A preliminary investigation on the feasibility of preharvest burning for shrub control

Abstract

Historically, fire was a natural component in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-mixed conifer ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada of California. Wildfires may have reduced the number of shrub seeds in the soil, as well as the density of mature shrubs and young hardwoods, thereby allowing conifers to reinvade a site after disturbance, and grow with reduced competition. With fire suppression activities beginning around the turn of the century, seed populations in the soils of the forest floor, and densities of resprouting shrubs, have increased and created a serious reforestation problem after harvest. In 1983, a study was initiated to examine the feasibility of prescribed preharvest burning as a method of shrub control. Four burn treatments of varying seasonal and fuel consumption levels were tested. Shrub mortality rates higher than 80 percent were observed in high consumption burns. The late spring burns appeared to have the most impact as it relates to killing resprouting shrubs. This season corresponds to the time in which the shrubs are actively growing and, presumably are more susceptible to damage by fire. Densities of shrub seedlings that germinated following the prescribed burns were as high as 275,000 per acre.

Citation

Kauffman, J.B.; Martin, R.E. 1985. A preliminary investigation on the feasibility of preharvest burning for shrub control. In: Proceedings, 6th Annual Conference on Forest Vegetation Management. Forest Vegetation Management Conference: 89-114.