United States

Department of History, Uses, and Effects of Fire Agriculture

Forest Service in the Appalachians

0

C&*raw David H. Van Lear

Southeastern Forest

Experiment Station Thomas A. Waldrop

General Technical

Report SE-54
April 1989

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station

F!O. Box 2680

Asheville. North Carolina 28802
History, Uses, and Effects of Fire

in the Appalachians

David H. Van Lear, Professor

Department of Forestry, Clemson University

Clemson, SC 29634-l 003

Thomas A. Waldrop, Research Forester

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station

Department of Forestry, Clemson University

Clemson, SC 29634-l 003

History of Fire in the

Southern Appalachians

Ecological and meteorological evidence suggests

that lightning-caused fires were a major environmental

force shaping the vegetation of the Southeastern

United States for millions of years before Indians

arrived in America. Lightning served as a mutagenic

agent and as a factor in natural selection which

forced species to adapt or perish. Before man, fires

caused by lightning created and maintained the

pine-grasslands of the Southeast, as well as influenced

the broad, adjacent ecotones which included hardwood vegetation (Komarek 1965, 1974).

Forests of the Southern Appalachians probably

did not burn as frequently as the pine-grasslands of

the adjacent Piedmont. However, there can be no

doubt that they did burn periodically. Fires in the

pine-grasslands would burn until stopped by weather

or the moist fuels of cooler aspects in steep terrain.

Depending on the frequency of summer fires,

Appalachian forests along this broad ecotone could

have been much more open than at present. Komarek

(1965) convincingly argues that the natural accumulation of fuels in grasslands, in the absence of heavy

grazing, would allow summer fires caused by lightning

to burn with sufficient intensity to maintain grassland

or a herbaceous understory beneath open forests.

Winter fires, which burn with low intensity, fail to

prevent the invasion of hardwoods into grasslands.

The mechanism by which lightning causes forest

fires is described by Taylor (1973): ‘A lightning

discharge striking and rupturing a live conifer produces and ignites a mixture of volatile extractives

and finely divided bark, wood, and needle particles

(~3 mm dia.) to an intense, short-lived (~1 sec.) ball

or column of fire which in turn ignites flash fuels in

the tree crown or on the forest floor.’ Only a small

percentage of wild-land fires in the Southeast are

now caused by lightning; most are man caused.

Komarek (1974) states that lightning strikes in the

Appalachians were frequent enough to cause the

development of species dependent upon fire for

most of their reproduction. Zoebel (1969) emphasizes

the major role fire has played in the evolutionary

development of Table Mountain pine, a species with

serotinous cones that open and release seed when

heated by fire. In fact, many, but not all, natural yellow

pine stands in the Southern Appalachians develop

after the canopy is opened by fire (Barden and Woods

1976; Whittaker 1956).

The role of fire was dramatically changed with

the advent of aboriginal man in America. About 20,000

to 35,000 years ago, man migrated across the Bering

Strait and followed a pathway of grasslands southward

down the continent (Aschmann 1978; Komarek 1974).

The frequency of fires increased dramatically upon

the arrival of Indians in the Southern Appalachians

about 10,000 years ago (Keel 1976).

Indians purposefully used fire for many reasons.

For most of the millennia that they occupied the

Southern Appalachians and its periphery, Indians

were hunters and gatherers. They did not begin to

practice agriculture until approximately 800 to 1000

A.D., when corn and beans were first cultivated in

the Southeastern United States (Hudson 1982). They

continued to hunt and often used fire to surround

and drive game. Hudson states that Indians burned

the woods for reasons other than hunting. Burning

reduced threats of dangerous forest fires, cleared

underbrush which kept forests open, improved habitat
for deer and buffalo, and made gathering of acorns

and chestnuts easier. The practice of regularly burning

created large open meadows with widely spaced

trees and abundant wildlife.

Wherever there were Indians, there was fire

(Stewart 1963). The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

was a vast prairie between the Blue Ridge Mountains

and the Alleghenies in the mid-1700s. At the time, it

was fired annually by the Indians to keep it from

reverting to woodland (Leyburn 1962). The prairies

to the west of the Alleghenies were also maintained

by repeated Indian fires. Many of these prairie fires

probably moved into the mountains, Southeastern

Indians lived along the fertile river bottoms in the

mountains and built their villages on bluffs of ridges

above the floodplain (Hudson 1982). The location

and occasional relocation of Cherokee villages were

probably governed by the availability of riverside

land and the supply of firewood in narrow Appalachian

valleys. Their burning along these river systems

would have left the mountain forest adjacent to these

streams more open than they are today. Although

portions of the Southern Appalachians were not

prime hunting grounds, the Indians had major trails

along rivers through these areas, such as the New

River in Virginia and West Virginia. Escaped campfires

would probably have caused much of these littlehunted areas to burn as Indians traveled between

hunting and trading areas.

Some parts of the Southern Appalachians were

not burned. Captain John Smith in 1608 was told by

a member of the Mannahoac tribe of northern Virginia

that little was known of the land beyond the mountains

because the woods were not burned (Mooney 1894).

However, the fact that Spanish explorers with their

armies of men and herds of livestock traversed the

Southern Appalachians in the 16th century can only

be explained by open conditions in the understory of

Appalachian forests due to fire. In addition, the

presence of buffalo and elk, which are grazing animals,

is circumstantial evidence of frequent burning by

Indians.

Settlers began moving into the mountains of

Virginia in numbers in the mid-1700s after the

Piedmont became more heavily settled (Trimble

1974). At that time, the Piedmont of the Carolinas,

Georgia, and Alabama was still very sparsely settled.

By the early 18OOs, the Piedmont area of these States

was largely claimed and settlers moved into the

mountains for land. The Cherokee, however, still

claimed a portion of their hunting grounds as late as

1886, when the Government removed most of the

remaining Indians to Oklahoma on what became

known as the “Trail of Tears.’

2

Indians used fire to clear underbrush and improve wildlife habitat.
The better land along the major streams was

settled first. Brender and Merrick (1950) described

the settlement of Mulky Creek in the north Georgia

mountains where the first hay crop was harvested

beneath the open timber of a south slope.

Broomsedge grew shoulder high on the drier sites,

and wild legumes were abundant. This description

by Brender and Merrick emphasizes the role that fire

must have played in maintaining open mountain

ecosystems, even before grazing of livestock became

a supporting factor. The settlement pattern in the

Southern Appalachians was erratic and clustered.

More remote areas away from settlements were

probably burned infrequently. Eventually, however,

settlements penetrated into even the more remote

sections of the Southern Appalachian region, and

annual burning was the standard practice wherever

grazing animals were kept,

Frequent burning by settlers stimulated the

production of forage for livestock and retarded the

advance of woody undergrowth. Plowing was confined

to the flatter bottoms where soil movement was

minimal. Evidence indicates that these understory

burns had no adverse effect on soil erosion (Glen

1911). However, as good bottom land became scarce,

people began cultivating crops on steeper slopes

and the land became overgrazed. More land was

cleared of timber. Large white pines and yellowpoplars were found on the cooler sites, big yellow

pines were found on the drier ridges, and white oaks

were abundant in many areas (Brender and Merrick

1950). As the land became more heavily used, erosion

of topsoil increased. Settlers struggled to make a

living. Making and selling ‘moonshine” was the major

economic endeavor of many of the mountaineers in

the late 1800s (Brender and Merrick 1950). The soil

became depleted and fields were often abandoned.

As cotton farming increased in the Piedmont, the

use of woods fires increased to control the bole

weevil. This burning was generally an annual event,

even though these fires did little to halt the spread of

the weevil (Dorn and Derks 1988).

During the late 18OOs, timber companies began

buying large tracts of land in the more remote sections

of the Southern Appalachians. Following logging, the

slash was often burned and the land was regrazed.

In parts of the Southern Appalachians, the combined

effects of grazing and burning effectively prevented

the reestablishment of woody vegetation. The grazing

history of the Toccoa Experimental Forest in north

Georgia suggests that development of reproduction

was adversely affected by the browsing of sheep

and goats and mast consumption by hogs (Brender

and Merrick 1950). The combination of grazing and

fire apparently precluded the reestablishment of

woody vegetation to replace old growth as it was

harvested or died from various causes. However, in

most parts of the Appalachians, woody reproduction

was apparently plentiful enough to reproduce a stand.

Annual winter burning for 40 consecutive years did

not eliminate hardwood root stocks in the Coastal

Plain (Langdon 1981; Waldrop and others 1987).

Although hardwood root stocks would remain viable

under a regime of frequent winter fires, sprouts could

not develop into a new stand unless the burning

interval was of sufficient duration to allow trees to

become large enough to resist top-killing. Even the

pines could not reproduce under a regime of annual

fire.

In the 1920s the Forest Service, U.S. Department

of Agriculture, was opposed to the use of fire in

forests (Pyne 1982). Even light burning was prohibited

on the recently established National Forests. The

Forest Service and newly formed State agencies

sought to create an environment totally different from

that known by Indians and early settlers in the

mountains. Forestry, or at least the phase of forestry

involving regeneration of new stands, created the

necessity of fire exclusion. Foresters at that time did

not realize the benefits of fire nor that fire had played

a major ecological role in the development and

maintenance of the ecosystems they were trying to

protect. Despite their efforts, however, the woods

continued to be burned because a long-standing

tradition would not die easily.

Gradually, foresters became more aware of the

role of fire in forested ecosystems. H.H. Chapman of

Yale University advocated the use of prescribed fire

under carefully chosen conditions for fuel and weather

in the management of longleaf pine. Stoddard (1931)

published his important study showing the importance

of prescribed fire in the management of bobwhite

quail. The role of prescribed fire in reducing the

hazards of disastrous wildfires was realized after

major fires in the South during the droughty 1930s

and 1950s. The value of fire to prepare seedbeds

and sites for planting gradually became evident from

research throughout the South. Controlling understory

hardwoods in pine stands, reducing fire hazard,

improving wildlife habitat, and preparing sites for

seeding and planting are commonly accepted

applications of prescribed fire today. However,

prescribed fire has not been widely used in the

Southern Appalachians because control is more

difficult and the benefits more questionable (hardwood

forest types predominate).
Use of Fire to Accomplish Management

Objectives

Types of Prescribed Fires

Prescribed fires are generally one of three types:

head fires, backing fires, and flanking fires (fig. 1).

