Management Page Index

Custom Fuel Models

Prescribed Fires

Dormant Season Rx fire

Growing Season Rx fire

Mechanical Treatments

Herbicide

Restoration

 

 

 

 




 

 


 

Management

With this page, we hope to bring the experiences of researchers and land managers together to further the management of northeastern barrens. It includes management suggestions, protocols, and results from our experience and that of others. Specifically, there are fire prescriptions, narratives of completed fires, custom fuel models, and fuels data that have been collected at a variety of barrens sites. Learn about the successes and problems of barrens management and be sure to share your experiences with us for inclusion here.

Check back often to read about current management in northeastern barrens.

Custom Fuel Models

Resource managers in the Northeast use computer-generated fire behavior models (the BEHAVE fire behavior prediction system) to aid in planning for prescribed fires and wildfire control. BEHAVE (the most current version is BehavePlus 3 and can be used with NEXUS) uses user-defined fuel, weather, and topographic inputs to predict wildland fire behavior. Its fire behavior predictions are driven by mathematical algorithms (equations) that have been shown to accurately predict fire behavior characteristics in many fuel types. It can be used either with 13 standard fuel models (covering a variety of fuel types from across the country, with several new models introduced in 2005) or with custom fuel models developed from parameters entered by the user. The models allow managers to predict fire behavior without directly measuring fuel bed characteristics, as measuring the fuel properties needed for Behave programs is generally too time-consuming for use on individual fires. When observations suggest that none of the existing models adequately describe fire behavior for a given fuel type, the option remains to develop custom fuel models unique to that fuel type. During the past 20 years, we have created custom fuel models for several fuel types within northeastern barrens. Here is a table of the inputs to these models.

Understanding the fuel bed is important to modeling, and therefore understanding and predicting, fire behavior. Some of the fuel properties that influence fire behavior include fuel loading, fuel size-class distribution, surface area-to-volume ratio, packing ratio, fuel continuity, and fuel bed depth . These properties, along with heat content and live fuel characteristics, are the most important determinants of fire behavior . We have developed several fuel bed sampling protocols for barrens. Learn more about our suggested methods for fuels sampling on our Methods page.

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Prescribed Fires

In northeastern barrens, prescribed (controlled) fires are used to manage fuels, improve wildlife habitat, and restore and maintain barrens communities. Depending on when and how they are applied, there will be different effects on fuel load, species impacts, and ease of control. In northeastern barrens, differences in fire behavior and effects can be divided into two time periods when burns are applied: dormant and growing seasons. See below for more information on the timing of prescribed fires.

Click here for sample prescriptions .

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Dormant Season Rx Fire

In the Northeast, the dormant season generally runs from leaf-fall and senescence in October to leaf-out and stem elongation in April. During this period, perennial and woody vegetation are not actively photosynthesizing and have maximum stores of carbohydrates in their stems and roots. Because of open burning regulations and “tradition”, prescribed fires have historically been used during the dormant season to reduce fuel loads, prepare seedbeds, and maintain grassland or shrub communities. Burning at this time avoids the breeding season of much of the local fauna as well as the flowering and seed set of plants. Dormant season fires are also beneficial from a fire control standpoint as burning can be done when temperatures are cooler and ambient moistures are low, while ground moisture is generally high thereby preventing long-term smoldering. Unfortunately burning during the dormant season does not have a lasting impact on woody species ( Richburg 2005). Woody species will readily resprout following a dormant season fire, often producing greater numbers of stems than prior to the burn. In some situations, this may not produce the desired result of reducing the presence of woody species within a target area. Spring and fall are also the times when the hazard of wildfires in barrens is greatest. The potential for escapes to cause serious problems is a major constraint to burning during “leaves off” conditions.

Read about some recent dormant season burns .

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Growing Season Rx Fire

In the Northeast, the growing season runs from April to October. Prescribed fire (and mowing) treatments during this season can have a greater impact on woody species than similar treatments done during the dormant season. Growing season treatments can decrease the amount of stored carbohydrate reserves necessary to support perennial vegetation during the dormant season and the following year. Therefore, managers interested in decreasing the amount of litter production and sprouting in woody vegetation may consider fires or other treatments during the growing season to restore and maintain early successional habitats. In a recent study on the effects of growing season treatments on shrubs, Richburg (2005) found that two years of treatments did not deplete carbohydrate reserves enough to prevent resprouting, but sprouting by treated-individuals was less vigorous (and production of new fuel reduced) compared to plants with more carbohydrate reserves (i.e untreated or dormant-season-treated individuals).

Although growing season fires may be most beneficial to controlling undesirable woody vegetation, they present logistical and control problems. These fires may impact plant and animal populations by killing individuals or preventing reproduction. From a fire management standpoint, growing season fires present additional problems such as increased smoke production and a tendency for smoldering, possibility of firefighter heat exhaustion, and the inability to burn due to drought.

Read about some recent growing season burns .

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Mechanical Treatments

Mechanical treatments such as mowing, brush-hogging, and grinding of vegetation can be used alone or with prescribed fire to achieve management goals. In some respects, mechanical treatments can simulate the effects of fire on vegetation, but without the consumption of the fuels . Managers of northeastern barrens are frequently using mowing treatments along with fire to counter the effects of decades of fire suppression. Pre-treating an area slated for a prescribed fire with a mechanical treatment can reduce the fire hazard of the area allowing the fire to be conducted safely and effectively. Similar to the application of fire, the timing of mechanical treatments (dormant vs. growing season) similarly affect the physiology of woody and perennial species, as well as the health and well being of non-target species.

Cutting brings fuels that are not available prior to treatment closer to the ground where they can interact with surface fuels (litter and thatch) and increase fuels available to burn. Grinding (mulching) has an effect similar to cutting, but lowers fuel bed depth even further often to the point where packing ratios are increased far beyond the optimum. This reduces the likelihood that surface fires will burn continuously through affected fuel beds. With Gray Dogwood and Catbrier Richburg et al. (2004) found that grinding eliminated fire as an option for a second treatment for more than two years.

Learn more about different mechanical treatments and their costs .

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Herbicide

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 

 

Restoration

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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