Restoring fire to forests: Contrasting the effects on soils of prescribed fire and wildfire [Chapter 12]

Abstract

Fire is a dynamic process, predictable but uncertain, that varies over time and landscape space. It is an integral component of most temperate wildland ecosystems and has shaped plant communities for as long as vegetation and lightning have existed on earth (Pyne, 1982; Scott, 2000). Wildland fire occurs across a spectrum ranging from low severity, localized prescribed fires to landscape-level, high-severity wildfires that affect vegetation, soils, water, fauna, air, and cultural resources (Brown and Smith, 2000; Smith, 2000; Sandberg et al., 2002; Neary et al., 2005; Zouhar et al., 2008; Bento-Gonc¸alves et al., 2012). Knowledge of fire effects has risen in importance to land managers because fire, as a disturbance process, is an integral part of the concept of ecosystem management and restoration ecology. Fire is an intrusive disturbance in both managed and wildland forests. It initiates changes in ecosystems that affect the composition, structure, and patterns of vegetation on the landscape. It also affects the soil and water resources of ecosystems that are critical to overall functions and processes (DeBano et al., 1998).

Citation

Neary, Daniel G.; Leonard, Jackson M. 2020. Restoring fire to forests: Contrasting the effects on soils of prescribed fire and wildfire [Chapter 12]. In: Stanturf, John A.; Callaham, Mac A., Jr., eds. Soils and Landscape Restoration. Academic Press. p. 337-360.