Fire Research in Longleaf
Pine Forests on the
Kisatchie National Forest
James D. (Dave) Haywood,
Southern Research Station,
Pineville, LA
Brown-spot
needle blight
Brown spot needle blight
If no brush control
Early Research-Fire on the Range
Fire favored
longleaf pine
regeneration
Waxmyrtle total
height (m)
Fire favored
longleaf pine
regeneration
Fine fuels in March
Fine fuels in May
Fire in older
stands
Stand characteristics for longleaf pine 12 and 37 years after prescribed
burning began to be monitored in a natural longleaf pine stand in
Louisiana; 20 burns were applied over a 37-yr period from 1962
through 1998 (Grelen 1975; Haywood et al. 2001)
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Longleaf
height
at age 12 yrs
Basal area at age 37 yrs
Longleaf
Longleaf+Loblolly
Treatments
(meters)
(meter2/hectare)
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Unburned
6.5
10.7
18.4
Biennial March burn
8.3
22.3
22.3
Biennial May burn
10.5
30.2
30.2
Biennial July burn
6.9
15.1
15.1
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Percentage of basal area among three taxa of vegetation on three
ranges in Louisiana in which burning ceased 20 to 37 years earlier
(Bruce 1947; Haywood and Grelen 2000; Haywood et al. 2001)
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Haywood and
Haywood et al.
Grelen 2000
Bruce 1947
2001
after 20 yrs
after 32 yrs
after 37 yrs
Taxa
(pct)
(pct)
(pct)
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Longleaf pine
Other pine species
Hardwoods
3
54
40
89
38
29
8
8
31
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Influence of woody vegetation on actual and predicted current-year
herbaceous plant production on four sites in Louisiana (Haywood and
Harris 1999)
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Stands
Woody
plants >
10 cm dbh
(m2/ha)
Trees and
shrubs <10
cm dbh
(stems/ha)
Canopy
cover
(pct)
Measured
herbage
production
(kg/ha)
Predicted
herbage
production
(kg/ha)
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Brushy Sites
Comp. 71
24.4
60,146
77
452
358
Comp. 86
24.4
74,130
57
753
358
Comp. 10
22.5
10,873
56
1640
1051
Comp. 22
28.5
35,008
61
1160
659
Grassy Sites
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Current
Research
Container
longleaf pine
planting stock
Percent of
longleaf pine in
the grass stage
Total height of
longleaf pine
growing over a
grass-dominated
understory
Total height of
longleaf pine
growing over a
brush-dominated
understory
High intensity burns
on grassy sites
Low intensity burns
for 5 to 7 years on
brushy sites
Brown-spot
needle blight
Brown spot needle blight
Grassy site with
woody plant control
Brushy site with
woody plant control
Total height of
longleaf pine
growing over a
brush-dominated
understory
Common grasses on the both the grassy and brushy sites
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big bluestem
Andropogon gerardii Vitman
broomsedge bluestem
Andropogon virginicus L.
arrowfeather threeawn
Aristida purpurascens Poir.
needleleaf rosette grass Dichanthelium aciculare [Desv.
ex Poir.] Gould & C.A. Clark
tapered rosette grass
Dichanthelium acuminatum
[Sw.] Gould & C.A. Clark
little bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
[Michx.] Nash var. divergens
[Hack.] Gould
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Fire is not a Panacea
Slide 8-Too much fire
meters
Height growth
(meters) of longleaf
pine saplings after
prescribed burning
(B) or chemical
brush control in the
7, 9, and 11 growing
seasons
Fuel loads and fire intensities for prescribed burns conducted
on a pine-grassland site
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Range in
Average
Oven-dried
fire
fire
fuel load
intensity
intensity
Year
Date
(kg/ha)
(kJ/s/m)
(kJ/s/m)
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1999
March 2
May 14
July 8
3702
6003
4377
319 – 429
290 – 378
400 – 688
385
341
590
2001
March 13
April 30
July 31
5287
6171
6323
522 – 561
548 – 827
871 – 1026
544
734
943
2003
March 11
6240
905 – 1035
962
May 6
6543
504 – 662
579
July 22
4863
334 – 534
417
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Slide 11-Scorch in Slash pine
Living foliage
within 2 m of
the ground
1-hr time-lag
dead fuels
10-hr time-lag
dead fuels
Number of
beetles by
guilds
Flight
interception
trap
Fuel harvesting
Slide 34-Alternatives, pine straw mgt
Mechanical
treatments
Livestock
Herbicides
Conclusions
Fire research originally focused on range improvement
The most important long-term benefit from prescribed
burning has been the establishment of pine-grasslands
Prescribed burning is the only practice applicable to
over a hundred thousand acres per year on the KNF
The development of container planting stock has been
critical to successful reestablishment of longleaf pine
Herbaceous competition with seedlings is more
important than woody competition
Must burn to keep forests from converting to mixed pine
and hardwoods
High productivity does not equal species richness