Head fires burn with the wind or upslope. They are

of relatively high intensity and move through fuels at

a relatively high rate of speed. Head fires are often

ignited in strips (called strip head fires) to speed the

burning process and to provide the desired intensity.

Fire intensity increases as the rear of a previously

ignited strip merges with the advancing front of a

subsequent strip (Brown and Davis 1973).

Backing fires back into the wind or burn downslope. They burn with lower flame heights, or lower

intensity, and move through the stand at slower

speeds than head fires. Backing fires, because of

their lower intensity and slower speeds, are more

easily controlled.

Flanking fires are set moving parallel and into

the wind. They are generally used to supplement

other burning techniques. For example, flanking fires

can be used to speed the process of burning with

backing fires. Flanking fires are set perpendicular to

backfires. Where flanking fires merge, fire intensity

increases.

Fire Intensity, Residence Time, and Fire Severity

Fireline intensity is the heat output of a unit length

of fire front per unit of time (Deeming and others

1977). Fireline intensity is directly related to flame

height, a readily observable feature of a fire. Intensity

is a major factor determining mortality or damage to

both understory and overstory trees. As trees grow

larger, they become more resistant to fire because

their crowns are higher above the heat of the flames

and thicker bark provides greater insulation to the

cambium.

In addition to fire intensity, the duration of exposure

or residence time is an important consideration when

planning a prescribed fire. Protoplasm can be instantly

killed at a temperature of 147 “F; it also can be killed

by prolonged exposures to lower temperatures (Hare

1965; Nelson 1952). Backing fires of low intensity

can be lethal to small stems because their slow speeds

enable lethal cambium temperatures to be reached

just above ground. Conversely, where understory

stems are larger and have thicker bark, head fires

are likely to be more lethal than backing fires because

of damage to the crowns.

Figure 1. -Firing methods:

Head fire

Backing fire

Flanking fire

4
It is important to appreciate the difference between

fire intensity and severity. Fire severity describes the

condition of the ground surface after burning (Wells

and others 1979) whereas fire intensity is the rate at

which an ongoing fire produces thermal energy.

Although the two terms can be closely related, they

may also be unrelated. For example, a burn that

consumes all the organic layer and alters mineral

soil structure and color would be classified as a

‘severe burn.’ A high-intensity fire in heavy fuels that

burns when the soil and forest floor are moist would

leave a large amount of residual forest floor and

would not alter soil structure and color (fig. 2). Thus,

in this example, a high-intensity fire would be classified

as ‘light severity.’

Figure 2. -A high-intensity summer broadcast fire is classified as a

fire of ‘light severity’ if the residual forest floor remains intact.

Hazard-Reduction Burning

Arson remains a serious problem in Appalachian

forests. Fires set by arsonists are difficult to control

because they often occur during times of extreme

fire danger. Wildfires in recently harvested stands on

steep terrain are extremely dangerous because of

heavy fuel loadings, ranging up to 50 tons per acre

(Sanders and Van Lear 1987). Wildfires in these

fuels are usually intense. Burning embers carried by

the convection column may ignite numerous spot

fires far away from the main fire.

An understory of hardwoods, shrubs, and vines

often develops in Appalachian pine stands. When

draped with pine needles, this understory becomes

highly flammable. This understory fuel complex is

called a ‘rough,’ and if it extends over a large area,

the whole forest is at risk to destruction by wildfire.

In hardwood stands, rhododendron and mountain

laurel often form thickets of highly flammable fuels

which allow fire to climb into the canopy.

Prescribed fire is often used for hazard reduction

(reduction of fuels from dangerous levels to protect

the forest from wildfire). Recent studies in the

Appalachian Mountains in South Carolina have shown

that broadcast burning of logging slash under proper

weather and fuel-moisture conditions can reduce

highly flammable fine woody fuels following clearcutting by over 90 percent (Sanders and Van Lear 1987),

thus rendering recently logged areas essentially

fireproof.

In some regions of the Southern Appalachians,

hazard-reduction burns are conducted in mature

stands. These low-intensity burns are ignited under

appropriate conditions in the winter, especially along

roads where arson is most common. After a hazardreduction burn, the forest is generally safe from wildfire

until the next leaf fall, and the threat from wildfires

will be small for 3 to 7 years.

Understory Hardwood Control

The size, but not the number, of hardwood stems

in understories can be reduced, depending on the

frequency and timing of prescribed fires (Thor and

Nichols 1974; Waldrop and others 1987). Low-intensity

fires are generally effective in top-killing most hardwood stems up to 3 inches in diameter. Summer

fires are more effective in killing hardwood rootstocks

than are winter fires. However, numerous summer

fires in successive years are necessary to kill

rootstocks and eliminate hardwoods from the understory. Winter burning is not effective for eliminating

hardwood rootstocks. After 40 annual winter burns

on the Santee Experimental Forest in South Carolina,

hardwood sprouts were more numerous, although

smaller (~3 ft), than on unburned plots (Waldrop

and others 1987). Although not documented, frequent

understory burning in pine stands in the Appalachians

would likely have similar effects.

In most cases, it is not the goal of forest

management to eliminate hardwoods from pine

stands. This practice is neither economically feasible

nor ecologically desirable. However, periodic prescribed burns are used to control the size of hardwoods, reduce wildfire hazard, and facilitate stand

regeneration. Periodic burning at about 5year

intervals will effectively control the size of sprouts

developing from top-killed rootstocks. By controlling

the size of understory hardwoods, pines can be

maintained more easily on those sites where they

are the species of choice.
Controlling understory hardwoods with prescribed

fire is normally thought of as a silvicultural tool used

in pine management. However, there is some evidence

that prescribed fire can be used in mature hardwood

stands to control the composition of advanced

regeneration (the seedlings and sprouts that develop

in the understory of mature stands). Thor and Nichols

(1974) found that the number of oak stems, as well

as oak sprout clumps, was increased by both annual

winter burning and periodic burning on the Highland

Rim in Tennessee. Langdon (1981) noted that

rootstocks of oak were more resistant to fire than

those of competing hardwood species in the Coastal

Plain. These studies have important implications to a

major silvicultural problem in Appalachian hardwoods;

i.e., the regeneration of oaks on good-quality sites.

There is no doubt that many of the oak stands that

currently occupy better sites in the Appalachians

became established 60 to 100 years ago when burning

was a common practice.

Some researchers feel that the exclusion of fire

and other disturbances has altered the ecology of

oak stands on better sites by reducing advanced

regeneration of oak. Additional research is needed

before foresters can feel confident in using fire to

manipulate understory species composition in hardwood stands.

Pine Regeneration

Natural regeneration of pine. Prescribed fire is

often used prior to harvest to prepare seedbeds for

pine regeneration. Such burns are of low intensity to

protect the stand that is being regenerated. To avoid

damage to overstory trees, it is sometimes necessary

to reduce fuel loadings with one or more winter burns

before a final summer burn is used to prepare the

seedbed and knock back understory hardwoods.

Dormant season logging further enhances seedbed

preparation and allows seed to germinate the following

spring.

If logging is scheduled for the spring or summer,

it is better to delay the final burn until after harvest.

A burn just prior to harvest at this time of year would

destroy recently germinated pine seedlings and give

hardwood sprouts a year’s head start over pine

seedlings that would become established the following

spring.

Pine plantations. Site-preparation burns are

normally conducted in the summer and are of

moderate-to-high intensity. They are used to reduce

logging debris, control hardwood sprouts, and

improve the plantability of the site. Because of their

intensity, these burns must be conducted under the

proper fuel- and soil-moisture conditions to prevent

damage to the soil, especially in the steep terrain of

the Southern Appalachians. Effects of broadcast

burning in steep terrain on erosion are not well

documented.

Broadcast burning late in the summer following

long periods without rain can completely remove

organic layers from the soil. Such burns effectively

reduce logging debris, ensuring that the site will be

plantable, but they can cause site damage from

accelerated erosion and loss of nutrients and organic

matter. In addition, severe burns may contribute to

poor initial survival of planted seedlings because of

the loss of mulching effects of a residual forest floor.

Both onsite and offsite damage from broadcast

burning can be minimized by burning earlier in the

summer, soon after soaking rains.

Hardwood Regeneration

Research on the use of fire for hardwood

regeneration is limited, primarily because of foresters’

concerns about damaging stem quality in high-value

stands. Much of the information on bole damage

comes from early studies of wildfires (Abell 1932;

Nelson and others 1933) although a recent study

indicated that prescribed fires of low-to-moderate

intensity in the spring can result in a high percentage

of stem damage (Wendel and Smith 1986). However,

Sanders and others (1987) found that low-intensity

winter backing fires in mature hardwood stands had

little adverse effect on crop trees.

The potential for damage to boles of thin-barked

hardwoods by moderate- to high-intensity fires is

evident in the many fire-scarred trees throughout

Appalachian forests. However, the role of low-intensity

prescribed fires in manipulating advanced regeneration and the use of higher intensity broadcast burning

for promoting quality coppice regeneration deserves

greater attention from fire research. Researchers are

now beginning to realize that most hardwood species

evolved under a regime of frequent burning (Komarek

1965) and that prescribed fire may be a useful tool

in hardwood management (Van Lear and Waldrop

1986). At present, research results on the use of fire

for hardwood regeneration are limited to the mixedoak, cove hardwood, and pine-hardwood cover types.

