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United States Department of Agriculture
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Reburn in the rain shadow
Author(s): Natasha Vizcarra; David W. Peterson
Date: 2018
Source: Science Findings 211. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 5 p.
Publication Series: Science Findings
Station: Pacific Northwest Research Station
PDF: View PDF (6.0 MB)Description
Wildfires consume existing forest fuels but also leave behind dead shrubs and trees that become fuel to future wildfires. Harvesting firekilled trees is sometimes proposed as an economical approach for reducing future fuels and wildfire severity. Postfire logging, however, is controversial. Some question its fuel reduction benefits and its ecological impacts.
David W. Peterson, a research forester with the USDA Forest Service, and his colleagues investigated the long-term effects of postfire logging on woody fuels in 255 coniferous forest stands that burned with high fire severity in 68 wildfires between 1970 and 2007 in eastern Washington and Oregon. They found that postfire logging significantly reduced future surface woody fuel levels in forests regenerating following wildfires.
The researchers also investigated the long-term response of understory vegetation to two postfire logging treatments—commercial salvage logging with and without additional fuel reduction logging—on a long-term postfire logging experiment in northeastern Oregon.
They found that postfire logging produced minimal persistent impacts on understory vegetation, suggesting that understory vegetation can be resilient to postfire logging, particularly when best management practices, like logging over snow, are used to limit damage to soils and understory vegetation.Publication Notes
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Citation
Vizcarra, Natasha; Peterson, David W. 2018. Reburn in the rain shadow. Science Findings 211. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 5 p.Keywords
Postfire logging, salvage, fuels, understory, dry forest.Related Search
- Post-fire logging produces minimal persistent impacts on understory vegetation in northeastern Oregon, USA
- Effects of timber harvest following wildfire in western North America
- Post-fire logging reduces surface woody fuels up to four decades following wildfire
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https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/57312