Published

 

Credit: Lina DiGregorio

Credit: Lina DiGregorio

The fire regime at AND LTER was previously believed to be dominantly stand-replacing. However, three quarters of 124 post-fire sites had multi-age cohorts of plant species, indicating mixed severity fires over the past 400 years. Pre-disturbance understory plant species persisted for decades after clear-cut logging and broadcast burning, contrary to the theory that severe disturbance would eradicate understory species.

 

Learn more

  1. Halpern, CB and Lutz, JA. 2013. Canopy closure exerts weak controls on understory dynamics: A 30-year study of overstory-understory interactions. Ecological Monographs. doi: 10.1890/12-1696.1
  2. Tepley, AJ et al. 2013. Fire-mediated pathways of stand development in Douglas-fir/western hemlock forests of the Pacific Northwest, USA. Ecology. doi: 10.1890/12-1506.1

Contact

Michael Nelson
mpnelson@oregonstate.edu

Posted:  March 4, 2020