Today it is recognized that even-aged management of oak types is often desirable and that

regeneration can be accomplished by techniques

similar to those used for intolerant types (McGee

1975). Clearcutting and shelterwood cutting are

acceptable regeneration techniques, but advanced

regeneration is required for oaks to compete with

other species in the understory (Roach and Gingrich

6
1968). Sander (1972) suggests a minimum of 435

oak stems, per acre, over 4.5 feet tall for successful

regeneration. Obtaining this stocking of advanced

oak regeneration on good-quality sites is proving to

be the major deterrent to effective oak management.

Excluding fire or other disturbances from mature

oak stands may have altered the ecology of these

stands to the detriment of advanced oak regeneration

(Liile 1974; Van Lear and Johnson 1983). Two studies

conducted in the Northeast (Niering and others 1970;

Swan 1970) and one in the southern Coastal Plain

(Langdon 1981) found oak seedlings less susceptible

to root-kill by fire than other species (fig. 3), thus

giving oaks an ecological advantage. Periodic burning

may therefore play a major role in promoting advanced

oak regeneration. Fires every few years may be the

key to enabling oaks to become dominant over their

associates in the advanced regeneration pool. The

combination of season, frequency, and number of

burns to promote advanced oak regeneration in the

Appalachians has not been determined however.

100 -

0 4 6 12 16 20 24

Years

Figure 3. -Cumulative mortality of hardwood roots over 26 years

of biennial summer burning (Langdon 1981).

Several studies support the theory that multiple

prescribed burns are necessary to promote advanced

oak regeneration prior to harvest. Thor and Nichols

(1974) found that advanced regeneration of oaks in

central Tennessee was doubled by both annual (for

6 years) and periodic (2 burns, 5 years apart)

prescribed fires. Carvell and Tryon (1961) reported

large increases in advanced oak regeneration in

West Virginia where stands had been burned several

times over a 20-year period. Keetch (1944) found

that oak sprouting was stimulated by a single

prescribed fire and was maintained by three successive fires.

Single prescribed fires have little effect on species

composition in the understory. Johnson (1974)

reported that a spring fire in a 102-year-old northern

red oak stand failed to increase oak abundance in

the understory. The fire also failed to control competing

vegetation and killed 58 percent of the existing

seedlings. Wendel and Smith (1986) reported no

increase of advanced oak regeneration after a single

spring burn in a central Appalachian oak-hickory

stand. The fire caused severe damage to the boles

of overstory trees and increased competing vegetation. Teuke and Van Lear (1982) found only slight

benefits to oak regeneration after single winter burns

in western South Carolina and northeastern Georgia.

Oak seedlings may be more readily established

on burned areas. Healy (1988) states that blue jays - a

major hoarder and scatterer of acorns-seek out

areas of thin litter, low vegetation, and full sunlight to

bury the nuts. Galford and others (1988) found that

numbers of certain weevil and beetle species that

prey on germinating acorns were reduced on burned

seedbeds. Results of these studies emphasize the

need for further research to determine the role of fire

in oak regeneration.

The task of regenerating oaks, particularly

northern red oak, is more difficult on cove sites than

on upland sites. On moist and fertile cove sites,

understory vegetation competes vigorously with oak

seedlings and usually overtops them. Therefore,

advanced regeneration of desired species is required.

In addition, some control of the subcanopy and

midstory is necessary to favor advanced regeneration.

Recent research suggests that fire exclusion from

cove sites has created environmental conditions

unsuitable to oak regeneration (McGee 1979).

However, research on the use of periodic fire for

regenerating cove hardwoods is lacking (Van Lear

and Waldrop 1988).

Although there are still questions as to whether

fire promotes oak regeneration on cove sites, it has

been successful for regenerating yellow-poplar. This

intolerant species’ silvical characteristics make it well

adapted to fire disturbance; e.g., light seed which is

disseminated by wind and gravity, and it germinates

rapidly in fire-prepared seedbeds. Yellow-poplar

seeds also remain viable on the forest floor for 8 to

10 years. It germinates rapidly after a fire creates the

needed site conditions (McCarthy 1933). Sims (1932)

found yellow-poplar seedlings more numerous in

clearcuts and unharvested stands that had been

burned than in similar, unburned stands. Three

growing seasons after a low-intensity winter burn on

a clearcut area in the Piedmont, Shearin and others

(1972) noted that the number and height of yellow7
poplar seedlings were significantly greater on the

burned areas. Viable seeds stored in the duff before

burning accounted for the large number of seedlings

after burning.

Traditionally, the objectives of forest management

are to establish and maintain pure pine or mixed

hardwood stands. A new site-preparation technique,

however, using prescribed fire in combination with

properly timed felling of unmerchantable trees, has

been demonstrated to be effective in regenerating

pine-hardwood mixtures in the Southern Appalachians. This method is commonly described as the

Yell-and-burn’ technique (Abercrombie and Sims

1986; Phillips and Abercrombie 1987). As the name

suggests, it consists of two steps. After clearcutting

hardwood or pine-hardwood stands, residual stems

over 6 feet tall are felled with chainsaws. Felling is

conducted during early spring following full leaf

development when carbohydrate reserves in the

roots are low. The presence of leaves on the felled

trees speeds the drying of small twigs and branches

which serve as fuel for the broadcast burn, the second

step of the process. Burning is conducted in midsummer within 24 to 48 hours after a soaking rain, ensuring

that a residual forest floor and root mat will provide

protection against erosion and that heat penetration

Figure 4. -The fell-and-burn site-preparation technique has successfully regenerated stands of mixed hardwoods and shortleaf pine in

the Southern Appalachians.

into the soil will be minimal. Pine seedlings are planted

at a wide spacing the following winter. They generally

compete successfully with hardwood coppice.

The fell-and-burn technique allows planted pines

to become established by controlling hardwood

growth (Danielovich and others 1987). Pine survival

is generally over 90 percent the first year after planting

and over 75 percent after 4 years (Phillips and

Abercrombie 1987). In three stands planted with

shortleaf pine, oaks were numerous (fig.4) but much

shorter (6 feet) than pines (over 8.5 feet).

Sprouts that develop after chainsaw felling are

top-killed, and new sprouts are less vigorous.

Aboveground buds on hardwood stumps are killed

by fire, forcing new sprouts to originate from below

ground ensuring that they are better anchored and

of better form. Burning removes over 65 percent of

the woody fuels less than 3 inches in diameter

(Sanders and Van Lear 1987) making the site more

accessible for planting. After planting, the black

surface makes green seedlings more visible, thus

ensuring a better job of planting. Burning also reduces

rhododendron and mountain laurel thickets, which

increases the plantable area in a stand.

Protection of Threatened and Endangered Species

and Unique Plant Communities

Threatened and endangered species must be

given special consideration when planning any

prescribed burn. Although not well documented in

the literature, habitat for some of these species may

be eliminated by prescribed burning. Other threatened

and endangered species, however, require fire to

become established and survive. For example,

mountain golden heather, turkeysbeard, sandmyrtle,

and twisted-head spike-moss grow in the Appalachians on ledge habitats created and kept open by

natural fires and severe weather. The Forest Service

is conducting research on the use of fire to maintain

these sensitive habitats (Morse 1988). The role of fire

in the ecology of many threatened and endangered

species is not well understood.

Fire has played an essential role in maintaining

pine ecosystems in eastern North America (Spurr

and Barnes 1980). The forest mosaic of the Southern

Appalachians was largely a product of fire intensity

with yellow pines occupying upper south- to westfacing slopes when fire intensity was the greatest.

Although not currently threatened or endangered,

Table Mountain pine is being replaced by more

shade-tolerant hardwoods in the Appalachians

because of the exclusion of fire. This species is

8
adapted to regenerate following intense fires because

it has serotinous cones which release seed after

they have been heated by fire. Researchers in the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park are exploring

the use of fire to maintain this species.

Some researchers feel that the grassy balds on

the summits of high Appalachian peaks may have

been created and maintained by fire (Clements 1936).

Other researchers, however, have attributed their

occurrence to such factors as insect attacks, disturbance by Indians, or climate. Whittaker (1956) regards

these grassy balds as a climax type of vegetation

developing under conditions of extreme exposure.

Further research is needed to document the role of

fire in the creation and maintenance of grassy balds.

Manipulation of Wildlife Habitat

Prescribed fire is used on some National Forests

in the Southern Appalachians to improve habitat for

certain wildlife species. However, it may degrade

habitat for other species. Each of the hundreds of

wildlife species in the Southern Appalachians responds differently to fire, depending upon the

frequency, intensity, severity, and season of burning,

as well as the particular species’ habitat requirements.

To effectively use prescribed fire to benefit wildlife

requires an understanding of the habitat requirements

of each species, Several bibliographies and symposia

have summarized results of many studies concerning

effects of fire on wildlife habitat in southern forests

(Harlow and Van Lear 1981, 1987; Lyon and others

1978; Wood 1981).

Prescribed burns to improve wildlife habitat in

existing stands are normally conducted in the winter

(Mobley and others 1978) to avoid the spring nesting

season. Deer and turkey are favored by periodic

burns at about 3- to 5-year intervals and, on the

lower Coastal Plain, bobwhite quail is favored by

burning at 1- to 2-year intervals. However, appropriate

burning frequencies for other species are not well

known. Although burning for wildlife-habitat improvement is normally associated with pine management,

low-intensity burns in hardwood or mixed pinehardwood stands are also effective because of the

increased sprouting of advanced regeneration and

stimulation of herbaceous forage. More intense

site-preparation burns can also be beneficial where

they increase the abundance of legumes and other

herbaceous and perennial plants that are preferred

by many wildlife species.

