Prescribed Fire Increases Soil Temperatures through Canopy Removal in a Mid-Atlantic Brackish Marsh

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bickford, W.A.; Needelman, B.A.; Miller, M.W., and Hutchins, E.G., 2015. Prescribed fire increases soil temperatures through canopy removal in a Mid-Atlantic brackish marsh. Canopy removal produced by prescribed fire may influence soil temperatures, which has the potential to affect conditions for plant growth and other temperature-related soil functions. We assessed the changes in soil temperatures following prescribed fire using manipulative treatments in a brackish tidal marsh in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, Maryland, using two randomized complete block experiments. At No-Burn sites, treatments were canopy removal through clipping and ash/biochar deposition. At Annual Burn sites, the treatment was canopy replacement using a constructed frame and senesced vegetation. Soil temperatures were continuously measured over a period of 6 months (one growing season). Ash/biochar deposition did not affect soil temperatures. Mean daily soil temperatures at a depth of 5 cm ...