Longleaf pine proximity effects on air temperatures and hardwood top-kill from prescribed fire

Abstract

Background: Regulation of the dominance of resprouting understory hardwoods is a common objective for prescribed fire in open-canopy longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) woodland of the southeastern USA. Nevertheless, little is known about the influence of individual pines on fire and hardwood mortality. We studied growing-season fires in stem-mapped stands in southwest Georgia, USA; the stands displayed large variation in structure due to cutting treatments applied seven years earlier. We measured air temperature and heating duration, and measured post-fire sprouting behavior of four guilds of understory hardwoods: mesic oaks (Quercus spp. L.), upland oaks, xeric oaks, and fleshy-fruited hardwoods. Mean air temperature (i.e., of flames, buoyant plume, and smoldering combustion) and heating duration (time over 60 °C) were analyzed with respect to fuel-bed conditions and neighboring tree density. Hardwood top-kill was analyzed with respect to neighboring tree density and hardwood height. Results: The basal area of nearby pines strongly affected heating duration (time over 60 °C), which increased linearly from a mean of 87 s to a mean of 234 s across a gradient of pine basal area from 0 to 30 m2 ha−1. Mean air temperature during prescribed fire was unaffected by pine density but increased linearly from a mean of 114 °C to a mean of 148 °C across a gradient of wiregrass (Aristida stricta Michx.) cover from 0 to 100%, respectively. Neighborhood models showed that time over 60 °C during the burns was longest at the base of pines and decreased by two thirds at 3.3 m distance. Pines affected hardwood top-kill probability at a similar scale, the effect at 4.4 m decreasing by two thirds compared to at the base of the pine. The four hardwood guilds were readily top-killed when ≤1 m tall, but at 2 m height, upland and xeric oaks had become more resistant to top-kill than mesic oaks or fleshy-fruited hardwoods. Conclusions: The influence of individual pine trees on heating duration and top-kill power of prescribed fire drops by two thirds of maximum within 3 to 4 m of a tree, compared to a maximum at the base of the tree. Neighborhood models provide a method to estimate tree effects on prescribed fire heating duration and top-kill probability, and thus a way of predicting stand structures that provide ecological benefits of openings while remaining below thresholds that trigger vigorous hardwood response.