Effects of Prescribed Fire

Soil

Few studies have documented the effects of fire

on Appalachian soils. However, studies in other areas

indicate that many factors, including fire intensity,

ambient temperature, vegetation type, and soil

moisture influence the effects of fire on the soil (Wells

and others 1979). Low-intensity prescribed fires may

improve soil fertility. Long-term prescribed burning

studies in the southern Coastal Plain (McKee 1982)

showed that available phosphorus, exchangeable

calcium, and organic matter of mineral soil on

periodically burned plots were higher than those on

unburned plots. However, nitrogen was lost from the

forest floor due to volatilization. Nitrogen reduction

was only temporary as nitrogen-fixing soil microorganisms replaced soil nitrogen rapidly. Calcium and

phosphorus were also lost from the forest floor but

were partially leached into the mineral soil, thus

remaining in the ecosystem. Annual and periodic

burning on the Highland Rim in Tennessee had no

affect on soil pH or exchangeable phosphorus but

did reduce soil potassium (Thor and Nichols 1974).

Prescribed understory burns normally remove

only part of the forest floor. In Arkansas, Moehring

and others (1966) found that a decade of low-intensity

annual burnings reduced the weight of the forest

floor by 64 percent. Similar results have been reported

for other long-term burning studies in South Carolina

(Metz and others 1961) and in Virginia (Romancier

1960). Single low-intensity burns in previously un-

<o :25 0.25-1.0 1.1-3.0 s3.0

Fuel Size Class (in)

Figure 5.-Reduction by weight of woody slash after summer

broadcast burning (Sanders and Van Lear 1987).

9
burned Piedmont pine stands consumed about 5,000

to 6,000 pounds per acre of forest floor (Brender

and Cooper 1968; Kodama and Van Lear 1980).

Even high-intensity broadcast burns generally leave

portions of the forest floor intact, because rarely do

these types of fires burn uniformly over the entire

area. Large woody debris is generally not consumed

(fig. 5). Prescribed fire is a random process (Johnson

1984), and there are usually areas that fail to burn or

burn only lightly, even in generally intense fires. The

quantity of forest floor left unconsumed can be

controlled by the prescription and execution of the

burning. Broadcast burns set when the lower forest

floor and soil are moist seldom consume the entire

duff layer, especially when relatively fast-moving

head fires are used.

Prescribed burns conducted when soil- and

fuel-moisture conditions are too dry can cause severe

damage. Broadcast burns conducted under these

conditions can remove all the forest floor and cause

accelerated erosion in steep terrain. Although not

well documented in the South, losses of nutrients,

particularly nitrogen, from this type of burning could

approach losses associated with intensive mechanical

site preparation and result in lower productivity.

Amounts of nitrogen volatilized during lowintensity burning in loblolly pine stands have been

estimated between 20 pounds per acre (Kodama

and Van Lear 1980) and 100 pounds per acre (Wells

1971). Sulfur is also volatilized during burning, but

amounts lost would be small because of low concentrations in forest fuels. High-intensity fires used to

eliminate logging slash, which averages about 20

tons per acre following harvest of upland hardwoods,

and 9 and 3 tons per acre in natural and plantation

pines (Phillips and Van Lear 1984) would volatilize

much larger quantities of nitrogen.

Effects of losses of this magnitude on soil nitrogen

status are difficult to predict. Amounts of nitrogen in

southern forest soils vary widely, but probably average

about 2,000 pounds per acre (DeBelI 1979) the vast

majority of which is unavailable to plants. Nitrogen is

continually being added to southern ecosystems.

Jorgensen and Wells (1971) measured a rate of 1

pound per acre per year via nonsymbiotic nitrogen

fixation in undisturbed pine stands on Piedmont

sites. Jorgensen and Wells (1971) found nonsymbiotic

nitrogen-fixation rates were increased (from about 1

to 23 pounds per acre per year) by burning on poorly

drained Coastal Plain soils. They suggest that burning

improves those site conditions associated with a

higher rate of fixation, such as more available nutrients

and higher soil moisture and temperature. Nitrogen

inputs from precipitation approximating 5 pounds

per acre per year have been measured in the Southern

Appalachians (Swank and Douglass 1977) and in

the upper Piedmont (Van Lear and others 1983).

Over the course of a rotation, it would appear that

these inputs could balance nitrogen losses from

burning.

Rates of symbiotic nitrogen fixation by native

legumes and nonlegumes in the Appalachians have

not been well documented over the course of a

rotation. Early stages of plant succession are often

dominated by nitrogen-fixing species, however,

especially in ecosystems with a high fire frequency

(Gorham and others 1979). Permar and Fisher (1983)

found that waxmyrtle, even though accounting for

only 8 percent of the crown cover, fixed about 10

pounds per acre per year nitrogen in a young pole-size

slash pine plantation in Florida. Boring and Swank

(1984) reported that 4-year-old stands of black locust

fixed about 30 pounds per acre per year in the

Southern Appalachians. The abundance of annual

legumes decreases rapidly as other herbaceous

vegetation becomes established and the crowns

begin to close.

Low-intensity burns have little adverse effect on

soil erosion, if any, even on relatively steep slopes.

Goebel and others (1967) and Brender and Cooper

(1968) found only minor soil losses following single

prescribed burns in the Piedmont. Two low-intensity

burns prior to harvest had no effect on nutrient or

sediment concentrations in ephemeral strearJ]s in

the Piedmont of South Carolina (Douglass and Van

Lear 1983). Cushwa and others (1977) failed to detect

significant soil movement in established gullies

following moderately intense backing fires in mature

loblolly pine stands in the South Carolina Piedmont.

Arend (1941), however, reported that infiltration rates

of Missouri Ozark soils were reduced by 38 percent

by repeated annual burning in oak-hickory stands.

Increased overland flow caused by reduced infiltration

could have increased erosion, but this was not

documented.

Site-preparation burns of high intensity conducted

under conditions of high fuel loads and low moisture

may damage soil by overheating. When burning is

done with soil moisture near field capacity, however,

little heating damage will occur (DeBano and others

1977). Fires which burn completely to mineral soil

may accelerate soil erosion in steep terrain. Such

losses have not been documented in the South. The

Forest Service in its site-preparation burning program

on the Sumter National Forest in the mountains of

South Carolina, described earlier, uses summer

burns in heavy fuels with little visible evidence of soil

erosion on slopes of up to 45 percent (Van Lear and

10
Danielovich 1988). However, if the drying period is

too long, fires may burn so hot that mineral soil is

exposed over much of the area, and significant erosion

could result in steep terrain. By felling leafed-out

residuals and allowing their foliage to cure, sitepreparation burns can be conducted soon after

soaking rains-an obvious advantage as far as soil

protection is concerned.

In summary, evidence indicates that low-intensity

prescribed fires have little adverse effects on soil

properties, if any, and may even improve them (McKee

1982). High-intensity prescribed fires have a temporary

negative effect on site nutrient status resulting from

volatilization of nitrogen and sulfur, plus some cation

loss due to ash convection, but appears to be

short-lived as nutrient accretion is rapid. Site recovery

would not be as rapid following severe fires. Effects

of high-intensity fires on soil physical properties are

not well documented, but the infrequent (once a

rotation) use of fires of light-to-moderate severity and

the resilience of southern forest ecosystems to fire

would suggest minor adverse effects on the soil.

Vegetation

Since forest ecosystems have been subject to

forest fires for millennia, some plant species have

adapted to tolerate fire and many require it for their

continued existence. Adaptations have taken many

forms. Some trees have thick insulating bark which

protects them from the scorching heat of surface

fires. The lethal temperature of protoplasm is thought

to be about the same for all plants. A temperature of

147 “F is instantly lethal; at somewhat lower temperatures more time is required to kill plant tissues. Thus,

the nature and thickness of the dead outer bark are

critical in protecting the living inner bark and cambium

from fire damage (Hare 1965).

Mature longleaf pine is well known for its resistance

to fire damage because of its thick bark. Slash, loblolly,

and shortleaf pines also generally survive bole scorch

when they reach sapling size or larger (Komarek

1974). Virginia pine and white pine tend to have

thinner bark and are more susceptible to fire damage.

However, when pine trees are young, crown scorch

rather than damage to the bole is the principal cause

of mortality (Cooper and Altobellis 1969; Storey and

Merkel 1960).

Another fire adaption of southern pines is their

ability to leaf out soon after defoliation. Most southern

pines larger than sapling size can tolerate a high

degree of crown scorch, especially during the dormant

season, with minimum effects on survival and growth

(Komarek 1974). Trees are most susceptible to crown

scorch during the spring when leaders are succulent.

During the summer and early fall, pole-size loblolly

pine can generally tolerate all but complete scorching

of foliage and still recover. Lower crown classes are

more susceptible to fire-induced mortality than are

dominant and codominant trees (Waldrop and Van

Lear 1984). Diameter growth apparently is not

significantly affected when only the lower portion of

the crown is scorched and root damage in minimal

(Wade and Johansen 1986).

Fire played a major role in shaping vegetation

communities in the Appalachian Mountains. Overstories of southern yellow pines (Virginia, shortleaf,

pitch, and Table Mountain) typically dominate southand west-facing slopes (Whittaker 1956) but in the

absence of hot fires at rather frequent intervals will

be succeeded by hardwoods. Table Mountain pine

is adapted to maintain occupancy of these warm,

dry sites because of its serotinous cones. These

cones ensure a supply of seed regardless of the

time of year when a fire occurs (Barden 1977) allowing

Table Mountain pine to successfully regenerate when

cast seed of other pine species would be destroyed.

Serotinous cones have also been observed in Virginia

pine, although this character is not well documented.

Shortleaf and pitch pines have the ability to sprout

from the root collar following top-kill by fire. Fires of

anthropogenic origin probably perpetuated pine in

the Appalachians since, as some researchers think,

lightning fires did not occur frequently enough or

were not intense enough to maintain pines on these

xeric sites (Whittaker 1956). Fire protection efforts in

recent decades have allowed hardwoods to reestablish dominance on sites where pines once thrived.

Stands of white pine, Virginia pine, and spruce-fir

are more susceptible to fire damage than are other

conifers. These species have thin bark, especially

when young. Moreover, these species tend to support

crown fires because their branches extend to near

ground level.

