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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Richard W. Fonda
Publication Date: 2001

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi), longleaf pine (P. palustris), and south Florida slash pine (P. elliottii var. densa) are fire resisters. Trees of these species are able to survive the direct effects of wildfires. Monterey pine (P. radiata), knobcone pine (P. attenuata), sand pine (P. clausa), and jack pine (P. banksiana) are fire evaders. Trees of these species are killed by wildfire, but species survive on the postfire site via seed germination. Needles were burned in a 2x2 factorial experiment to compare these eight species, all of which are prominent in fire-related communities. The experiment tested two factors-fire adaptive strategy (resisters vs. evaders), geographic region (western vs. eastern United States)-and interactions between those two factors. Flame height, flame time, ember time, burn time, percent fuel combusted, and mean rate of weight loss were measured. Longleaf pine, ponderosa pine, and south Florida slash pine had the highest values for flame height, percent fuel combusted, and mean rate of weight loss. Knobcone pine and Monterey pine had the longest ember time and burn time. Sand pine and jack pine had the longest flame time. Resisters tested highest in flame height, percent fuel combusted, and mean rate of weight loss. Evaders had greater flame and burn times. Western pines were significantly greater than eastern pines in all burning characteristics except flame time and mean rate of weight loss. Significant interactions between fire adaptive strategy and geographic region existed for all burning characteristics except mean rate of weight loss. The interaction was accounted for primarily by differences between western evaders, which had some of the highest values for each characteristic, and eastern evaders, which had some of the lowest values.

Online Links
Citation: Fonda, Richard W. 2001. Burning characteristics of needles from eight pine species. Forest Science 47(3):390-396.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Alaska    California    Eastern    Great Basin    Hawaii    Northern Rockies    Northwest    Rocky Mountain    Southern    Southwest    National
Keywords:
  • Abies amabilis
  • Aristida stricta
  • biogeography
  • burning intervals
  • catastrophic fires
  • coastal forest
  • community ecology
  • distribution
  • fire adaptations
  • fire adaptive trait
  • fire characteristics
  • fire frequency
  • fire intensity
  • fire management
  • fire regimes
  • fire resistant plants
  • flame length
  • flammability
  • forest management
  • fuel moisture
  • germination
  • ignition
  • litter
  • longleaf pine
  • national forests
  • needles
  • pine forests
  • pine needles
  • Pinus attenuata
  • Pinus banksiana
  • Pinus clausa
  • Pinus contorta
  • Pinus edulis
  • Pinus elliottii
  • Pinus elliottii densa
  • Pinus jeffreyi
  • Pinus lambertiana
  • Pinus palustris
  • Pinus ponderosa
  • Pinus rigida
  • Pinus serotina
  • Pinus spp.
  • plant communities
  • post-fire recovery
  • Pseudotsuga menziesii
  • sampling
  • sandhills
  • scrub
  • seed germination
  • slash
  • slash pine
  • statistical analysis
  • Thuja plicata
  • wildfires
Tall Timbers Record Number: 14506Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Fire FileAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 15536

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.