Full Citation: Pollet, Jolie; Omi, Philip N. 2002. Effect of thinning and prescribed burning on crown fire severity in ponderosa pine forests. International Journal of Wildland Fire 11(1):1-10.
External Identifier(s): 10.1071/WF01045 Digital Object Identifier
Location: Webb Fire, Montana, U.S.; Tyee fire, Washington, U.S.; Cottonwood Fire, California, U.S.; Hochderffer Fire, Arizona, U.S.
Ecosystem types: Ponderosa Pine forest
Southwest FireCLIME Keywords: None
FRAMES Keywords: crown fires, fire exclusion, fire severity, Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine, thinning, Arizona, ground fire effects, hazards, Montana, Washington, fuel treatment, catastrophic fires, crown scorch, ecosystem dynamics, fire hazard reduction, fire intensity, fire management, fire suppression, forest management, fuel management, fuel moisture, fuel types, national forests, pine forests, post-fire recovery, regeneration, scorch, site treatments, stand characteristics, surface fires, trees, wildfires

Effect of thinning and prescribed burning on crown fire severity in ponderosa pine forests

Jolie Pollet, Philip N. Omi


Summary - what did the authors do and why?

The authors quantitatively compared the effects of three treatments: prescribed fire, whole-tree thinning, and thinning followed by prescribed fire, and an untreated stand at four ponderosa pine sites to test each treatment’s effectiveness at reducing fire severity and crown scorch.


Publication findings:

The authors found that all of the treated stands had lower fire severity and reduced crown scorch than the untreated plots.

Fire and Ecosystem Effects Linkages

The authors found that all of the treated stands had lower fire severity and reduced crown scorch than the untreated plots.