Fire Relations — Abstract of Paper


Effects of a Prescribed Fire on Oak Woodland Stand Structure
Danny L. Fry¹


Fire damage and tree characteristics of mixed deciduous oak woodlands were recorded after a prescription burn in the summer of 1999 on Mt. Hamilton Range, Santa Clara County, California. Trees were tagged and monitored to determine the effects of fire intensity on damage, recovery and survivorship. Fire-caused mortality was low, two-year postburn survey indicates that only three oaks have died from the low intensity ground fire. Using ANOVA, there was an overall significant difference for percent tree crown scorched and bole char height between plots but not between tree size classes. Using logistic regression, tree diameter and aspect predicted crown resprouting. Crown damage was also a significant predictor with the likelihood increasing with percent scorched. Both valley and blue oaks produced crown resprouts on trees with 100 percent of their crown scorched. Although overall tree damage was low, crown resprouts developed on 80 percent of the trees and were found as shortly as two weeks after the fire. Stand structural characteristics have not been altered substantially by the event. Long term monitoring of fire effects will provide information on what changes fire cause to stand structure, its possible usefulness as a management tool and how it should be applied to the landscape to achieve management objectives.