Prescribed Fire Effects on Deciduous Oak Woodland Stand Structure,Northern Diablo Range,California |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Washington, College of the Environment, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS), United States;2. University of Idaho, Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences, United States;3. USDA-FS, PNW Research Station, University of Washington, College of the Environment, SEFS, United States;1. U.S. Geological Survey, Redwood Field Station, Arcata, CA 95521, USA;2. National Park Service, National Interagency Fire Center, Boise, ID 83705, USA;3. Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA;1. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Box 352100, Seattle, WA 98195-2100, USA;2. USDA Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 620 SW Main St., Suite 400, Portland, OR 97205, USA;3. Conservation Biology Institute, 136 SW Washington Avenue, Suite 202, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA;4. Washington Department of Natural Resources, PO Box 47000, 1111 Washington Street SE, Olympia, WA 98504-7000, USA;5. USDA Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;1. Conservation Biology Institute, 10423 Sierra Vista Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91941, USA;2. U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Sequoia–Kings Canyon Field Station, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271, USA;3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA;4. Department of Geography, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, MS 3021, Moscow, ID 83844-3021, USA |
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| Abstract: | Despite the increasing use of fire in managing oak woodlands, little information exists on quantitative changes to stand structure from prescribed burning. Fire damage and recovery in a mixed deciduous oak woodland were recorded after a prescribed fire on the northern Diablo Range, Santa Clara County, California. Blue oak (Quercus douglasii Hook. & Arn.), valley oak (Q. lobata Nee), and black oak (Q. kelloggii Newb.) trees were monitored for 4 yr to determine the effects of a late spring burn on stand structural characteristics. Fire-caused mortality was low; 4 yr after the low intensity ground fire only four oaks died (1.9%). There were significant differences in mean percent tree crown scorch and mean trunk char height between plots that burned under different fire intensities, but not between tree size classes. Although overall tree damage was low, crown resprouts developed on 80% of the trees and were found as shortly as 2 wk after the fire. Recovery was vigorous; both valley oaks and blue oaks produced crown resprouts on trees with 100% crown scorch. Classification tree analysis identified aspect (mostly southern exposures) and tree size related to the presence of crown resprouting. Crown damage was also an important factor; trees with greater than 40% of their crown scorched resprouted. Fire-induced trunk scars occurred on a small number of trees (9.1%) but was disproportionately higher for black oak compared to blue and valley oak. Stand structural characteristics (species composition, tree density, basal area, and crown closure) were not substantially altered by the event but rather maintained. Prescribed fire might be a viable tool in reducing fuels and maintaining oak woodlands; however, further investigations that include relationships of regeneration with repeated fire are needed. |
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