United States Department of Fire in Eastern Oak Forests: Agriculture Forest Service Delivering Science to Land Managers Northern Research Station Proceedings of a Conference General Technical November 15-17, 2005 Report NRS-P-1 Fawcett Center The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Abstract Contains 20 papers and 36 poster abstracts presented at a conference on fire in oak forests of the Eastern United States that was held at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, on November 15-17, 2005. Acknowledgments The Steering Committee thanks Sarah Sieling, Robin Dever, and Laura Seeger, Department of Conference Management and Professional Development, The Ohio State University, for logistical support. We also thank the many reviewers for improving the manuscripts. Generally, there were two anonymous reviewers for each manuscript, one from the land management and one from the scientific community. Anantha Prasad created and maintained the conference website. Mary Boda provided administrative support. Financial support was provided by the Northeastern Area, State and Private Forestry, Southern Region, and Joint Fire Science Program, The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative, and Lion Apparel. In-kind support was provided by The Ohio State University, School of Natural Resources, Northeastern Research Station, and Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The findings and conclusions of each article in this publication are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Forest Service. All articles were received in digital format and were edited for uniform type and style. Each author is responsible for the accuracy and content of his or her paper. Published by: For additional copies: USDA FOREST SERVICE USDA Forest Service 11 CAMPUS BLVD SUITE 200 Publications Distribution NEWTOWN SQUARE PA 19073-3294 359 Main Road Delaware, OH 43015-8640 September 2006 Fax: (740)368-0152 Visit our homepage at: http://www.fs.fed.us/ne FIRE IN EASTERN OAK FORESTS: DELIVERING SCIENCE TO LAND MANAGERS Proceedings of a Conference November 15-17, 2005 Fawcett Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Edited by Matthew B. Dickinson USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Delaware, Ohio 43015 Steering Committee Mike Bowden, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Pat Brose, USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station Matthew Dickinson (Chair), USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station Rex Mann, USDA Forest Service, Daniel Boone National Forest Roger Williams, The Ohio State University, School of Natural Resources Alan Zentz, USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area, State and Private Forestry Sponsors USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area, State and Private Forestry USDA Forest Service, Southern Region Joint Fire Sciences Program The Ohio State University USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station Ohio Department of Natural Resources The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative Lion Apparel CONTENTS Historical PERSPECTIVES ON EASTERN OAK FORESTS The Paleoecology of Fire and Oaks in Eastern Forests ..............................................................2 William A. Patterson III Fire Scars Reveal Variability and Dynamics of Eastern Fire Regimes ....................................20 Richard P. Guyette, Daniel C. Dey, Michael C. Stambaugh, and Rose-Marie Muzika Understanding the Evidence for Historical Fire Across Eastern Forests ................................40 Charles M. Ruffner Oak Composition and Structure in the Eastern United States ..................................................49 W. Keith Moser, Mark Hansen, Will McWilliams, and Ray Sheffield Why Sustain Oak Forests? ...........................................................................................................62 David Wm. Smith VEGEtatiVE AND FOREST FLOOR RESPONSES to FIRE Ecological and Ecophysiological Attributes and Responses to Fire in Eastern Oak Forests ....................................................................................................................................74 Marc D. Abrams Research Efforts on Fuels, Fuel Models, and Fire Behavior in Eastern Hardwood Forests .........................................................................................................................90 Thomas A. Waldrop, Lucy Brudnak, Ross J. Phillips, and Patrick H. Brose Soil, Fire, Water, and Wind: How the Elements Conspire in the Forest Context ...................104 Ralph E.J. Boerner Responses of Oak and Other Hardwood Regeneration to Prescribed Fire: What We Know as of 2005 ..........................................................................................................123 Patrick H. Brose, Thomas