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Type: Thesis
Author(s): Darren J. Lione
Publication Date: 2002

Site disturbance, whether natural or man-made, can affect the soil. Removal of biomass can affect soil temperature, moisture, pH, organic matter, nutrients available for plant use, and susceptibility to erosion. Fires can cause nutrients to be lost from the site, either as gases or as part of the smoke. Gaseous products of combustion can solidify on soil particles, forming a waxy film that repels water. Weight and vibration from ground-based the equipment can compact the soil (increase bulk density). The resultant reduction in pore space can result in reduced water infiltration, reduced aeration, reduced root penetration, increased overland flow, and increased erosion. Equipment can also cause mixing of the top layers of soil. In general, the magnitude of any changes increases with increased frequency and intensity of disturbance. Lione studied the effects of fuel reduction treatments on soils in the upper Piedmont in South Carolina. Poor farming practices a century ago resulted in moderate to extreme erosion of these acidic, clay-rich soils. As part of a large reclamation project, these soils were returned to forest production and currently support forests of loblolly, short needle pine, and mixed hardwoods. Lione evaluated the effects of thinning and prescribed burning. The thinning was described as a 5th row thin with operator selection between the rows. The intensity of the prescribed burns was described as generally low in two replications (flame height less than one meter) and moderate in the third replication (flame heights between one and two meters). Samples for laboratory analysis were collected from the organic layer and the top 10 cm of soil. Bulk density samples were collected using a slide hammer soil sampler with rings 5 cm in depth. When the effects of each treatment were compared to the control, the following results were statistically significant: 1. Prescribed burning was associated with increased pH and decreased iron, zinc, total exchangeable cations, and proportional mineralization (proportion of nitrate to total nitrogen converted to mineral form) in the mineral soil. Carbon and nitrogen decreased in the organic layer. 2. Thinning was associated with increased pH, magnesium, boron, and potassium and decreased iron in the mineral soil. Carbon and nitrogen decreased in the organic horizon. Bulk density was 0.875 g/cm3 compared to the control of 0.801 g/cm3. No statistical differences were observed in the mineral soil values for sodium, manganese, copper, sulfur, phosphorus, aluminum, calcium, carbon, nitrogen, and the carbon to nitrogen ratio. The carbon to nitrogen ratio was also unchanged in the organic layer. Net mineralization (the conversion of organic nitrogen to mineral forms) was unchanged in both the mineral soil and the organic layer. Lione concluded that the impacts of the thinning and burning treatments in this study were relatively small. Based on his review of the literature, Lione suggests these changes may be short-lived.

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Citation: Lione, Darren. 2002. Effects of prescribed burning and thinning as fuel reduction treatments on the soils of the Clemson Experimental Forest. M.S. Thesis. Clemson University. 94 p.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • Clemson Experimental Forest
  • FFS - Fire and Fire Surrogate Study
  • forest thinning
  • fuel reduction
  • Piedmont
  • soil
JFSP Project Number(s):
  • 99-S-01
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 835