Fire regimes of Appalachian oak-hickory communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of Appalachian oak-hickory 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-oak-hickory
A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for Appalachian oak-hickory communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of Appalachian oak-hickory 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 oak-hickory Biophysical Settings (BpS).
| Biophysical Setting | Mean Fire Interval (years) | Fire Severity Percent (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Fire Regime Group | Low | Mixed | Replacement | All | Low | Mixed | Replacement |
| Series 13170 - Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland | ||||||||
| 13170_57_61 | I-B | 15 | 59 | 123 | 11 | 73 | 18 | 9 |
| 13170_48_53 | I-B | 6 | 1199 | 91 | 6 | 93 | 1 | 6 |
| 13170_62 | I-B | 11 | 117 | 37 | 8 | 72 | 7 | 21 |
| Series 14130 - Bluegrass Savanna and Woodland | ||||||||
| 14130_47 | I-C | 62 | 132 | 81 | 28 | 45 | 21 | 34 |
| Series 13200 - Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest | ||||||||
| 13200_48_57_61 | I-C | 33 | 95 | 147 | 21 | 64 | 22 | 14 |
| Series 14270 - East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Prairie and Barrens | ||||||||
| 14270_47 | I-B | 12 | 34 | 18 | 6 | 50 | 17 | 33 |
| Series 14570 - South-Central Interior/Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods | ||||||||
| 14570_47_48 | I-B | 9 | 118 | 189 | 8 | 89 | 7 | 4 |
| Series 13150 - Southern Appalachian Oak Forest | ||||||||
| 13150_48_53_57_59_61 | I-B | 16 | 138 | 604 | 14 | 88 | 10 | 2 |
| Series 13300 - Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest | ||||||||
| 13300_46_48_54_55_56_99 | I-B | 8 | 98 | 197 | 7 | 89 | 7 | 4 |
| Series 13050 - Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest | ||||||||
| 13050_53 | II-A | 15 | 1007 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 88 |
| 13050_47_48 | II-A | 21 | 199 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 3 | 77 |
| Series 13760 - Southern Ridge and Valley/Cumberland Dry Calcareous Forest | ||||||||
| 13760_48_53_57_61 | I-B | 8 | 109 | 187 | 7 | 90 | 6 | 4 |
| Summary | ||||||||
| Minimum | 6 | 34 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 2 | |
| Maximum | 62 | 1199 | 604 | 28 | 93 | 22 | 88 | |
| Mean | 18 | 275 | 140 | 10 | 65 | 10 | 25 | |
| Median | 14 | 118 | 107 | 8 | 73 | 7 | 12 | |
| 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]