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Burn Severity in a Central Florida Sand Pine Scrub Wilderness Area

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Burn Severity in a Central Florida Sand Pine Scrub Wilderness Area BURN SEVERITY IN A CENTRAL FLORIDA SAND PINE SCRUB WILDERNESS AREA By DAVID ROBERT GODWIN A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2008 1 © 2008 David Robert Godwin 2 To my family and grandparents who have worked tirelessly to provide for my education and who instilled in me an interest in the natural world. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study would not have been possible without the encouragement, support, and guidance of my major professor (Dr. Leda Kobziar) and my supervisory committee members (Dr. Scot Smith and Dr. George Tanner). This research was funded by a grant from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) Innovation Fund entitled: “Fire in The Juniper Prairie Wilderness: A Viable Management Tool?” Data analysis assistance was graciously provided by Dr. Leda Kobziar and Meghan Brennan, IFAS Statistics Department. Field data were collected through the tireless assistance of University of Florida Fire Science Lab technicians and students: Erin Maehr, Mia Requensens, Chris Kinslow and Cori Peters. Remote sensing software guidance and meticulous digital aerial imagery delineations were provided by Zoltan Szantoi, with help from Dr. Alan Long and Dr. Leda Kobziar. Some spatial data were provided by the Ocala National Forest, USDA Forest Service, through the assistance of Mike Drayton and Janet Hinchee. SPOT images were purchased through funds provided by Dr. Scott Smith. Landsat images were obtained from the Multi- Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC). Finally, I thank my loving wife, brother, parents and grandparents for their patience, encouragement and dedication to my completion of this study. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................10 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 1 BURN SEVERITY MAPPING METHODS FOR USE IN SAND PINE SCRUB ...............14 Introduction .............................................................................................................................14 Background .............................................................................................................................15 Study Area ..............................................................................................................................17 Methods ..................................................................................................................................18 Image Sources .................................................................................................................18 Burn Severity Plots ..........................................................................................................20 Classifications ..................................................................................................................21 Accuracy Assessment ......................................................................................................23 Results .....................................................................................................................................24 Image Source Accuracy ...................................................................................................24 Classification Accuracy ...................................................................................................24 Class Accuracy ................................................................................................................25 Discussion ...............................................................................................................................26 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................30 2 STAND LEVEL CHARACTERISTICS AND BURN SEVERITY VARIATIONS FOLLOWING A CENTRAL FLORIDA WILDERNESS AREA FIRE ...............................53 Introduction .............................................................................................................................53 Study Area ..............................................................................................................................58 Methods ..................................................................................................................................60 Plot Description ...............................................................................................................60 Plot Level Burn Severity .................................................................................................61 Remotely Sensed Burn Severity ......................................................................................61 Plot Topographic and Vegetative Characteristics and Fuel Loading ..............................63 Analysis ...........................................................................................................................63 Results .....................................................................................................................................65 Variations in Burn Severity Among Sand Pine Scrub Stand Types ................................65 Variations in Topographic, Vegetative and Fuels Characteristics Among Stand Types ............................................................................................................................66 Modeling Burn Severity Using Stand Characteristics .....................................................67 5 Discussion ...............................................................................................................................69 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................72 3 HIGH SEVERITY PRESCRIBED FIRE IN FLORIDA: SAND PINE SCRUB MANAGEMENT IN THE OCALA NATIONAL FOREST .................................................90 Introduction .............................................................................................................................90 Sand Pine Scrub ......................................................................................................................92 Sand Pine Scrub Management at the ONF .............................................................................95 Challenges to Prescribed Fire in Sand Pine Scrub ..................................................................97 Experiments in Sand Pine Fire Management ........................................................................101 Fire and the Future Management of Sand Pine Scrub ..........................................................102 Research Needs .....................................................................................................................103 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................104 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................108 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 1-1 Descriptions of ocular severity classes used to quantify variation in burn severity in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida. ........................................31 1-2 Descriptions of Composite Burn Index (CBI) burn severity indices used to quantify plot level burn severity in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida. ...............................................................................................................................31 1-3 Burn severity classification accuracy for the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida, including all severity indices and classifications. ......................31 1-4 Overall map accuracy best ten burn severity classifications for the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida, including all severity indices, image sources and classifications. ................................................................................................32 1-5 Mean map accuracy best ten burn severity classifications for the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida, including all severity indices, image sources and classifications. ................................................................................................32 1-6 Landsat Supervised burn severity classification and ocular severity index error matrix for the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida. ......................33 1-7 Means of burn severity classification mean producer’s and user’s accuracies by severity class from all image sources and classifications; for the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida. ......................................................................33 1-8 Unburned class best ten burn severity classifications by user’s accuracy for the Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest, Florida, including all severity indices,
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