Prescribed fire effects on advanced regeneration in mixed hardwood stands

Abstract

Fire treatments were initiated in 1990 to evaluate effects of low-intensity prescribed fires on composition and structure of the advanced regeneration pool under mature mixed-hardwood stands on upland sites in the Piedmont of South Carolina. One spring burn was as effective as three winter burns in reducing midstory density, considered a prerequisite for subsequent development of oak (Quercus spp.) advanced regeneration. Burning increased the number of oak rootstocks, reduced the relative position of competing species, and increased root-to-shoot ratios of oak stems in the regeneration layer. These favorable effects of fire on oak regeneration outweigh the removal of small, poorly formed oak stems from the midstory/understory strata during burning. Prescribed burning in hardwood forests may solve some of the current oak regeneration problems, especially on better upland sites in the South.