PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #18: Fire Ecology I.
Tuesday, August 6. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Effects of prescribed fire and thinning on the woody regeneration stratum in central Appalachian mixed-oak forests.

ALBRECHT, MATTHEW^*,1, MCCARTHY, BRIAN¹, ¹ Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

ABSTRACT- Reducing undesirable species and promoting oak regeneration remains a central focus of forest ecosystem management in the eastern United States. Prescribed fires and thinning treatments are presently considered the most viable methods for controlling structure and species composition at the regeneration stage. The objective of our study was to examine how prescribed fire and thinning influence the structure of the woody regeneration stratum in central Appalachian mixed-oak forests. Three study sites, each containing a control unit (CU), thin unit (TU), thin-burn unit (TBU), and burn unit (BU), were established in southern Ohio (2000). In a stratified sampling design we recorded by species the density of saplings in 30-100m² plots and density of woody seedlings in 200-1m² quadrats. Prescribed thinning and prescribed surface fires were applied in the winter (2000) and spring (2001), respectively. Orthogonal contrasts indicate treatments significantly altered sapling and seedling densities relative to the control (p <0.01). Sapling abundance significantly decreased in the TBU and BU compared to the CU (p <0.05). However, TU sapling abundance showed no differences relative to the CU and BU (p >0.05), but was greater than the TBU (p <0.05). Seedling abundance was greater in TBU and BU compared to both the CU and TU (p <0.05). Our results parallel similar studies that report a marked increased in seedling density, and a significant reduction in the sapling stratum following fire and thinning treatments.

KEY WORDS: fire; vegetation dynamics; oak regeneration