Perspectives on Trends, Effectiveness, and Impediments to Prescribed Burning in the Southern U.S.

Diversity and Distributions

Leone

et al. 2019

Aim To assess the drivers of plant functional group richness and beta diversity in fire‐maintained North American Coastal Plain (NACP) savannas. Location The southern portion of the NACP, a global biodiversity hotspot. This region is characterized by fire‐dependent pine savanna fragments that are isolated within a matrix of agriculture, urban development, non‐pyrogenic plant communities and plantation forestry. Methods We used nested quadrats to sample plant species on 30 fire‐maintained savanna preserves in Florida and Georgia, USA. We analysed between‐site Sørenson dissimilarity, a measure of beta diversity, using NMDS and PerMANOVA. We measured nestedness using NODF, and we used Betapart to partition Sørenson dissimilarity into nestedness and turnover components. We used linear and generalized linear mixed models to explore drivers of functional group richness and composition, including fire regime (return interval, number of fires, time since fire and seasonality), vegetation structure (herbaceous cover, woody cover and tree density) and spatial factors (surrounding landscape and geographic distance). Results We found turnover‐dominated beta‐diversity patterns in all functional groups. Turnover was explained partly by spatial and environmental gradients, but roughly half of the turnover between sites was unexplained. Species richness was higher on sites where fire and fire surrogates had been used longer and more consistently, and these effects were partly independent of current vegetation structure. Fire regimes containing more growing season fire and more diversity of burn seasons promoted higher species richness. Relationships between small‐scale and large‐scale species richness varied by soil type and functional group. Main conclusions Fire‐maintained savannas in the southeastern NACP vary greatly in their plant functional group richness, but high beta diversity resulting primarily from species turnover suggests that even species‐poor sites can harbour less‐common members of the regional plant metacommunity. Prescribed fire regimes that include growing season fire as well as a diversity of burn seasons may best promote species and functional group richness.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of plant functional group richness and beta diversity in fire‐dependent pine savannas

Freeman

Diversity and Distributions

Leone

et al. 2019

“…They search for the best fuel treatments, fire ecology thresholds, and conditions promoting ecological resilience and reduced wildfire severity [8,9,25,26]. However, there are few studies that analyze the perception of prescribed fire amongst the groups actively engaged in wildland fire management; those that exist have focused on perceptions in the US [7,27].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of prescribed fire is one option for landowners and managers to reduce the negative consequences of wildland fires [4,7]. Prescribed burning can be used to decrease fire risk or fuel load, to and job position.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practitioner Perceptions of Wildland Fire Management across South Europe and Latin America

Molina-Terrén

Cardíl

2016

Forests

Self Cite

Wildfire presents a challenge to natural resource managers the world over, and the intentional setting of fires can be used to alleviate some of the challenges associated with wildfire management. Prescribed burning can be used prior to wildfires to reduce fuel loads and promote ecological integrity in fire-adapted systems, while suppression burning can help firefighters control the direction, extent, and intensity of wildfire behavior under extreme conditions. In both cases, the success of intentional fire use depends on training, knowledge, experience, and institutional and social support. The influence of these factors can significantly impact whether fire use is perceived as positive or negative, increasing or decreasing, and whether managers are supportive of its incorporation into their management planning and decision-making. Perceived impediments to fire use are likely to differ based on location, level of training and experience, and even the social context of fire management specific to different job positions in natural resource management. In order to explore how managers and stakeholders across the world perceive fire use, we surveyed over 700 respondents from 12 countries and three continents. This study represents the largest survey of perceptions on managed fire use ever conducted. Perceptions differed across age categories, job positions, and regions. Countries or regions with larger amounts of wildfire area burned tended to be more supportive of fire use for suppression, while countries with less wildfire had less positive perceptions of fire use for either prescribed or suppression burning. Bureaucracy and social perceptions were identified as impediments to using prescribed fire prior to wildfire occurrence, but neither were identified as impediments to fire use during suppression procedures. Across the countries, fire use in suppression was viewed more positively than prescribed fire use prior to wildfire occurrence.

“…In the southern US, the use of prescribed burning to restore historical fire regimes has strong institutional support; it is ubiquitously applied for a broad range of resource benefits (Kobziar et al . ; Melvin ), which are familiar to both the general public and land management personnel. Across the western US, however, wildfire suppression is favored over prescribed burning, which is carried out relatively infrequently due to a number of factors, including limited institutional capacity (Quinn‐Davidson and Varner ; Schultz et al .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Is fire “for the birds”? How two rare species influence fire management across the US

Stephens

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

Collins

et al. 2019

The US Endangered Species Act has enabled species conservation but has differentially impacted fire management and rare bird conservation in the southern and western US. In the South, prescribed fire and restoration‐based forest thinning are commonly used to conserve the endangered red‐cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis; RCW), whereas in the West, land managers continue to suppress fire across the diverse habitats of the northern, Californian, and Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis subspecies; SO). Although the habitat needs of the RCW and SO are not identical, substantial portions of both species’ ranges have historically been exposed to relatively frequent, low‐ to moderate‐intensity fires. Active management with fire and thinning has benefited the RCW but proves challenging in the western US. We suggest the western US could benefit from the adoption of a similar innovative approach through policy, public–private partnerships, and complementarity of endangered species management with multiple objectives. These changes would likely balance long‐term goals of SO conservation and enhance forest resilience.