Short-term effects of prescribed fire on mixed oak forests in the southern Appalachians: vegetation response1

Abstract

Abstract We examined vegetation responses to prescribed fire on three mixed-oak sites located in the Blue Ridge Physiographic province of the southern Appalachian Mountains: Alarka Laurel Branch (AL), Robin Branch (RB), and Roach Mill Branch (RM). Each of the study sites was within a sub-watershed that drained a first order stream. Our objectives were to: 1) evaluate overstory mortality following prescribed fire treatments; and 2) assess changes in composition, abundance, and diversity of overstory (stems ≥ 5.0 cm dbh), understory (stems < 5.0 cm dbh, ≥ 0.5 m height), and herbaceous layer (woody stems < 0.5 m height and all herbaceous plants) vegetation in mixed-oak ecosystems. Each site included a burned and unburned area (control). Before the prescribed fire treatments were applied, we established permanent plots (10 × 20 m) in the prescribed burn areas (12 plots in AL, 12 plots in RB, and 10 plots in RM) and adjacent unburned areas (5 plots in AL, 6 plots in RB, and 4 plots in RM), for a total of 49 pl...