Document

Title

Ecophysiological responses of two herbaceous species to prescribed burning, alone or in combination with overstory thinning
Document Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Jianjun Huang; Ralph E. J. Boerner; Joanne X. Rebbeck
Publication Year: 2007

Cataloging Information

Keyword(s):
  • Appalachian Mountains
  • burning
  • deciduous forests
  • Desmodium
  • Desmodium nudiflorum
  • ecosystem dynamics
  • fire frequency
  • fire management
  • fire suppression
  • forest management
  • fuel treatment
  • hardwood forest
  • herbaceous
  • light
  • mammals
  • moisture
  • mountains
  • Odocoileus virginianus
  • Ohio
  • overstory
  • Panicum
  • Panicum boscii
  • perennial plant
  • photosynthesis
  • photosynthetic activity
  • population density
  • Quercus ilex
  • soil moisture
  • soil temperature
  • species diversity
  • statistical analysis
  • suppression
  • temperature
  • thinning
  • vegetation
  • water
  • water use efficiency
Topic(s):
Region(s):
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Record Maintained By:
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Record Last Modified: November 13, 2019
FRAMES Record Number: 4232
Tall Timbers Record Number: 22051
TTRS Location Status: In-file
TTRS Call Number: Journals-A
TTRS Abstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy 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 the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Description

The oak-rich deciduous forests of the central Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America have changed significantly since the onset of effective fire suppression early in the 20th century. Those changes have resulted in progressively decreasing light and nutrient supplies to herbaceous perennial understory species. Application of ecological restoration treatments such as reintroduction of frequent dormant-season fire and overstory thinning to pre-suppression density often increase light, soil temperature and moisture, and short-term nutrient availability to pre-suppression levels. To persist in this environment, perennial understory herbs must be able to acclimate phenotypically to the very different resource supply combinations present with and without fire suppression. As part of a larger study of the response of the long-lived herbaceous perennials Desmodium nudiflorum and Panicum boscii to ecosystem restoration treatments in Ohio mixed-oak forests, this study examined the ecophysiological effects of prescribed burning (B) and the combination of burning and thinning (T + B) in mixed-oak forests in southern Ohio. Control (C) plants had significantly lower maximum photosynthetic rate (Amax) than those in the treated plots. The enhancement of Amax averaged 26.7% and 52.7% in the B and T + B treatments, respectively. Plants from the T + B plots had higher quantum yield, stomatal conductance, and photosynthetic nutrient use efficiency than B and C plants. B plants had greater intrinsic water use efficiency (WUE) than plants in the C or T + B treatments. Light saturation point (LSP), light compensation point (LCP), and 'dark' respiration (DR) did not differ among treatments. Photosynthetic parameters did vary significantly between the species, but no significant treatment x species interactions were detected. Our results support the hypothesis that prescribed burning, especially when combined with overstory thinning, in these perennial herbs can result in phenotypic acclimation characterized by enhanced photosynthetic performance.

Online Link(s):
Link to this document
Citation:
Huang, Jianjun; Boerner, Ralph E.; Rebbeck, Joanne. 2007. Ecophysiological responses of two herbaceous species to prescribed burning alone or combined with thinning. American Journal of Botany 94(5):755-763.