Aboveground portions of hardwood species are

not generally as resistant to fire damage as are

conifers, primarily because of thinner bark. Bark

thickness is not as critical to hardwood survival

because fires in Appalachian hardwoods normally

burn in light fuels and are of low intensity (Komarek

1974). There are some exceptions, however, such as

when understories of mountain laurel ‘explode’ and

produce high-intensity fires in hardwood stands.

Some hardwoods develop exceptional bark thickness

upon maturity. Yellow-poplar is one of the most

fire-resistant species in the East when its bark

thickness exceeds 0.5 inch (Nelson and others 1933).

On the Coastal Plain, many hardwood stems over 6

inches d.b.h. survived after 30 years of low-intensity

annual and biennial burning (Waldrop and others

1987) with little or no damage to boles.

11
Foresters’ fear of damaging stem quality has led

to the general policy of excluding fire from hardwood

stands. However, evidence of damage to boles of

hardwoods is primarily from the study of wildfires,

which burn with higher intensity than prescribed

fires. These fires often burned in the spring when

trees are most susceptible to damage. Because of

these early reports, fire research in hardwood stands

has lagged far behind that in pine stands. The role

of low-intensity prescribed fires in stand management

and the use of higher intensity broadcast burning in

promoting quality coppice regeneration deserves

greater attention from fire researchers.

Hardwoods, while generally lacking the fire

resistance of pines, have developed another adaptation to ensure their survival in ecosystems where fire

is a periodic visitor. They all sprout, generally from

the base of the stem or from root suckers, when

tops are killed. Suppressed buds at or below ground

level often survive the heat of a surface fire and sprout

in response to the loss of apical dominance. Fire

does little to change species composition of young

coppice stands but increases the number of sprouts

per stump (Augspurger and others 1987; Waldrop

and others 1985). Although many sprouts develop

from a stump, over time they thin down to one or a

few per stump. Fire promotes good-quality sprouts

by forcing them to develop from the ground line or

below; thus the developing stems tend to be free of

rot and well anchored (Roth and Hepting 1942; Roth

and Sleeth 1939).

Many species have adapted to a high-frequency

fire regime by developing light seed, which can be

wind- and gravity-disseminated over large areas.

These light-seeded species often pioneer on burned

seedbeds. Some species, such as yellow-poplar,

produce seed that remain viable for years in the

duff. Yellow-poplar seed stored in the lower duff

germinates rapidly following low-intensity prescribed

fires (Shearin and others 1972).

Herbaceous vegetation thrives on fire-prepared

seedbeds. Legumes were more abundant in young

loblolly pine plantations in the Georgia and Virginia

Piedmont on plots where logging slash was burned

(Cushwa and others 1966; Cushwa and Reed 1966).

However, single low-intensity prescribed fires in

unthinned pine stands are not likely to stimulate

production of herbaceous plants, because either

mineral soil is not exposed or light is limiting to

germination or growth.

Fire affects not only individual plant species but

also entire communities. Community structure is

altered by burning. For example, a shrub layer may

be completely eliminated and replaced by a grass

and forb layer if burning is frequent. The absence of

fire in the long run will favor more shade-tolerant,

less fire-tolerant species, and succession will proceed

toward a climax community rather than a firemaintained subclimax type (Spurr and Barnes 1980).

Periodic fires at intervals of several years favor

species which are more fire-resistant than their

competitors. A series of periodic fires prior to harvest

of mature hardwood stands may increase the number

of oaks in the advanced regeneration pool (Little

1974), an important consideration in the reestablishment of stands with a large oak component. Studies

in the northeast indicate that oak seedlings resist

root-kill by fire better than their competitors, thereby

giving oak an ecological advantage (Niering and

others 1970; Swan 1970). Advanced regeneration of

oaks in central Tennessee was doubled by both

annual (for 6 years) and periodic (at 5year intervals)

preharvest prescribed fires (fig. 6) (Thor and Nichols

1974). A single low-intensity prescribed fire, however,

had only a slight positive effect on increasing the

relative position of oak advanced regeneration in the

mountains of South Carolina and Georgia (Teuke

and Van Lear 1982).

Figure 6. -Advanced regeneration of oak was doubled by six annual

preharvest prescribed fires (Thor and Nichols 1974).

12
Intense fire in young, mixed hardwood stands

may favor oak, as noted by Keetch (1944) and by

Carve11 and Maxey (1969), both of whom observed

that species composition of mixed hardwood stands

was converted to predominantly oak by wildfire.

McGee (1979) did not observe this beneficial influence

of fire on oak on the Cumberland Plateau in north

Alabama. Burning in both spring and fall in 5 to

6-year-old mixed hardwood stands increased only

the relative dominance of red maple. Obviously,

much remains to be learned about the use of fire to

alter species composition in hardwood stands.

Water Quality

Effects of prescribed fire on water quality vary,

depending on fire intensity, type and amount of

vegetation, ambient temperature, terrain, and other

factors. The major problems associated with prescribed fire and water quality are potential increases

in sedimentation and, to a lesser degree, increases

in dissolved salts in streamflow (Tiedemann and

others 1979). However, most studies in the South

indicate that effects of prescribed fire on water quality

are minor and of short duration when compared with

effects of certain other forest practices.

Brender and Cooper (1968) noted that repeated

low-intensity prescribed fires had little effect on

hydrologic properties of soils in the Georgia Piedmont.

Douglass and Van Lear (1983) monitored water quality

of ephemeral streams following two low-intensity

prescribed fires in Piedmont loblolly pine stands and

detected no significant effects on suspended sediment.

The minimal impact of burning on water quality

in these studies is likely due to the low-to-moderate

severity of the fires. Even though the terrain was

relatively steep, erosion and sedimentation were not

increased. Douglass and Goodwin (1980) have shown

that in steep terrain the increase in suspended

sediment following management practices is generally

related to the amount of bare soil exposed. This

would be especially true if the root mat is destroyed

by disking or blading. Low-intensity flames (l- to

4-foot flame length) normally will consume less than

half of the forest floor, and if mineral soil is exposed,

it is only in small isolated patches in the burned

area.

Ursic (1970) measured sediment output from

site-preparation burning in north Mississippi. Although

sediment levels on burned watersheds were severalfold greater than those of control plots, sediment

output was only about 0.5 ton per acre per year.

Only a few studies in the South have documented

the effects of prescribed fire on nutrient response in

streams or ground water. Douglass and Van Lear

(1983) in the Piedmont and Richter and others (1982)

in the Coastal Plain failed to detect any major impact

on stormflow or soil-solution nutrient levels in response

to low-intensity prescribed fire. No studies in the

South have examined effects of high-intensity slash

burning on streamflow nutrient levels. Neary and

Currier (1982) reported no adverse effects to water

quality after a severe wildfire in heavy fuels in the

Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina. A summary

of the effects of fire on water (Tiedemann and others

1979) showed that in several cases slash burning in

the Western United States increased nitrate-N levels

in streamflow. In no case did burning cause nitrate-N

levels to exceed the recommended Environmental

Protection Agency standard of 10 parts per million

for drinking water. Phosphorus and major cations

often increase in streamflow and the soil solution

following intense slash fires, but the effects are of

short duration and of a magnitude not considered

damaging to surface waters or site productivity

(Tiedemann and others 1979).

When fires are conducted properly, nutrient loss

and stream sedimentation are likely to be of minor

importance compared with that resulting from mechanical methods of site preparation. Even under intense

broadcast burns the root mat may be little disturbed

and its soil-holding properties left intact. Furthermore,

slash tends to be randomly distributed over logged

areas and is seldom completely removed by broadcast

burning. Therefore, the root mat, residual forest floor

materials, and incompletely consumed slash form

debris dams which trap much of the sediment moving

downslope (Dissmeyer and Foster 1980). Also, rapid

regrowth in the South quickly provides site protection.

Air

The risk of smoke movement into sensitive areas

such as airports, highways, and communities is

probably the major threat to the continued use of

prescribed burning. Particulates are the major

pollutant in the smoke from prescribed burning

(Dieterich 1971; Hall 1972; Sandberg and others

1978). They are complex mixtures of soot, tars, and

volatile organic substances, either solid or liquid,

and average about 0.1 micron in diameter (McMahon

1976). With low wind speeds and high humidity,

paniculates serve as condensation nuclei and result

in dense smoke or combinations of smoke and fog.

Reductions in visibility during and after prescribed

fires have caused numerous highway accidents.

13
Smoke often accumulates in depressions or

along stream channels and other low-lying areas.

When the relative humidity approaches 90 percent,

which is common during many nights, fog formation

is stimulated by the presence of smoke. The combined

effects of smoke and fog on visibility is far greater

than that of smoke alone. Even smoke from a

smoldering fire can seriously impair visibility miles

away from its origin under certain atmospheric

conditions.

Particulates are not the only emissions from fire.

Besides carbon dioxide and water vapor, gaseous

hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxides

are also released (Chi and others 1979). However,

only a small proportion (0 to 3 percent) of the total

national emissions of particulates, carbon monoxide,

and hydrocarbons can be attributed to prescribed

burning.

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas which may

reach toxic levels above and adjacent to prescribed

fires, but these high concentrations decline rapidly

with increasing distance from the flame (McMahon

and Ryan 1976). By burning under atmospheric

conditions which encourage rapid mixing, the problem

of high carbon monoxide levels can be eliminated.

Hydrocarbons are a diverse group of compounds

which contain hydrogen, carbon, and their oxygenated

derivatives (Hall 1972). Unsaturated hydrocarbons

result from the incomplete combustion of organic

fuels. Because of their high affinity for oxygen, these

compounds may form photochemical smog in the

presence of sunlight and oxygen-donating compounds. Methane, ethylene, and hundreds of other

gases are released in prescribed burning. Some of

these compounds are known to be carcinogenic to

laboratory animals, but there is no evidence to show

that prescribed fire is increasing these compounds

in the environment to dangerous levels. Most of the

hydrocarbons released during prescribed fires are

quite different from those released in internal combustion engines.

