FIRE REGIME AND THE ABUNDANCE OF RED PINE

Red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) is a fire-dependent species. This study examines the relationship between the fire regime and the abundance o f red pine. The fire regime is represented by components of the Canadi an Fire Weather Index System and outputs from the Canadian Fire Behavi or Prediction System as well as the average area burned and the percen tage of conifers of each forest section. Extreme as well as averages v alues were used in this analysis as a large forest fire is a rare even t that can occur on only a few days of the year under extreme fire wea ther conditions. Results from a forward-stepwise regression explained about 70% of die variance in red pine volume (abundance) data. Variabl es selected in the regression analysis included extreme headfire inten sity, area burned and average drought code. These results suggest that abundance of red pine and other fire affected tree species is directl y related to the aspects of the fire regime such as fire intensity.