Firi?, and Silvicultu . Recent Advances in the Silvicultural Use of Prescribed Fire

Although the silvicultural use of prescribed fire has been researched for almost 70 years, new advances are still being made. These advaace~ are primarily the result of (1) a better under%andktg of fire as an ecological process and (2) the use of this knowledge to restore declining ecosystems, save threatened and endangered species, enhance natural beauty, and regulate composition and structure of plak communit ies . The role of growing-season f ires , avoided in the past century, in shaping the composi t ion and structure of longleaf pine (Pinu pulwti) easystcms has recently been established. Silvicultural prescriptions for using prescribed fire to benefit oak (Quercur spp.) regeneration on good sites have been developed. Prescribed fire is being used to restore the historical character and heal th of ponderosa pine (P. ponderosu) ecosystems in the sduthwestem United States and to regenerate Table Mountain (P. pungens) and pitch pine (P. rigida) ecosystems in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Guidelines also have been developed for using prescribed fire to thin dense natural stands of loblolly pine (P. tie&). Ongoing research continues to identify new uses of prescribed tire to enable ecosystemmanagement to become a more fully implemented paradigm in the twenty-first century. keywords: biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, oak regeneration, prescribed burning, thinning. Citation: Van Lear, D.H. 2000. Recent advances in tde silvicultural use of prescribed fire. Pages 183-189 in W. Keith Moser and Cynth ia E Moser (eds .) . Fi ie and forest ecology: innovat ive s i lv icul ture and vegetat ion management. Tal l Ti ibers Fire Ecology Conference Proceedings,.No. 21. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee. FL,.