Fire regimes of Appalachian mixed-hardwood communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of Appalachian mixed-hardwood communities. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/fire-regimes/appalachian-mixed-hardwoods
A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for Appalachian mixed-hardwood communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of Appalachian mixed-hardwood Biophysical Settings (BpS) provides estimates of fire regime characteristics (see LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings section). Figure 1 shows where these BpSs occur.
Figure 1—Land cover distribution of Appalachian mixed-hardwood Biophysical Settings (BpS).
| Biophysical Setting | Mean Fire Interval (years) | Fire Severity Percent (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Fire Regime Group | Low | Mixed | Replacement | All | Low | Mixed | Replacement |
| Series 13700 - Appalachian (Hemlock-)Northern Hardwood Forest | ||||||||
| 13700_53_61_62 | V-B | 1083 | 1036 | 529 | 0 | 49 | 51 | |
| 13700_60_63_64_65_66 | V-B | 1122 | 1010 | 531 | 0 | 47 | 53 | |
| Series 13090 - Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest | ||||||||
| 13090_53_57 | III-B | 341 | 665 | 681 | 169 | 50 | 25 | 25 |
| Summary | ||||||||
| Minimum | 341 | 665 | 681 | 169 | 0 | 25 | 25 | |
| Maximum | 341 | 1122 | 1036 | 531 | 50 | 49 | 53 | |
| Mean | 341 | 957 | 909 | 410 | 17 | 40 | 43 | |
| Median | 341 | 1083 | 1010 | 529 | 0 | 47 | 51 | |
| Percentage of fires in 3 fire severity classes, derived from LANDFIRE succession modeling. Replacement-severity fires cause >75% kill or top-kill of the upper canopy layer; mixed-severity fires cause 26%-75%; low-severity fires cause <26%. | ||||||||
| LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: https://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [96496] | ||||||||
1. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings layer, CONUS (LANDFIRE 2.2.0). In: LANDFIRE download data mosaic products, [Online]. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey; U.S. Department of Agriculture (Producer). Available: https://www.landfire.gov/version_download.php [2023, June 20]. [98050]
2. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: http://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [2022, February 2]. [96496]