Season of prescribed burn in ponderosa pine forests in eastern Oregon: impact on pine mortality*
Walter G. Thies A D , Douglas J. Westlind A and Mark Loewen B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 3200 Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
B USDA Forest Service, Malheur National Forest, Emigrant Creek Ranger District, Hines, OR 97738, USA.
C Present address: Dixie National Forest, Cedar City, UT 84720, USA.
D Corresponding author. Telephone: +1 541 750 7408; fax: +1 541 758 7760; email: wthies@fs.fed.us
International Journal of Wildland Fire 14(3) 223-231 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF04051
Submitted: 24 August 2004 Accepted: 6 April 2005 Published: 12 September 2005
Abstract
A study of the effects of season of prescribed burn on tree mortality was established in mixed-age ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) at the south end of the Blue Mountains near Burns, Oregon. Each of six previously thinned stands was subdivided into three experimental units and one of three treatments was randomly assigned to each: fall 1997 burn, spring 1998 burn, and no burning (control). Burns were conducted as operational prescribed burns. Trees within six 0.2-ha circular plots on each experimental unit were observed for four post-burn growing seasons to determine fire damage and to detect immediate and delayed mortality and occurrence of black stain root disease (BSRD). There were 5321 tagged ponderosa pines alive at the time of the burns. The percentage of ponderosa pine dying was higher after fall burns than after spring burns. Differences in percentages of fire-caused mortality may be because fall burns are inherently more severe than spring burns. Although present in many trees, BSRD appeared to have little impact on mortality. The lion’s-tail appearance, thought to be a symptom of BSRD, was found to be an unreliable indicator of BSRD in the six test stands.
Additional keywords: black stain root disease; Blue Mountains; fire; Leptographium wageneri.
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* This manuscript was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time and therefore is in the public domain and not subject to copyright.
