Resilience of Oregon white oak to reintroduction of fire

Deborah G Nemens,Peter W Dunwiddie,J Morgan Varner

doi:10.1186/s42408-019-0045-9

Deborah G Nemens, Peter W Dunwiddie + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-019-0045-9

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Abstract

BackgroundPacific Northwest USA oak woodlands and savannas are fire-resilient communities dependent on frequent, low-severity fire to maintain their structure and understory species diversity, and to prevent encroachment by fire-sensitive competitors. The re-introduction of fire into degraded ecosystems is viewed as essential to their restoration, yet can be fraught with unintended negative consequences. We examined the response of mature Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Douglas ex Hook.; Garry oak) to “first entry” woodland restoration burns following long fire-free periods.ResultsThirteen to twenty-five months post burn, topkill of oaks was minimal (3%) and mortality was rare in three prescribed burns, despite high levels (mean = 92%) of crown scorching, and irrespective of proportional duff consumption around oak bases (mean = 21%). Percentage of crown scorch volume was the strongest predictor of oak crown dieback, but response was highly variable, especially when canopy scorch was ≥80%. Comparison of our results with FOFEM (First Order Fire Effects Model), a common fire effects model, revealed high model inaccuracy, likely due to lack of a species-specific equation for prediction of Oregon white oak mortality.ConclusionsThe results of this study indicate that Oregon white oak is highly resistant to mortality in restoration burns, even following long fire-free intervals. Prescribed fire is not contraindicated in areas with extant mature oaks, and may promote oak regeneration via basal sprouting.

Highlights

Pacific Northwest USA oak woodlands and savannas are fire-resilient communities dependent on frequent, low-severity fire to maintain their structure and understory species diversity, and to prevent encroachment by fire-sensitive competitors
The majority of recorded fire effects were variable across the four oak woodland prescribed burn units, even between adjacent Upper Weir sites (Table 2)
Scorching of oak crowns was common in all three burn units, with more than 92% of trees experiencing some level of scorch; of these, mean quantity of scorch was 63% of crown volume

Summary

Introduction

Pacific Northwest USA oak woodlands and savannas are fire-resilient communities dependent on frequent, low-severity fire to maintain their structure and understory species diversity, and to prevent encroachment by fire-sensitive competitors. Frequent fire is a key mechanism for the maintenance of woodlands and savannas, providing regular disturbance that protects these unique ecosystems from transition into forests or shrublands (Bond and van Wilgen 1996; Bond and Keeley 2005) Due to this characteristic high fire frequency, fires in these ecosystems are typically of low severity, preventing encroachment by fire-intolerant plants while allowing a suite of fire-adapted species to maintain dominance (Staver et al 2011a, b). Once common across the lowlands of the Pacific Northwestern United States, oak woodlands, savannas, and associated prairies have been substantially reduced in both quality and extent in the years since Euro-American settlement (Chappell and Crawford 1997; Crawford and Hall 1997) These critically important plant communities support an array of rare plants, invertebrates, birds, and mammals that are absent in adjacent conifer-dominated forests (Larsen and Morgan 1998; Altman 2011). Further encroachment by Douglas-fir and other native and nonnative plants threatens the remaining fragments of oak woodland and savanna in the region (Schriver et al 2018)

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