Site preparation burning to improve southern Appalachian pine-hardwood stands: fire characteristics and soil erosion, moisture, and temperature’

SWIM, L.W., JR., ELLIOTT, K.J., OTTMAR, R.D., and VIHNANEK , R.E. 1993. Site preparation burning to improve southern Appalachian pine-hardwood stands: fire characteristics and soil erosion, moisture, and temperature. Can. J. For. Res. 23: 2242-2254. Three southern Appalachian stands with sparse and unproductive pine-hardwood overstories and dense Kalmia latifolia L. understories were treated to restore productivity and diversity on steep slopes. An adaptation of the fell and burn practice was applied in summer and fall 1990. About one-half of the woody fuels were consumed at each site. A range of fire intensities was observed. Flame temperatures approached 800°C but the heat pulse into the forest floor only reached 60°C at 5 cm. Humus and charred leaf litter remained on most of the surface after burning. Evidence of soil erosion was spotty and related to points of local soil disturbance. No soil left the sites. At the end of the first growing season, 23% of the burned surfaces were covered by growing plants and 62% by residual forest floor and woody debris. Felling and burning reduced evapotranspiration so that soil in the treated areas remained moister than under adjacent uncut stands. Opening the sites increased soil temperatures 2 to 5°C at IO cm during the first 16 months after treatment.