés avant, 1 an après et 2 ans après un brûlage dirigé superficiel. Les ectomycorhizes ont été échantillonnées dans les quatre répétitions de trois traitements (brûlage automnal, brûlage printanier et témoin non brûlé) établis selon un dispositif en blocs aléatoires complets. Les échantillons ont été divisés en deux sous-échantillons représentant les parties supérieure (5 cm) et inférieure (5 cm) d'une carotte de sol. Des outils moléculaires ont été utilisés pour distinguer 140 espèces de champignons sur la base des RFLP directement à partir des ectomycorhizes. Avant le brûlage, le nombre d'espèces et la biomasse de racines vivantes étaient similaires entre toutes les parcelles expérimenta-les et entre les parties supérieure et inférieure des carottes de sol. Le brûlage automnal a pratiquement éliminé la biomasse de racines vivantes jusqu'à une profondeur de 10 cm et significativement réduit la richesse en espèces ectomycorhiziennes comparativement au brûlage printanier et au témoin non brûlé pendant au moins 2 ans. La richesse en espèces basées sur les RFLP et la biomasse de racines vivantes à la suite du brûlage printanier étaient généralement semblables au traitement non brûlé. La réintroduction réussie du feu dans l'écosystème dans le but de conserver une grande diversité d'espèces de champignons ectomycorhiziens et de recréer les conditions futures souhaitées pour conserver des pins ponderosa de forte dimension avec une faible quantité de combustibles pourrait exiger plus qu'un brûlage superficiel au cours ...

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“…Assignment of soil organic layer to C old or C new was practically impossible. Therefore, the soil organic layer was generally classified as C new , although even high intensity stand‐replacing fires do usually not consume the complete pre‐fire soil organic layer (Gorbachev and Popova, 1996; FIRESCAN science team, 1996; but see also Cromack et al, 2000). Mineral soil carbon was not included in the analysis, because soil carbon integrates over time‐scales much longer than stand longevity and, again, assignment to C old or C new is therefore not possible.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond annual budgets: carbon flux at different temporal scales in fire-prone Siberian Scots pine forests

2002

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Along four chronosequences of fire-prone Siberian Scots pine forests we compared net primary production (NPP) and two different mass-based estimates of net ecosystem productivity (NEPC and NEPS). NEPC quantifies changes in carbon pools along the chronosequences, whereas NEPS estimates the short-term stand-level carbon balance in intervals between fires. The chronosequences differed in the mean return interval of surface fires (unburned or moderately burned, 40 yr; heavily burned, 25 yr) and site quality (lichen versus Vaccinium type). Of the Vaccinium type (higher site quality) only a moderately burned chronosequence was studied. NEPC was derived from the rate of changes of two major carbon pools along the chronosequence time axes: (1) decomposition of old coarse woody debris (CWD) left from the previous generation after stand-replacing fire, and (2) accumulation of new carbon in biomass, CWD and soil organic layer by the regenerating stand. Young stands of all chronosequences were losing carbon at rates of -4 to -19 mol C m(-2) yr(-1) (-48 to -228 g C m(-2) yr(-1)). Depending on initial CWD pools and site-specific accumulation rates the stands became net carbon sinks after 12 yr (Vaccinium type) to 24 yr (lichen type) following the stand-replacing fire, and offset initial carbon losses after 27 and 70 yr, respectively. Highest NEPC was reached in the unburned chronosequence (10.8 mol C m(-2) yr(-1) or 136 g C m(-2) yr(-1)). Maximum NEPC in the burned chronosequences ranged from 1.8 to 5.1 mol C m(-2) yr(-1) (22 to 61 g C m(-2) yr(-1)) depending on site quality and fire regime. Around a stand age of 200 yrNEP(C) was 1.6 +/- 0.6 mol C m(-2) yr(-1) (19 +/- 7 g C m(-2) yr(-1)) across all chronosequences. NEPS represents the current stand-level carbon accumulation in intervals between recurring surface fires and can be viewed as a mass-based analogue of net ecosystem exchange measured with flux towers. It was estimated based on measurements of current woody NPP, modelled decomposition of measured CWD pools and organic layer accumulation as a function of time since the last surface fire, but ignores carbon dynamics in the mineral soil. In burned mature lichen type stands, NEPS was 6.2 +/- 2.6 mol C m(-2) yr(-1) (74 +/- 31 g C m(-2) yr(-1)) and thus five times higher than NEPC at the respective age (1.2 +/- 0.6 mol C m(-2) yr(-1) or 14 +/-7 g C m(-2) yr(-1)). Comparing NEPS and NEPC of mature stands, we estimate that 48% of NPP are consumed by heterotrophic respiration and additional 35% are consumed by recurrent surface fires. As expected, in unburned stands NEPC and NEPS were of similar magnitude. Exploring a site specific model of CWD production and decomposition we estimated that fire reduces the carbon pool of newly produced CWD by 70%. Direct observation revealed that surface fire events consume 50% of the soil organic layer carbon pool (excluding CWD). We conclude that surface fires strongly reduced NEPC. In ecosystems with frequent fire events direct flux measurements using eddy covariance are likely to record ...

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Chapter 8. Assessing the Impacts of Severe Fire on Forest Ecosystem Recovery

Cited by 15 publications

References 91 publications

Early impacts of forest restoration treatments on the ectomycorrhizal fungal community and fine root biomass in a mixed conifer forest

Early impacts of forest restoration treatments on the ectomycorrhizal fungal community and fine root biomass in a mixed conifer forest

Short-term effects of seasonal prescribed burning on the ectomycorrhizal fungal community and fine root biomass in ponderosa pine stands in the Blue Mountains of Oregon

Beyond annual budgets: carbon flux at different temporal scales in fire-prone Siberian Scots pine forests

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