News
(updated 5/29/09)
Welcome!
Pitch pine-scrub oak barrens, also known as "pine plains," "sand plains," "pinelands," and "pine bush," occur throughout the Northeast from New Jersey to Maine. These barrens are characterized by excessively drained soils and by several plant species which are highly flammable and/or have adaptations to survive or regenerate after fire.
Pitch pine-scrub oak barrens are among the rarest and most imperiled natural community types in the United States, and they support a number of rare species, including lepidopterans such as the Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) and the barrens buckmoth (Hemileuca maia), and plants such as the Sand-plain Gerardia (Agalinis acuta).
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Karner blue butterfly |
Barrens buckmoth (Hemileuca maia) photo from: www.eandrc.org/picturearchives.htm |
Sand-plain Gerardia (Agalinis acuta) |
In the Northeast, researchers, land managers, and conservation organizations are working together to learn and apply the best ways to promote, maintain, and restore these unique ecosystems. Management techniques include the use of mechanical treatments (mowing, grazing, thinning), herbicides, and prescribed fire.
Please take some time to explore our website and learn about Fuels Management in Northeastern Barrens. This website is funded by a grant from the Joint Fire Science Program and by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
News - April 2009
The results of new work on springtime pitch pine foliar moisture content (FMC) have been added to the website! Using data collected from the Montague Plains over the last six years (and still going), the timing and extent of pitch pine FMC decline and recovery has been correlated with the heat sum in air (a measure of growing season progress). A calculator has been developed to estimate FMC by entering average daily temperatures. See the Methods page for the Excel calculator as well as a live example of 2009 data updated regularly as the season progresses!
© 2005 Kimberly Iwamoto. This is the Web site for the Joint Fire Science Program Northeast Barrens Fuels Demonstration Project. This site is hosted by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Produced and maintained by the lab of Dr. William A. Patterson III. Please contact us with questions or comments at nebarrensfuels@nrc.umass.edu.