Nitrogen oxides are not likely to be released in

significant quantities during prescribed burning. The

threshold temperature for the release of nitrogen

oxides is 1500 “C, which is hotter than the temperatures normally occurring in prescribed fires (McMahon

and Ryan 1976). Nitrogen gas is volatilized, with the

amount released varying with the temperature. At

temperatures of 500 “C, 100 percent of the nitrogen

is volatilized; at temperatures of 200 to 300 “C, only

about 50 percent of the nitrogen is lost (Dunn and

DeBano 1977). Sulfur dioxide emissions from prescribed fires are of minor importance since sulfur

concentration of most forest fuels is less than 0.2

percent.

Because of the potentially serious nature of the

effects of prescribed fire on air quality, and its

concomitant value as an essential forest management

tool, smoke management guidelines have been

developed by the Forest Service to reduce the

atmospheric impacts of prescribed fire (USDA Forest

Service 1976). This system consists of five steps: (1)

plotting the trajectory of the smoke; (2) identifying

smoke sensitive areas such as highways, airports,

hospitals, etc.; (3) identifying critical targets; i.e.,

targets close to the burn or those which already

have an air pollution problem; (4) determining the

fuel type to be burned; e.g., whether the fuel load is

light as with a mature pine stand with a grass

understory, or heavy as the logging slash following

clearcutting; (5) minimize risk by burning under

atmospheric conditions which hasten smoke dispersion, or by using appropriate firing techniques and

timing to reduce smoke pollution.

Objectives for prescribed burning should be

compatible with air-quality laws and regulations and

should consider both onsite and offsite environmental

impacts. Plans should be made to notify firesuppression organizations, nearby residents or

businesses, and adjacent landowners of the intent to

burn. Should wind direction change, burning crews

must be prepared to control traffic on affected

highways and extinguish the fire if necessary.

The impact of smoke can be reduced by burning

under proper weather conditions. The fire manager

should have current weather forecasts with enough

information to predict smoke behavior. Both surface

weather and upper atmospheric conditions are

important. Burning should be conducted when wind

is moving away from sensitive areas such as highways

and homes. The atmosphere should be slightly

unstable for optimum smoke dispersal without loss

of fire control. Burning at night should be avoided

because visibility is poor and because weather and

smoke behavior are more difficult to predict.

On the day of the burn, the fire manager should

check with pollution control agencies about pollution

alerts or temperature inversions. If none exist, a small

test fire should be set to determine the direction and

behavior of smoke. Areas next to roads should be

burned quickly and when road use is low; mopup

(the work required to completely extinguish all fire)

should follow as soon as possible to reduce smoke

hazard. Where possible, burning should be conducted

in small blocks and with backing fires to minimize

the volume of smoke produced.

14
Summary

Information regarding the use of prescribed fire

in Appalachian ecosystems is limited. However, the

few pertinent studies in the Southern Appalachians,

as well as studies from other physiographic regions,

suggest that prescribed fire could be an important

management tool. Low-intensity prescribed fires are

used in pine management to prepare seedbeds,

control understory hardwoods, reduce wildfire hazard,

and improve wildlife habitat. Higher intensity fires are

necessary to prepare sites for planting.

Single prescribed fires have little effect on the

species composition of advanced regeneration. Since

oaks have better survival rates than other hardwood

species after repeated burning, periodic prescribed

fires may be used to control competing vegetation

and favor advanced oak regeneration. Although

many foresters are justifiably concerned about stem

quality of valuable hardwoods, evidence suggests

that low-intensity fires in light fuels during the dormant

season have little adverse effect on large trees.

If fire is shown to benefit oak regeneration on

better sites, prescribed burning may gain added

impetus as a forest management tool in the Southern

Appalachians. Therefore, foresters will need a better

understanding of fire uses, and intensive efforts to

educate the public regarding prescribed fire as a

management tool in mountain terrain will be required.

Mixed pine-hardwood stands are being successfully regenerated following clearcutting in the Southern

Appalachians with properly timed felling of residuals

and broadcast burning. Broadcast burning greatly

reduces debris to facilitate planting and allows planted

pines to successfully compete with hardwood coppice.

A single postharvest burn does not affect species

composition of coppice regeneration, but additional

research may show that periodic postharvest burning

may increase the oak component.

Environmental effects of prescribed fire in the

steep terrain of the Southern Appalachians depend

primarily on fuel and weather conditions when burning

is conducted. Even high-intensity broadcast burns

conducted when fuel- and soil-moisture conditions

are appropriate have little effect on soil erosion and

hydrologic functioning of mountain ecosystems.

Research is lacking concerning nutrient cycling effects

of burning in these systems.

Both low- and high-intensity prescribed fires can

benefit several wildlife species by increased sprouting

of nutritious and palatable stems. In addition, burning

often increases herbaceous forage and associated

insect populations for the benefit of certain species

of wildlife.

Air pollution resulting from prescribed burning is

a concern, especially in the terrain of the Appalachians. Population density may also limit the potential

of this management tool. The utmost care in conducting burns in accordance with smoke management

guidelines is essential if burning is to become a part

of forest management in Appalachian hardwoods.

15
Literature Cited Clements, Frederic E. 1936. Nature and structure of the climax.

Journal of Ecology 24:252-284.

Abell, MS. 1932. Much heartrot enters white oaks through fire

wounds. Forest Worker 8(6):10.

Abercrombie, James A., Jr.; Sims, Daniel H. 1986. Fell and burn

for low-cost site preparation. Forest Farmer 46(l) :14-l 7.

Arend, John L 1941. Infiltration as affected by the forest floor. Soil

Science Society of America Proceedings 6430-435.

Aschmann, Homer. 1978. Aboriginal use of fire. In: Mooney, Harold

A.; Conrad, C. Eugene, tech. coords. Proceedings of the

symposium on the environmental consequences of fire and fuel

management in Mediterranean ecosystems; 1977 August l-5;

Palo Alto, CA. Gen. Tech. Rep. WC-3. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service:132-141.

Augspurger, M.K.; Van Lear, D.H.; Cox, S.K.; Phillips, D.R. 1987.

Regeneration of hardwood coppice following clearcutting with

and without prescribed fire. In: Phillips, Douglas R., camp.

Proceedings of the 4th biennial southern silvicultural research

conference; 1986 November 4-6; Atlanta, GA. Gen. Tech. Rep.

SE-42. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station: 82-92.

Barden, Lawrence S. 1977. Self-maintaining populations of Pinus

pungens Lam. in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Castanea

421316323.

Barden, Lawrence S.; Woods, Frank W. 1976. Effects of fire on

pine and pine-hardwood forests of the Southern Appalachians.

Forest Science 22:339-403.

Boring, Lindsay R.; Swank, Wayne T. 1984. Symbiotic nitrogen

fixation in regenerating black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.)

stands. Forest Science 30:528-537.

Brender, Ernst V.; Cooper, Robert W. 1968. Prescribed burning

in Georgia’s Piedmont loblolly pine stands. Journal of Forestry

66:31-36.

Brender, Ernst V.; Merrick, Elliott. 1950. Early settlement and

land use in the present Toccoa Experimental Forest. Scientific

Monthly 71:318-325.

Brown, Arthur A.; Davis, Kenneth P. 1973. Forest fires control

and use: 2d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 686 pp.

Carvell, Kenneth L.; Maxey, William R. 1969. Wildfire adversely

affects composition of cove hardwood stands. West Virginia

Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 2(2):4-5.

Carvell, K.L.; Tryon, E.H. 1961. The effect of environmental factors

on the abundance of oak regeneration beneath mature oak

stands. Forest Science 7:98-l 05.

Chi, C.T.; Horn, D.A.; Reznik, R.B. [and others]. 1979. Source

assessment: prescribed burning, state of the art. [Publ.]

EPA-600/2-79-019h. Research Triangle Park, NC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Industrial Environment Research

Laboratory. 107 pp.

Cooper, Robert W.; Altobellis, Anthony T. 1969. Fire kill in young

loblolly pine. Fire Control Notes 30:14-l 5.

Cushwa, Charles T.; Brender, Ernst V.; Cooper, Robert W. 1966.

The response of herbaceous vegetation to prescribed burning.

Res. Note SE-53. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 2 pp.

Cushwa, Charles T.; Redd, John B. 1966. One prescribed burn

and its effects on habitat of the Powhatan game management

area. Res. Note SE-61. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of

Agricutture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment

Station. 2 pp.

Cushwa, Charles T.; Hopkins, Melvin; McGinnes, Burd S. 1971.

Soil movement in established gullies after a single prescribed

burn in the South Carolina Piedmont. Res. Note SE-153.

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 4 pp.

Danielovich, S.J.; Van Lear, D.H.; Cox, S.K.; Augspurger, M.K.

1987. Burning in Southern Appalachian logging slash -effects

of residual vegetation and regrowth. In: Hay, Ronald L.; Woods,

Frank W.; DeSelm, Hal, eds. Proceedings of the 6th central

hardwood conference; 1987 February 24-26; Knoxville, TN.

Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee, Department of Forestry,

Wildlife, and Fisheries:91-97.

DeBano, LF.; Dunn, P.H.; Conrad, C.E. 1977. Fire’s effect on

physical and chemical properties of chaparral soils. In: Mooney,

Harold A.; Conrad, C. Eugene, tech. coords. Proceedings of

the symposium on the environmental consequences of fire and

fuel management in Mediterranean ecosystems; 1977 August

1-5; Palo Alto, CA. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-3. Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service:65-74.

DeBelI, D.S. 1979. Future potential for use of symbiotic nitrogen

fixation in forest management. In: Gordon, J.C.; Wheeler, C.T.;

Perry, D.A., eds. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the management

of temperate forests: workshop proceedings; 1979 April 2-5;

Corvalis, OR. Corvalis: Oregon State University451 -466.

Deeming, John E.; Burgan, Robert E.; Cohen, Jack D. 1977.

The National Fire-Danger Rating System - 1978. Gen. Tech.

Rep. INT-39. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station.

