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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Joshua W. Campbell; James L. Hanula; Kenneth W. Outcalt
Publication Date: 2008

Treatments to restore understory plant communities of mature (50-80-year old) longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) and reduce risks of wildfire were applied to 10 ha plots that had a substantial shrub layer due to lack of fire. Plots were located in the Coastal Plain of Alabama and treatments consisted of: (1) untreated control, (2) growing season prescribed burn, (3) thin only, (4) thin plus growing season burn, and (5) herbicide plus growing season burn. Thin plus burn plots had significantly higher tree mortality compared to burn only and control plots and, overall, fire was the primary cause of tree death. Most tree mortality occurred within 1-year of treatment. From 2002 to 2004, we captured 75,598 Coleoptera in multiple funnel traps comprising 17 families and 130 species. Abundance of all Coleoptera combined was not different among treatments. Species richness was significantly higher on thin plus burn plots compared to thin only and control plots. Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) were more abundant on thin plus burn plots compared to control plots in fall 2002 but in fall 2003 they were more abundant on thin plus burn, thin only, and herbicide plus burn compared to controls. Among Scolytinae, Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier), Xyleborinus saxeseni (Ratzeburg), Xyleborus sp. 3, and Hylastes tenuis (Eichhoff), showed varying responses to the treatments. Other Curculionidae were significantly more abundant on thin only and herbicide plus burn plots compared to all other treatments in spring 2003 and in spring 2004 they were more abundant on herbicide plus burn plots compared to thin plus burn treatments. Among Cerambycidae, Xylotrechus sagittatus (Germar) was higher in abundance in fall 2003 on thin plus burn plots compared to all other treatments except herbicide plus burn plots. Within the predator complex, Trogositidae were higher on thin plus burn plots compared to all other treatments except thin only plots in spring 2003, and Cleridae abundance was higher in spring 2004 on burn only plots compared to all other treatments. Linear regression analyses of dead trees per plot versus various Coleoptera showed captures of Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Trogositidae, Acanthocinus nodosus (Fabricius), Temnochila virescens (Fabricius), and X. saxeseni increased with increasing number of dead trees. Our results show that the restoration treatments tested did not cause increased bark beetle-related tree mortality and they did not negatively affect populations of early successional saproxylic beetle fauna.

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Citation: Campbell, Joshua W.; Hanula, James L.; Outcalt, Kenneth W. 2008. Effects of prescribed fire and other plant community restoration treatments on tree mortality, bark beetles, and other saproxylic Coleoptera of longleaf pine, Pinus palustris Mill., on the Coastal Plain of Alabama. Forest Ecology and Management 254(2):134-144.

Cataloging Information

Regions:
Keywords:
  • Alabama
  • bark
  • bark beetles
  • Buprestidae
  • Cerambycidae
  • coastal plain
  • Coleoptera
  • CWD - coarse woody debris
  • Dendroctonus frontalis
  • Dendroctonus spp.
  • Dendroctonus terebrans
  • experimental areas
  • fire dependent species
  • fire hazard reduction
  • fire injuries (plants)
  • fire management
  • forest management
  • growing season burning
  • herbicide
  • Ilex vomitoria
  • insects
  • Ips avulsus
  • Ips calligaphus
  • Ips grandicollis
  • longleaf pine
  • mortality
  • multiple funnel trap
  • pine forests
  • Pinus palustris
  • Pinus spp.
  • plant communities
  • plant community dynamics
  • plant diseases
  • restoration treatments
  • saproxylic species
  • SFP - Southern Fire Portal
  • thinning
  • trapping
  • tree mortality
  • trees
  • Trogositidae
  • understory vegetation
  • Xyleborus spp.
Tall Timbers Record Number: 22319Location 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: 9643

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.