Vegetation Response to Prescribed Fire in Mid-Atlantic Brackish Marshes

Prescribed fire management generally stimulates plant biomass production in coastal marsh systems. This study was conducted to understand the interactive effects of the mechanisms of fire on vegetation production. The effects of canopy removal and ash deposition on biomass production were investigat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Estuaries and coasts 2012-11, Vol.35 (6), p.1432-1442
Main Authors: Bickford, Wesley A., Needelman, Brian A., Weil, Raymond R., Baldwin, Andrew H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aboveground biomass
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Aquatic plants
Ash
Ashes
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Biomass production
Brackish water
Brackish water ecosystems
Canopies
Coastal Sciences
Coasts
Distichlis spicata
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Environment
Environmental Management
Fire management
Forest and land fires
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Marshes
Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection
Plant biomass
Plants
Prescribed burning
Prescribed fire
Rhizomes
Schoenoplectus americanus
Sedges
Spartina patens
Synecology
Tides
Vegetation
Vegetation canopies
Water and Health
Weather damages. Fires
Wetlands
Wildlife
Wildlife refuges
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Summary:Prescribed fire management generally stimulates plant biomass production in coastal marsh systems. This study was conducted to understand the interactive effects of the mechanisms of fire on vegetation production. The effects of canopy removal and ash deposition on biomass production were investigated in two manipulative experiments at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Dorchester County, MD. On non-burned sites, canopy removal increased biomass production above and belowground (40 and 260 %, respectively), while ash deposition showed no effect on production. On burned sites, post-burn canopy replacement decreased biomass production above and belowground (41 and 40 %, respectively). Production increased more in response to canopy removal at sites dominated by Schoenoplectus americanus than at sites dominated by Spartina patens and Distichlis spicata. Canopy removal was the dominant mechanism through which fire affected biomass production in this study. If increased biomass production is a desirable outcome, prescribed fire programs may benefit by maximizing canopy removal.
ISSN:1559-2723
1559-2731
DOI:10.1007/s12237-012-9538-3