Pile burning creates a fifty-year legacy of openings in regenerating lodgepole pine forests in Colorado

Rhoades, Charles C.; Fornwalt, Paula J.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2014.10.011

Cited by 34 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The ecological consequences of pile burning are a concern for land managers interested in vegetation recovery and/or restoring native understory plant diversity. Some studies have suggested that burn scars can contribute to the establishment of non‐native plant species (Haskins & Gehring ; Korb et al ; Owen et al ) while others have found very little or no invasion of non‐native plants inside burn scars (Creech et al ; Halpern et al ; Rhoades & Fornwalt ). A study in the Colorado Front Range showed a fast recovery of burn scars, with no differences in native graminoid and forb cover between burn scars and unburned exteriors 2 years after burning (Rhoades et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understory responses to restoration in aspen‐conifer forests around the Lake Tahoe Basin: residual stand attributes predict recovery

Dagley

Berrill

Coppeto

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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The removal of conifers from aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands is being undertaken throughout the western United States to restore aspen for local-and landscape-level biodiversity. Current practices include mechanically removing conifers or hand thinning, piling, and burning cut conifers in and adjacent to aspen-conifer stands. To evaluate the effectiveness of restoration treatments, we examined tree regeneration and herbaceous vegetation cover in thinned, thinned and pile burned, and nonthinned control stands. Growth rates of small conifer saplings threatening to outcompete and replace aspen were also measured. Two to four years after pile burning, herbaceous vegetation cover within the footprint of burned piles (i.e. burn scars) was 35-73% of that in adjacent areas. Aspen was more likely to regenerate inside burn scars where fewer surrounding trees were true firs. Conifer seedlings were more likely to regenerate in burn scars where more of the surrounding trees were conifers (pine or fir) as opposed to aspen. Fir saplings had much slower growth than did aspen saplings. Overall, our findings show that restoration treatments are promoting desirable outcomes such as enhancing aspen regeneration but that follow-up treatments will be needed to remove numerous conifer seedlings becoming established after restoration activities. Eliminating conifers, while they are small, growing slowly, and contributing little to fuel loads may be an economical way to prolong restoration treatment effectiveness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understory responses to restoration in aspen‐conifer forests around the Lake Tahoe Basin: residual stand attributes predict recovery

Dagley

Berrill

Coppeto

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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“…For example, Thorpe and Timmer (2005) reported increased growth of jack pine (Pinus banksiana) seedlings three years after planting in slash-pile-burn plots compared to control plots in northeastern Ontario. On the other hand, Rhoades and Fornwalt (2015) reported that slash pile burning created poorly stocked openings in naturally regenerating lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenhouse gas emission effect of suspending slash pile burning in Ontario's managed forests

Ter‐Mikaelian

Colombo

Chen

2016

The Forestry Chronicle

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Ontario has made a commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15, 37, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2020, 2030, and 2050, respectively. Ontario's forest managers can contribute to meeting these targets by implementing changes to forestry practices that either reduce emissions from operations or increase carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems and harvested wood products. We present an analysis of the effects on GHG emissions resulting from suspending the current management practice of slash pile burning (burning harvest residue in the forest without energy recovery). The analysis was performed for each of Ontario's forest management units (FMU) with assumed suspension of slash pile burning for four different

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“…These fires can have dramatic impacts [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Slash pile burning consumes soil organic material exposing mineral soil [8] and alters soil chemical characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slash Pile Burn Scar Restoration: Tradeoffs between Abundance of Non-Native and Native Species

Sexton

Turk

Ringer

et al. 2020

Forests

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The accumulation of live and dead trees and other vegetation in forests across the western United States is producing larger and more severe wildfires. To decrease wildfire severity and increase forest resilience, foresters regularly remove excess fuel by burning woody material in piles. This common practice could also cause persistent ecosystem changes such as the alteration of soil physical and chemical properties due to extreme soil heating, which can favor invasion by non-native plant species. The abundance and species richness of native plant communities may also remain depressed for many years after burning has removed vegetation and diminished propagules in the soil. This adds to the vulnerability of burned areas to the colonization and dominance by invasive species. Research into the use of revegetation techniques following pile burning to suppress invasion is limited. Studies conducted in various woodland types that investigated revegetation of pile burn scars have met with varying success. To assess the effectiveness of restoring pile burn scars in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, we monitored vegetation in 26 scars, each about 5 m in diameter, the growing season after burning. Later that summer, we selected 14 scars for restoration that included soil scarification, seed addition, and pine duff mulch cover. We monitored the scars for four years, pre-restoration, and three years post-restoration and found that the cover of seeded species exceeded the surrounding unburned areas and unseeded controls. The restoration seeding suppressed cover of non-native species as well as native species that were not seeded during restoration. Our results suggest that restoration of pile burn scars could be a useful tool to retard the establishment of invasive plant species when there are pre-existing infestations near scars. However, this must be weighed against the simultaneous suppression of native species recruitment. Monitoring for periods more than three years will help us understand how long the suppression of native and non-native species by restoration species may persist.

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Pile burning creates a fifty-year legacy of openings in regenerating lodgepole pine forests in Colorado

Cited by 34 publications

References 31 publications

Understory responses to restoration in aspen‐conifer forests around the Lake Tahoe Basin: residual stand attributes predict recovery

Understory responses to restoration in aspen‐conifer forests around the Lake Tahoe Basin: residual stand attributes predict recovery

Greenhouse gas emission effect of suspending slash pile burning in Ontario's managed forests

Slash Pile Burn Scar Restoration: Tradeoffs between Abundance of Non-Native and Native Species

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