Fuels and Predicted Fire Behavior in the Southern Appalachian Mountains After Fire and Fire Surrogate Treatments

• Published in: Forest science Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 32 - 45
• Main Authors: Waldrop, Thomas, Phillips, Ross A, Simon, Dean A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda Oxford University Press 01.02.2010
• Subjects: Ecosystems; Forest & brush fires; Mountains; Prescribed fire; Reptiles & amphibians; North Carolina; Ohio; Appalachian Mountains; United States > US; USA, North Carolina
• ISSN: 0015-749X; 1938-3738
• DOI: 10.1093/FORESTSCIENCE/56.1.32

Abstract This study tested the success of fuel reduction treatments for mitigating wildfire behavior in an area that has had little previous research on fire, the southern Appalachian Mountains. A secondary objective of treatments was to restore the community to an open woodland condition. Three blocks of four treatments were installed in a mature hardwood forest in western North Carolina. Fuel reduction treatments included chainsaw felling of small trees and shrubs (mechanical treatment), two prescribed fires 3 years apart, a combination of mechanical and burning treatments, and an untreated control. Mechanical treatment eliminated vertical fuels but without prescribed burning; the mechanical treatment added litter (11%) and woody fuels (1 hour 167%; 10 hours 78%) that increased several measures of BehavePlus4-simulated fire behavior (rate of spread, flame length, spread distance, and area burned) for 5 years. Prescribed burning reduced litter mass by 80% and reduced all simulated fire behavior variables for 1 year but had no residual effect by the third year. The combined mechanical and burning treatments had hot prescribed fires (mean temperature of 517°C at 30 cm aboveground) during the first burn that killed some overstory trees, resulting in increased amounts of woody fuels on the forest floor. All active treatments (fire, mechanical, and combined) reduced simulated wildfire behavior, even after a severe ice storm that added fine fuels. Prescribed burning in combination with the mechanical treatment was the most effective in reducing all measures of fire behavior and advancing restoration objectives. Each of the active treatments tested must be repeated to reduce fuels and lower wildfire behavior, but prescribed burning must be repeated frequently.