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Effects of long-term prescribed burning on structure, composition, and timber quality of oak-hickory forests in the Missouri Ozarks

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Prescribed fire is commonly being used as a management tool for restoring or maintaining woodlands in the Central Hardwood Forest region. Woodlands are characterized as having canopies that are more open than those of forests, with lower abundance of woody stems in the midstory and understory layers, and a dense, diverse ground flora that is dominated by herbaceous species. Frequent fire may promote the structure and composition associated with woodlands by reducing the encroachment of woody stems in the subcanopy layers and encouraging the development of herbaceous vegetation (Hutchinson et al. 2012, Kinkead et al. 2013, Peterson and Reich 2001). However, many questions remain regarding the application of prescribed fire, especially over long timeframes. This paper reports on the effects of over 60 years of prescribed burning at regular intervals in oak-hickory forests of the Missouri Ozarks.

Parent Publication

Citation

Knapp, Benjamin O.; Kabrick, John M. 2014. Effects of long-term prescribed burning on structure, composition, and timber quality of oak-hickory forests in the Missouri Ozarks. In: Groninger, John W.; Holzmueller, Eric J.; Nielsen, Clayton K.; Dey, Daniel C., eds. Proceedings, 19th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 2014 March 10-12; Carbondale, IL. General Technical Report NRS-P-142. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 106-108.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/47388