M. Schuler, and Jeffrey S. Ward Fire and the Herbaceous Layer of Eastern Oak Forests..........................................................136 Todd Hutchinson FIRe—FAUNA INTERACTIONS Do Fire and Insects Interact in Eastern Forests? .....................................................................152 Lynne K. Rieske-Kinney Does Fire Affect Amphibians and Reptiles in Eastern U.S. Oak Forests? .............................158 Rochelle B. Renken Conservation Implications for Neotropical Migratory and Game Birds in Oak-hardwood Stands Managed with Shelterwood Harvests and Prescribed Fire ........................................167 J. Drew Lanham, Patrick H. Brose, and Patrick D. Keyser Influence of Fire on Mammals in Eastern Oak Forests ............................................................180 Patrick D. Keyser and W. Mark Ford Fire in Eastern Oak Forests: Delivering Science to Land Managers. Proceedings of a Conference GTR-NRS-P-1 ObstaclES AND SOLUTIONS to USING PRESCRIBED FIRE IN OAK FORESTS Prescribed Fire: What Influences Public Approval? ...............................................................192 Sarah M. McCaffrey Top Ten Smoke Management Questions for Fire in Eastern Oak Forests .............................199 Joseph J. Charney, Ann L. Acheson, and Andrea Stacy Resistance of Eastern Hardwood Stems to Fire Injury and Damage .....................................210 Kevin T. Smith and Elaine Kennedy Sutherland Fire and Invasive Exotic Plant Species in Eastern Oak Communities: an Assessment of Current Knowledge ......................................................................................218 Cynthia D. Huebner Rx Fire Laws: Tools to Protect Fire: the ‘Ecological Imperative’ ............................................233 Dale Wade, Steven Miller, Johnny Stowe, and James Brenner Growing a Burning Program: Challenges and Opportunities .................................................263 Rex Mann POSTER ABSTRACTS Overstory and Seedling Response to Repeated Fires in Eastern Kentucky .........................268 Heather D. Alexander, Mary Arthur, David Loftis, and Stephanie Green Thermocouple Probes in Surface Fires.....................................................................................269 Anthony S. Bova and Matthew B. Dickinson Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Treatments Applied Above Ground Impact Soil Ecological Properties in Oak Forest Ecosystems ....................................................................270 Jennifer A. Brinkman and R.E.J. Boerner Fire Research in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey ....................................................................271 Kenneth Clark, John Hom, Nick Skowronski, Yude Pan, Steve Van Tuyl, and Warren Heilman Effects of Fuel Reduction Treatments on Soil Nitrogen Transformation in the Southeastern Piedmont ........................................................................................................272 T. Adam Coates, Victor B. Shelburne, Thomas A. Waldrop, Bill R. Smith, and Hoke S. Hill, Jr. Use of Wildland Fire in Great Smoky Mountains National Park ..............................................273 Dana Cohen, Beth Buchanan, Bob Dellinger, Leon Konz, and Mark Taylor Hardwood Stem Injury and Mortality in Surface Fires .............................................................274 Matthew B. Dickinson and Anthony S. Bova Vegetation Response to Prescribed Fire Across a Moisture/Productivity Gradient in the Southern Appalachians ....................................................................................................275 Katherine J. Elliott and James M. Vose Oaks in Presettlement Fire Landscapes of the Southeast ......................................................276 Cecil Frost Effects of Prescribed Burning on Invasibility by Nonnative Plant Species in the Central Hardwoods Region ..................................................................................................277 Lance Glasgow and Glenn Matlack Fire in Eastern Oak Forests: Delivering Science to Land Managers. Proceedings of a Conference GTR-NRS-P-1 Fuel and Fire Dynamics in Eastern Mixed-Oak Forests...........................................................278 John B. Graham and Brian C. McCarthy Using Prescribed Fire and Mechanical Thinning to Improve the Regenerative Potential of Oak Species.............................................................................................................279 Scott Holevoet and Charles Ruffner Thinning and Burning Treatments Influence Within-Canopy Leaf Traits in Seven Hardwood Species in Ohio .........................................................................................................280 Jyh-Min Chiang and Kim J. Brown Estimating Fire Behavior from Overhead Imagery in Eastern Oak Forests...........................281