Prescribed fire as a tool to regenerate live and dead serotinous jack pine (Pinus banksiana) stands
Maria Sharpe A B C , Hyejin Hwang A , David Schroeder B , Soung Ryoul Ryu A and Victor J. Lieffers A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada.
B Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Government of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T5K 2M4, Canada.
C Corresponding author. Email: maria.sharpe@gov.ab.ca
International Journal of Wildland Fire 26(6) 478-484 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF17046
Submitted: 1 December 2016 Accepted: 22 April 2017 Published: 6 June 2017
Abstract
This study documents cone opening and natural regeneration of jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) after burning live and dead stands similar to those killed by the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae). Trees were killed by girdling in May and were burned in late July, 26 months later. Pairs of live and dead plots were simultaneously burned using three types of fire: surface, intermittent crown and continuous crown fires. Each type of fire was replicated three times; the nine pairs of burns were completed in a 4-day period. After fire, more cones were opened on dead trees than live trees. On dead trees, there was cone opening even when fire charred only the lower part of the bole. Three years after burning, dead stands with continuous crown fires had some of the densest regeneration and the highest rates of stocking. Across all burns in this study, seedling regeneration was best in shallow residual duff and in the more intensely burned plots. Without burning, there was virtually no regeneration 5 years after mortality. The results also show that burning, especially under continuous crown fire, could be used to promote regeneration in dead stands.
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