Md. Cain et al., PRESCRIBED FIRE EFFECTS ON STRUCTURE IN UNEVEN-AGED STANDS OF LOBLOLLY AND SHORTLEAF PINES, Wildlife Society bulletin, 26(2), 1998, pp. 209-218
Structure was assessed in uneven-aged stands of loblolly (Pinus taeda)
and shortleaf pine (P. echinata) that were subjected to prescribed wi
nter burns on cycles of 0, 3, 6, and 9 years. Vegetation assessments w
ere made in late summer of 1990, 10 years after a single hardwood cont
rol treatment (basal injection of nonpine woody plants >2.5 cm in grou
ndline diameter with Tordon(R) 101R); 1 year after the fourth 3-year b
urn cycle; 4 years after the second 6-year burn cycle; and 1 year afte
r the second 9-year burn cycle. Compared to unburned controls, prescri
bed burning tended to increase (P less than or equal to 0.008) percent
ground cover from graminoids and composites. For understory woody pla
nts that were >1 m tall but <2.5 cm diameter breast height (dbh), Amer
ican beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) had the greatest percent groun
d cover on burned and unburned plots. Horizontal cover between 0- and
3-m height tended to average less (P less than or equal to 0.002) with
more frequent prescribed burning and with shorter time since-burning.
There were no burn treatment differences in density (P = 0.199, beta
= 0.853) or basal area (P = 0.477, beta = 0.898) for sapling-size stem
s (2.5-8.9 cm dbh), but species diversity of saplings was lower (P = 0
.002) on plots prescribe burned at 3-year intervals as compared to oth
er treatments.