As part of the multidisciplinary National Fire and Fire Surrogate study, we used drift fences with pitfall traps from May to September 2003 and 2004 to determine how three fuel reduction techniques affected shrews in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Grounddwelling macroarthropods also were collected from a subset of pitfall traps to assess relative prey availability among t...

Maintenance of longleaf pine ecosystems requires repeated fire. Past research has indicated that in some situations, regular burning decreases longleaf pine productivity. Growth reductions may be attributed to fire-induced loss of leaf area. It is possible that the loss of leaf area is a function of both fire intensity and the stage of flush development at the time of burning. The objective of ...

Particulate matter emissions (PM10) from open-air burning of dry leaves were sampled and analysed for a series of organic and inorganic species, including carbon fractions, anhydrosugars, humic-like substances (HULIS), water-soluble ions, metals and organic trace components. The study was performed to investigate whether open-air burning of leaves in rural areas is a potential source of high am...

Plant leaf cuticle is related to the prevention of moisture loss, transpiration, and diffusion of light reflection. The purpose of this study was to examine the morphological characteristics of ginseng leaves in ginseng plants resistant and susceptible to high temperature injury (HTI) to be related with the leaf-burning. For the HTI resistant lines Yunpoong, high-temperature injury resistance (...

1. Environmental heterogeneity created by prescribed burning provided the context for testing whether the distribution of an oak specialist (the lace bug, Corythuca arcuata ) could be explained by stoichiometric mismatches between herbivore and host plant composition. 2. Field observations showed that lace bug density was seven-fold higher in frequently burned than in unburned units. 3. Lace bu...

1. Environmental heterogeneity created by prescribed burning provided the context for testing whether the distribution of an oak specialist (the lace bug, Corythuca arcuata ) could be explained by stoichiometric mismatches between herbivore and host plant composition. 2. Field observations showed that lace bug density was seven-fold higher in frequently burned than in unburned units. 3. Lace bu...

Tropical grasses fuel the majority of fires on Earth. In fire-prone landscapes, enhanced flammability may be adaptive for grasses via the maintenance of an open canopy and an increase in spatiotemporal opportunities for recruitment and regeneration. In addition, by burning intensely but briefly, high flammability may protect resprouting buds from lethal temperatures. Despite these potential ben...

According to an established concept, injury of the phloem triggers local sieve plate occlusion including callose-mediated constriction and, possibly, protein plugging of the sieve pores. Sieve plate occlusion can also be achieved by distant stimuli, depends on the passage of electropotential waves (EPWs), and is reversible in intact plants. The time-course of the wound response was studied in s...

According to an established concept, injury of the phloem triggers local sieve plate occlusion including callose-mediated constriction and, possibly, protein plugging of the sieve pores. Sieve plate occlusion can also be achieved by distant stimuli, depends on the passage of electropotential waves (EPWs), and is reversible in intact plants. The time-course of the wound response was studied in s...