Fire regimes of southeastern mixed hardwood communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of southeastern 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/southeastern-mixed-hardwoods
A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for southeastern mixed hardwood communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of southeastern 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 southeastern 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 13160 - Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest | ||||||||
| 13160_54_57_59_61 | III-A | 52 | 348 | 510 | 42 | 80 | 12 | 8 |
| 13160_60 | III-A | 52 | 355 | 499 | 41 | 80 | 12 | 8 |
| Series 13570 - Southern Coastal Plain Mesic Slope Forest | ||||||||
| 13570_46_47_55_58_99 | I-C | 52 | 159 | 402 | 35 | 69 | 22 | 9 |
| Series 15090 - Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest | ||||||||
| 15090_45_47 | III-A | 88 | 106 | 479 | 44 | 49 | 41 | 10 |
| Series 13250 - East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Slope Forest | ||||||||
| 13250_46_47_48 | III-A | 52 | 159 | 404 | 36 | 69 | 22 | 9 |
| Series 13270 - East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest | ||||||||
| 13270_45_46_47 | III-A | 152 | 356 | 394 | 84 | 55 | 24 | 21 |
| Series 13430 - Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest | ||||||||
| 13430_54_55 | III-A | 52 | 159 | 394 | 36 | 69 | 22 | 9 |
| 13430_58_60 | III-A | 43 | 382 | 479 | 36 | 83 | 9 | 8 |
| Series 13220 - Southern Crowley`s Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest | ||||||||
| 13220_45 | III-A | 88 | 107 | 483 | 44 | 50 | 41 | 9 |
| Series 15130 - Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods | ||||||||
| 15130_45 | III-A | 95 | 162 | 395 | 52 | 55 | 32 | 13 |
| Series 13290 - East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest | ||||||||
| 13290_45_46_99 | III-A | 69 | 189 | 218 | 41 | 59 | 22 | 19 |
| Summary | ||||||||
| Minimum | 43 | 106 | 218 | 35 | 49 | 9 | 8 | |
| Maximum | 152 | 382 | 510 | 84 | 83 | 41 | 21 | |
| Mean | 72 | 226 | 423 | 45 | 65 | 24 | 11 | |
| Median | 52 | 162 | 404 | 41 | 69 | 22 | 9 | |
| 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]