Patch Structure, Fire-scar Formation, and Tree Regeneration in a Large Mixed-severity Fire in the South Dakota Black Hills

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Canadian Journal of Forest Research

Publication Date

2005

Issue

12

Volume

35

Publisher

NRC Research Press

First Page

2875

Last Page

2885

Abstract

We compared patch structure, fire-scar formation, and seedling regeneration in patches of low, moderate, and high burn severity following the large (~34 000 ha) Jasper fire of 2000 that occurred in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) forests of the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. This fire created a patchy mosaic of effects, where 25% of the landscape burned as low, 48% as moderate, and 27% as high severity. Dead cambium on a significant portion of tree circumference in a tree with live cambium and a vigorous crown was taken as evidence of incipient fire-scar formation. Tree mortality was approximately 21%, 52%, and 100% in areas of low, moderate, and high burn severity, respectively. Dead cambium was detected on approximately 24% and 44% of surviving trees in low and moderate burn severity patches, respectively. Three years postfire, regeneration densities were approximately 612 and 450 seedlings per hectare in low and moderate burn severity patches, respectively, and no regeneration was observed in the interior of high burn severity patches. Fire-scars will be found on 73% of the area burned in this fire, and large patches of multicohort forest will be created. Mixed-severity fire may have been common historically in the Black Hills, and in conjunction with frequent surface fire, played an important role in shaping a spatially heterogeneous, multicohort ponderosa pine forest.

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