Canadian Forest Service Publications
Selected parameters of fire behavior and Pinus banksiana Lamb. regeneration in eastern Ontario. 1987. Weber, M.G.; Hummel, M.; Van Wagner, C.E. Forestry Chronicle 63(5): 340-346.
Year: 1987
Issued by: Northern Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 23553
Language: English
Availability: Order paper copy (free), PDF (request by e-mail)
Abstract
Fire behavior variables were quantified in eastern Ontario jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) ecosystems and used to interpret observed fire impacts and effects. A series of seven fires, ranging in frontal fire intensity from 70 to 17 000 W/m, were documented. Forest floor moisture content prior to burning was negatively correlated with weight of forest floor consumed per unit area (r2 = 0.97) and per cent mineral soil bared (r2 = 0.95). Frontal fire intensity was positively correlated with per cent tree mortality (r2 = 0.98) and mean height of char (r2 = 0.76). Frontal fire intensities of 17 000 kW/m resulted in seedling numbers of 30 000 to over 50 000 ha-1 considered to be more than adequate for establishing the next generation of crop trees. Jack pine mean seedling height, 13 to 16 years after fire, was also positively correlated with frontal fire intensity (r2 = 0.82), ranging from 0.5 to 3.8 m on lowest and highest intensity burns, respectively. Similar relationships were found when seedling height was regressed against per cent tree mortality (r2 = 0.62) and forest floor consumption (r2 = 0.79).
Results are discussed in terms of ecological requirements of the species, particularly during the regeneration phase, and it is concluded that quantification of fire behavior observations is mandatory if burning conditions are to be understood and/or duplicated by the land manager for the attainment of a given forest management objective.