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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Kuchler Potential Natural Vegetation Type > Southern Floodplain Forest
 

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KUCHLER TYPE FIRE ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

KUCHLER TYPE: Southern floodplain forest
FUELS, FLAMMABILITY, AND FIRE OCCURRENCE : Typically, fires are infrequent in the mixed wetland hardwoods of the Southeast [1]. In mixed hardwood swamps where hydroperiods last from 6 to 7 months, about two fires occur per century. Where hydroperiods last from 1 to 6 months, fires may only occur once per century. Fires may be less frequent on drier sites where rapid decomposition and occasional floods retard fuel accumulation [3]. Where drainage of swamps accelerates litter buildup and increases productivity, fires are usually more severe [4]. Okefenokee Swamp studies indicate that fires follow drought, occurring every 10 to 50 years [17]. Duever and others [2] hypothesized that where cypress grows on peats in direct contact with the water table, fire frequency and severity are low; where cypress grows on peats more removed from the water table, fires are more severe and frequent. FIRE EFFECTS ON SITE : Severe fires reduce the peat depth which can alter water availability, hydroperiod, and nutrient availability [2]. For detailed information about the effects of fire on soil chemical and physical properties refer to Christensen [24]. FIRE EFFECTS ON VEGETATION : Fire kills many trees of the southern floodplain forest directly and usually initiates rot in survivors [23]. The thin bark of water tupelo and black tupelo offers little protection against fire [11,13]. The same situation exists for most of the oaks found in these forests, including laurel oak, overcup oak, swamp chestnut oak, water oak, and willow oak. Bark thickness in relation to fire resistance has been recorded for some southern wetland species. They are (in order of decreasing resistance) cypress, sweetbay, red maple, water oak, water tupelo, and sweetgum [9]. All of these species sprout following fire if roots are not killed [14,16,19,20,21,22,25,26,27]. For more fire information on individual species refer to species reports in the FEIS database. Mature cypress survives surface fires better than its hardwood associates. Survival is better following summer and early fall fires than following fires in other seasons. Slow-burning peat fires, which can ignite when moisture levels go below 30 percent, kill cypress roots and prevent them from sprouting [8]. A December wildfire, following a dry autumn, severely burned two cypress "dome" sites in Florida. Fires smoldered for several days but did not expose mineral soil on the two domes. Species composition on both sites before the fire was given as follows (hardwoods are black tupelo, sweetgum, and sweetbay): Site One Site Two Before: Cypress 52% Before: Cypress 44% Pines 27% Pines 14% Hardwoods 21% Hardwoods 42% Percent decreases in species composition on both sites 1 year after the fire were given as follows: Site One Site Two After: Cypress 18% After: Cypress 22.5% Pines 96% Pines 96% Hardwoods 98% Hardwoods 83% Pines were present because both sites had been drained for several years. A small percentage of cypress sprouted following this fire. The organic layer was thicker in the center, where more trees were killed than around the edges of the swamp. It appears that after long drought periods fires will do greater damage in the center of swamps where the organic layer is thicker. Here tree roots are imbedded in peat and, therefore, not protected from fire by mineral soil [4]. FIRE EFFECTS ON RESOURCE MANAGEMENT : NO-ENTRY FIRE USE CONSIDERATIONS : NO-ENTRY FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : Fires in logged cypress stands are more detrimental than fires in unlogged stands. Slash and dense regrowth provide enough fuels for "hot" fires to consume seed sources and eliminate vegetative regrowth [8]. Severe burning after logging or draining hardwood swamps may destroy seeds and roots. In south Florida this may lead to colonization by willows followed by succession to mixed hardwoods [3]. REHABILITATION OF SITES FOLLOWING WILDFIRE : NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Kuchler Type: Southern floodplain forest

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Content on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from information published on this site. We encourage you to verify any critical information with the relevant authorities.

Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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