Vegetation recovery following high-intensity wildfire and silvicultural treatments in sand pine scrub

Technical Report · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:250423

Greenberg, C H; Neary, D G; Harris, L D; Linda, S P

The authors hypothesized that clear-cutting mimics natural high-intensity disturbance by wildfire followed by salvage logging in sand pine scrub, and tested whether vegetation adapted to recovery from fire would respond similarly to another type of biomass removal. The authors measured plant community composition and structural characteristics in three replicated disturbance treatments and in mature sand pine forest (MF). Treatments were: (1) high-intensity burn, salvage logged and naturally regenerated (HIBS); (2) clear-cut, roller-chopped, and broadcast-seeded (RC); and (3) clear-cut and bracke-seeded (BK). All treatments were sampled 5-7 yr postdisturbance. Nonwoody plant species richness and diversity were significantly lower in MF than in disturbance treatments. Ruderal species were more abundant in HIBS and RC, but not to the exclusion of the characteristic suite of native scrub species. Shrub richness and diversity did not differ, but some species responded differently among treatments. Differences may be due to season of disturbance or rhizome depth.

• Research Organization: Forest Service, Gainesville, FL (United States). Southeastern Forest Experiment Station
• OSTI ID: 250423
• Report Number(s): PB--96-174230/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FIRES
FORESTS
REVEGETATION
SILVICULTURE