63 PP.

Dieterich, John H. 1971. Air-quality aspects of prescribed burning.

In: Prescribed burning symposium: Proceedings: 1971 April

14-16; Charleston, SC. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment

Station:1 39-l 50.

Dissmeyer, George E.; Foster, George R. 1980. A guide for

predicting sheet and rill erosion on forest land. Tech. Publ.

SA-TP 11. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, State and Private Forestry, Southeastern Area. 40 pp.

16
Darn, William Jennings Bryan; Darks, Scott. 1988. Dorn: of the

people-a political way of life. Orangeburg, SC: Sandlapper

Publishing. 286 pp.

Douglass, James E.; Goodwin, O.C. 1980. Runoff and soil erosion

from forest site preparation practices. In: U.S. forestry and water

quality: what course in the 80’s?; Proceedings; 1980 June 19-20;

Richmond, VA. Washington DC: Water Pollution Control

Federation?%-74.

Douglass, James E.; Van Lear, David H. 1983. Prescribed burning

and water quality of ephemeral streams in the Piedmont of

South Carolina. Forest Science 29:181-189.

Dunn, Paul H.; DeBano, Leonard F. 1977. Fire’s effect on biological

and chemical properties of chaparral soils. In: Mooney, Harold

A.; Conrad, C. Eugene, tech. coords. Proceedings of the

symposium on the environmental consequences of fire and fuel

management in Mediterranean ecosystems; 1977 August 1-5;

Palo Alto, CA. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-3. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service:7584.

Galford, Jimmy R.; Peacock, John W.; Wright, Susan L 1988.

Insects and other pests affecting oak regeneration. In: Smith, H.

Clay; Perkey, Arlyn W.; Kidd, William E., Jr., eds. Workshop

proceedings: guidelines for regenerating Appalachian hardwood

stands; 1988 May 24-26; Morgantown, WV. Morgantown, WV:

West Virginia University Books:21 9-225.

Glen, LC. 1911. Denudation and erosion of the Southern Appalachian region and the Monogahela Basin. Prof. Pap. 72. Reston,

VA: U.S. Geological Survey:l6-17.

Goebel, N.B.; Brender, E.V.; Cooper, R.W. 1967. Prescribed

burning of pine-hardwood stands in the Upper Piedmont of

South Carolina. For. Res. Ser. i6. Clemson, SC: Clemson

University, Department of Forestry. 23 pp.

Gorham, Eville; Vitousek, Peter M.; Reiners, William A. 1979.

The regulation of chemical budgets over the course of terrestrial

ecosystem succession. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematits 10:53&l.

Hall, J. Alfred. 1972. Forest fuels, prescribed fire, and air quality.

Res. Pap. SO-56. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment

Station. 11 pp.

Hare, Robert C. 1965. Contribution of bark to fire resistance of

southern trees. Journal of Forestry 63:248-251.

Harlow, Richard F.; Van Lear, David H. 1981. Silvicultural effects

on wildlife habitat in the South: a selected and annotated

bibliography, 1953-l 979. Tech. Pap. 14. Clemson SC: Clemson

University, Department of Forestry. 36 pp.

Harlow, Richard F.; Van Lear, David H. 1987. Silvicultural effects

on wildlife habitat in the South: (An annotated bibliography)

1980-1985. Tech. Pap. 17. Clemson SC: Clemson University,

Department of Forestry. 42 pp.

Healy, William M. 1988. Effects of seed-eating birds and mammals

on Appalachian hardwood regeneration. In: Smith, H. Clay;

Perkey, Arlyn W.; Kidd, William E., Jr., eds. Workshop proceedings: guidelines for regenerating Appalachian hardwood stands;

1988 May 24-26; Morgantown, WV. Morgantown, WV: West

Virginia University Books:104-111.

Hudson, Charles M. 1982. The southeastern Indians. Knoxville,

TN: University of Tennesee Press. 573 pp.

Johnson, Paul S. 1974. Survival and growth of northern red oak

seedlings following a prescribed burn. Res. Note NC-177. St.

Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North

Central Forest Experiment Station. 3 pp.

Johnson, Von J. 1984. Prescribed burning: requiem or renaissance?

Journal of Forestry 82:82-90.

Jorgensen, J.R.; Wells, C.G. 1971. Apparent nitrogen fixation in

soil influenced by prescribed burning. Soil Science Society of

America Proceedings 35806-810.

Keel, Bennie C. 1976. Cherokee archaeology: a study of the

Appalachian Summit. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennesee

Press. 290 pp.

Keetch, John J. 1944. Sprout development on once-burned and

repeatedly-burned areas in the Southern Appalachians. Tech.

Note 59. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 3 pp.

Kodama, H.E.; Van Lear, D.H. 1980. Prescribed burning and

nutrient cycling relationships in young loblolly pine plantations.

Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 4:838-841.

Komarek, Edwin V. 1965. Fire ecology-grasslands and man. In:

Proceedings, Tall Timbers fire ecology conference 4:169-220.

Komarek, Edwin V. 1974. Effects of fire on temperate forests and

related ecosystems: Southeastern United States. In: Kozlowski,

Theodore T.; Ahlgren, Charles E., eds. Fire and ecosystems.

New York: Academic Press:251-277.

Langdon, 0. Gordon. 1981. Some effects of prescribed fire on

understory vegetation in loblolly pine stands. In: Wood; Acne

W., ed. Prescribed fire and wildlife in southern forests: proceedings of a symposium; 1981 April 6-8; Myrtle Beach, SC.

Georgetown, SC: Clemson University, Belle W. Baruch Forest

Science Institute:1 43-l 53.

Leyburn, James Graham. 1962. The Scotch-Irish: a social history.

Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. 377 pp.

Little, S. 1974. Effects of fire on temperate forests: Northeastern

United States. In: Kozlowski, Theodore T.; Ahlgren, Charles E.,

eds. Fire and ecosystems. New York: Academic Press:225256

Lyon, L Jack; Crawford, Hewlette S.; Czuhal, Eugene [and

others]. 1978. Effects of fire on fauna: a state-of-knowledge

review. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-6. Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Forest Service. 22 pp.

McCarthy, E.F. 1988. Yellow poplar characteristics, growth, and

management. Tech. Bull. 356. Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Agriculture. 58 pp.

17
McGee, C.E. 1979. Fire and other factors related to oak regeneration.

In: Halt, H.A.; Fischer, B.C., eds. Proceedings: regenerating

oaks in upland hardwood forests: the 1979 John S. Wright

forestry conference; 1979 February 22-23; West Lafayette, IN.

West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University, Department of Forest &

Natural Resources, and Indiana Cooperative Extension Service:

7581.

McGee, Charles E. 1975. Regeneration alternatives in mixed oak

stands. Res. Pap. SE-125. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment

Station. 8 pp.

McKee, William H., Jr. 1982. Changes in soil fertility following

prescribed burning on Coastal Plain pine sites. Res. Pap. SE-234.

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 23 pp.

McMahon, Charles K. 1977. Effect of forest emissions on air quality.

In: Proceedings: fire by prescription symposium; 1976 October

13-15; Atlanta, GA. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Southern Region:75-82.

McMahon, Charles K.; Ryan, Paul W. 1976. Some chemical and

physical characteristics of emissions from forest fires. APCA

Pap. 76-2.3. Proceedings Annual Meeting Air Pollution Control

Association 69:1-21.

Met?!, Louis J.; Lotti, Thomas; Klawitter, Ralph A. 1961. Some

effects of prescribed burning on coastal plain forest soil. Stn.

Pap. 133. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 10 pp.

Mobley, Hugh E.; Jackson, Robert S.; Balmer, William E.;

Ruziska, Wayne E.; Hough, Walter A. 1978. A guide for

prescribed fire in southern forests. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Area, State & Private

Forestry. 40 pp.

Moehring, D.M.; Grano, C.X.; Bassett, J.R. 1966. Properties of

forested loess soils after repeated prescribed burns. Res. Note

SO-40. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station. 4 pp.

Mooney, James. 1894. The Siouan Tribes of the East, Washington,

DC: Government Printing Office, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau

of Ethnology. 100 pp.

Morse, Larry E. 1988. Rare plants of Appalachian bedrock. Nature

Conservancy Magazine 38(2):28-30.

Neary, Daniel G.; Currier, John B. 1982. Impact of wildfire and

watershed restoration on water quality in South Carolina’s Blue

Ridge Mountains. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 6:81-90.

Nelson, Ralph M. 1952. Observations of heat tolerance of southern

pine needles. Stn. Pap. 14. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment

Station. 6 pp.

Nelson, Ralph ht.; Sims, Ivan H.; Abell, Margaret S. 1933. Basal

fire wounds on some Southern Appalachian hardwoods. Journal

of Forestry 31:829-837.

Niering, William A.; Goodwin, Richard H.; Taylor, Sally. 1970.

Prescribed burning in southern New England: introduction to

long-range studies. Proceedings, Tall Timbers fire ecology

conference 10:267-286.

Permar, T.A.; Fisher, Richard F. 1983. Nitrogen fixation and

accretion by wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera) in slash pine (Pinus

elliotti/] plantations. Forest Ecology 8 Management 5:39-46.

Phillips, Douglas R.; Abercrombie, James A., Jr. 1987. Pinehardwood mixtures-a new concept in regeneration. Southern

Journal of Applied Forestry 11:192-197.

Phillips, Douglas R.; Van Lear, David H. 1984. Biomass removal

and nutrient drain as affected by total-tree harvest in southern

pine and hardwood stands. Journal of Forestry 82547-550.

Pyne, Stephen J. 1982. Fire in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

University Press. 654 pp.

Richter, D.D.; Ralston, C.W.; Harms, W.R. 1982. Prescribed fire:

effects on water quality and forest nutrient cycling. Science

215661663.

Roach, Benjamin A.; Gingrich, Samuel F. 1988. Even-aged

sifviculture for upland central hardwoods. Agric. Handb. 335.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture. 39 pp.

