Influences of Overstory Pyrophytic and Mesophytic Trees and Understory Solar Irradiance on Leaf Litter and Woody Debris Fuel Moisture Retention

Abstract

Following decades of fire exclusion, open-canopied, pyrophytic oak (Quercus spp.) and pine (Pinus spp.) landscapes across the central and Eastern United States are shifting to closed-canopied forests with a dense midstory occupied by shade-tolerant, often fire-sensitive species (i.e., mesophytes) (Alexander and others 2021). Encroaching species may create an understory with increased moisture due to lower solar irradiance beneath the canopy (Alexander and others 2021), and increased small leaf litter, which may compact fuel beds and decrease water evaporation (Cornwell and others 2015, Varner and others 2015), and increase woody debris (MacMillan 1988).

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 22nd Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference

Citation

Lazzaro, Luiza G.; Alexander, Heather D.; Cannon, Jeffrey B.; Aspinwall, Michael J. 2024. Influences of Overstory Pyrophytic and Mesophytic Trees and Understory Solar Irradiance on Leaf Litter and Woody Debris Fuel Moisture Retention. In: Bragg, Don C.; Oswald, Brian P.; Koerth, Nancy E., eds. Proceedings of the 22nd biennial southern silvicultural research conference. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-274. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 80–82. https://doi.org/10.2737/SRS-GTR-274-Pap12.