Romancier, Robert M. 1960. Reduction of fuel accumulations with

fire. Res. Notes SE-143. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment

Station. 2 pp.

Roth, Elmer R.; Sleeth, Bailey. 1939. Butt rot in unburned sprout

oak stands. Tech. Bull. 684. Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Agriculture. 43 pp.

Roth, Elmer R.; Hepting, George H. 1943. Origin and development

of oak stump sprouts as affecting their likelihood to decay.

Journal of Forestry 41:27-36.

Sandberg, D.V.; Pierovich, J.M.; Fox, D.G.; Ross, E.W. 1979.

Effects of fire on air: a state-of-knowledge review. Gen. Tech.

Rep. WC-9. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service. 40 pp.

Sander, Ivan L 1972. Size of oak advance reproduction: key to

growth following harvest cutting. Res. Pap. NC-79. St. Paul,

MN: U.S. Department, of Agriculture, Forest Service, North

Central Forest Experiment Station. 6 pp.

Sanders, B.M.; Van Lear, D.H. 1987. Pre- and post-burn photo

series for pine-hardwood logging slash in the Southern Appalachians. In: Proceedings of the 9th conference on fire and

forest meteorology; 1987 April 21-24; San Diego, CA. Boston,

MA: American Meteorological Society:41-48.

Sanders, D.L; Van Lear, D.H.; Guynn, D.C. 1987. Prescribed

burning in mature pine-hardwood stands-effects on hardwoods

and small mammals. In: Phillips, Douglas R., camp. Proceedings

of the 4th biennial southern silvicultural research conference;

1986 November 4-6; Atlanta, GA. Gen. Tech. Rep. SE-42.

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station:93-96.

18
Shearin, A.T.; Bruner, Marlin H.; Goebel, N.B. 1972. Prescribed

burning stimulates natural regeneration of yellow-poplar. Journal

of Foresttry 70: 482-484.

Sims, I.H. 1982. Establishment and survival of yellow poplar

following a clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians. Journal

of Forestry 30:409-414.

Spurr, Stephen H.; Barnes, Burton V. 1980. Forest ecology:

3d ed. New York: John Wiley 8 Sons. 687 pp.

Stewart, Omer C. 1963. Barriers to understanding the influence

of use of fire by aborigines on vegetation. Proceedings, Tall

Timbers fire ecology conference 2:117-l 28.

Stoddard, Herbert L 1931. The bobwhite quail: its habits,

preservation and increase. New York: Scribners. 559 pp.

Storey, Theodore G.; Merkel, Edward P. 1960. Mortality in a

longleaf-slash pine stand following a winter wildfire. Journal of

Forestry 58206-210.

Swan, Frederick R., Jr. 1970. Post-fire response of four plant

communities in south-central New York State. Ecology

51:1074-1082.

Swank, W.T.; Douglass, J.E. 1977. Nutrient budgets for undisturbed and manipulated hardwood forest ecosystems in the

mountains of North Carolina. In: Correll, David L., ed. Watershed

research in eastern North America: a workshop to compare

results; 1977 February 28March 3; Edgewater, MD. Washington,

DC: Smithsonian Institution, Chesapeake Bay Center for

Environmental Studies:343-364.

Taylor, Alan R. 1973. Ecological aspects of lightning in forests.

Proceedings, Tall Timbers fire ecology conference 12:455-482.

Teuke, Michael J.; Van Lear, David H. 1982. Prescribed burning

and oak advanced regeneration in the Southern Appalachians.

Res. Pap. 30. Macon, GA: Georgia Forestry Commission. 1 p.

Thor, Eyvind; Nichols, Gary M. 1974. Some effects of fire on

litter, soil, and hardwood regeneration. Proceedings, Tall Timbers

fire ecology conference 13:317-329.

Tiedemann, Arthur FL; Conrad, Carol E.; Dieterlch, John H.

[and others]. 1979. Effects of fire on water: a state-of-knowledge

review. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-10. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 28 pp.

Trimble, Stanley W. 1974. Man-induced soil erosion on the

Southern Piedmont, 1700-l 970. Washington, DC: Soil Conservation Society of America. 180 pp.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1976. Southern

forestry smoke management guidebook. Gen. Tech. Rep. SE-lo.

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 140 pp.

Ursic, S.J. 1970. Hydrologic effects of prescribed burning and

deadening upland hardwoods in northern Mississippi. Res.

Pap. SO-54. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station. 15 pp.

Van Lear, D.H.; Danlelovlch, S.J. 1988. Soil movement after

broadcast burning in the Southern Appalachians. Southern

Journal of Applied Forestry 12:45-49.

Van Lear, David H.; Johnson, Von J. 1983. Effects of prescribed

burning in the Southern Appalachian and Upper Piedmont

forests: a review. For. Bull. 36. Clemson, SC: Clemson University,

Department of Forestry. 8 pp.

Van Lear, D.H.; Douglass, J.E.; Cox, S.K. [and others]. 1983.

Regeneration of loblolly pine plantations in the Piedmont by

clearcutting with seed in place. In: Jones, Earle P., Jr., ed.

Proceedings of the 2d biennial silvicultural research conference;

1982 November 4-5; Atlanta, GA. Gen. Tech. Rep. SE-24.

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station:87-93.

Van Lear, David H.; Waldrop, Thomas A. 1986. Current practices

and recent advances in prescribed burning. In: Carpenter,

Stanley B., ed. Proceedings, southern forestry symposium;

1985 November 19-21; Atlanta, GA. Stillwater OK: Agricultural

Conference Services, Oklahoma State University:69-83.

Van Lear, David H.; Waldrop, Thomas A. 1988. Effects of fire on

natural regeneration in the Appalachian mountains, In: Smith,

H. Clay; Perkey, Arlyn W.; Kidd, William E., Jr., eds. Workshop

proceedings: guidelines for regenerating Appalachian hardwood

stands; 1988 May 24-26; Morgantown, WV. Morgantown, WV:

West Virginia University Books:56-70.

Wade, Dale 0.; Johansen, R.W. 1986. Effects of fire on southern

pine: observations and recommendations. Gen. Tech. Rep.

SE-41. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 14 pp.

Waldrop, Thomas A.; Buckner, Edward R.; Muncy, Jack A. 1985.

Cultural treatments in low-quality hardwood stands for wildlife

and timber production. In: Shoulders, Eugene, ed. Proceedings

of the 3d biennial southern silvicultural research conference;

1984 November 7-8; Atlanta, GA. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-54. New

Orleans, IA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southern Forest Experiment Station:493-500.

Waldrop, Thomas A.; Van Lear, David H. 1984. Effect of crown

scorch on survival and growth of young loblolly pine. Southern

Journal of Applied Forestry 8:35-40.

Waldrop, Thomas A.; Van Lear, David H.; Lloyd, F. Thomas;

Harms, William R. 1987. Long-term studies of prescribed

burning in loblolly pine forests of the Southeastern Coastal

Plain. Gen. Tech. Rep. SE-45. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment

Station. 23 pp.

Wells, Carol G. 1971. Effects of prescribed burning on soil chemical

properties and nutrient availability. In: Prescribed burning

symposium roceedings; 1971 April 14-16; Charleston, SC.

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station:86-97.

Wells, Carol G.; Campbell, Ralph E.; DeBano, Leonard F. [and

others]. 1979. Effects of fire on soil: a state-of-knowledge review.

Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-7. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of

Agricuiture, Forest Service. 34 pp.

19
Wend& G.W.; Smlth, H. Clay. 1988. Effects of a prescribed fire in

a central Appalachian oak-hickory stand. Res. Pap. NE-594.

Broomall, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 8 pp.

Whlttaker, R.H. 1958. Vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Ecological Monographs 261-89.

Wood, Gene W., ad. 1981. Prescribed fire and wildlife in southern

forest: Proceedings of a symposium; 1981 April 8-8; Myrtle

Beach, SC. Georgetown, SC: The Belle W. Baruch Forest Science

Institute of Clemson University. 170 pp.

Zoebel, Donald B. 1989. Factors affecting the distribution of Pinus

pungem, an Appalachian endemic. Ecological Monographs

89808-888.

20
----~~~~__---~~- -_-_-__---- -__--_----- ____-------- __-------- --

I 1

I

Van Lear, David H.; Waldrop, Thomas A. Van Lear, David H.; Waldrop, Thomas A.

1989. History, uses, and effects of fire in the Appalachians. Gen. Tech. Rep.

SE-!%. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 20 pp.

1999. History, uses, and effects of fire in the Appalachians. Gen. Tech. Rep. /

SE-54. Asheville, NC: US. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, I

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 20 pp. I

Natural and manmade fires have occurred frequently in the Southern Appalachian

Mountains for millennia. Today, forest managers in this region use prescribed

fires for hazard reduction, understory control, regeneration, protection of

threatened and endangered species, and wildlife management. The effects of

prescribed burning on Southern Appalachian soils, vegetation, and water and

air quality are discussed.

Natural and manmade fires have occurred frequently in the Southern Appalachian I

I

I

Mountains for millennia. Today, forest managers in this region use prescribed I

fires for hazard reduction, understory control, regeneration, protection of I

threatened and endangered species, and wildlife management. The effects of I

prescribed burning on Southern Appalachian soils, vegetation, and water and I

air quality are discussed.

KEYWORDS: Fire ecology, prescribed burning, forest regeneration, endangered !

I

KEYWORDS: Fire ecology, prescribed burning, forest regeneration, endangered

species, smoke management. I

I

species, smoke management. i
The Forest Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, is dedicated to the principle of

multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources

for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and

recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the

States and private forest owners, and management of the

National Forests and National Grasslands, it strives-as

directed by Congress-to provide increasingly greater

service to a growing Nation.

USDA policy prohibits discrimination because of race,

color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or handicapping

condition. Any person who believes he or she has been

discriminated against in any USDA-related activity should

immediately contact the Secretary of Agriculture,

Washington, DC 20250.