Soil heating during burning of forest slash piles and wood piles

Author 

Matt D. Busse A C , Carol J. Shestak B and Ken R. Hubbert A

A USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 1731 Research Park Drive, Davis, CA 95618, USA. 

B USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 3644 Avtech Parkway, Redding, CA 96002, USA. 

C Corresponding author. Email: mbusse@fs.fed.us

International Journal of Wildland Fire 22(6) 786-796 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF12179
Submitted: 25 October 2012  Accepted: 17 January 2013   Published: 20 May 2013 

Abstract

Pile burning of conifer slash is a common fuel reduction practice in forests of the western United States that has a direct, yet poorly quantified effect on soil heating. To address this knowledge gap, we measured the heat pulse beneath hand-built piles ranging widely in fuel composition and pile size in sandy-textured soils of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The soil heat pulse depended primarily on fuel composition, not on pile size. Burn piles dominated by large wood produced extreme temperatures in soil profile, with lethal heating lasting up to 3 days. In contrast, the heat pulse was moderate beneath piles containing a mixture of fuel sizes. Considerable spatial variability was noted, as soil temperatures were generally greatest near pile centres and decline sharply toward the pile edges. Also, saturating pile burns with water 8 h after ignition (‘mopping up’) effectively quenched the soil heat pulse while allowing near-complete fuel consumption. The findings suggest that burning of hand piles will not result in extreme or extensive soil heating except for uncommon conditions when piles are dominated by large wood and occupy a high percentage of the ground surface.

Additional keywords: forest restoration, fuel reduction, pile burning, prescribed fire, soil temperature.

References

Badía D, Martí C (2003) Plant ash and heat intensity effects on chemical and physical properties of two contrasting soils. Arid Land Research and Management17, 23–41.
| Plant ash and heat intensity effects on chemical and physical properties of two contrasting soils.CrossRef | 

Beadle NCW (1940) Soil temperatures during forest fires and their effect on the survival of vegetation. Journal of Ecology 28, 180–192.
| Soil temperatures during forest fires and their effect on the survival of vegetation.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DyaH3cXltlSnug%3D%3D&md5=6c11a4a2d7bbba29b328d4e384977867CAS | 

Busse MD, Shestak CJ, Hubbert KR, Knapp EE (2010) Soil physical properties regulate lethal heating during burning of woody residues. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74, 947–955.
| Soil physical properties regulate lethal heating during burning of woody residues.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXmtVWmsLo%3D&md5=412ce6a930b5bdbacbf1b5a3810d1f95CAS | 

Busse MD, Hubbert KR, Moghaddas EEY (in press) Fuel reduction practices and their effects on soil quality. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, General Technical Report PSW-GTR-241. (Albany, CA)

Chambers DP, Attiwell PM (1994) The ash-bed effect in Eucalyptus regnansforest: chemical, physical, and microbiological changes in soil after heating or partial sterilization. Australian Journal of Botany 42, 739–749.
| The ash-bed effect in Eucalyptus regnansforest: chemical, physical, and microbiological changes in soil after heating or partial sterilization.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DyaK2MXktFKntbc%3D&md5=7ccdef448574bc4da783795a9a64d129CAS | 

Choromanska U, DeLuca TH (2002) Microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization in forest mineral soils following heating: evaluation of post-fire effects. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 34, 263–271.
| Microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization in forest mineral soils following heating: evaluation of post-fire effects.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38Xhtlyn&md5=e6d648144a0a800e8237bcd20840161bCAS | 

Ferrell GT, Otrasina WJ, Demars CJ (1994) Predicting susceptibility of white fire during a drought-associated outbreak of the fir engraver, Scolytus ventralis, in California. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 24, 302–305.
| Predicting susceptibility of white fire during a drought-associated outbreak of the fir engraver, Scolytus ventralis, in California.CrossRef | 

Frandsen WH, Ryan KC (1986) Soil moisture reduces belowground heat flux and soil temperatures under a burning fuel pile. Canadian Journal of Forest Research16, 244–248.
| Soil moisture reduces belowground heat flux and soil temperatures under a burning fuel pile.CrossRef | 

Galang MA, Markewitz D, Morris LA (2010) Soil phosphorus transformations under forest burning and laboratory heat treatments. Geoderma 155, 401–408.
| Soil phosphorus transformations under forest burning and laboratory heat treatments.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXitlWnsrg%3D&md5=21758b601f2175046c6b8cb2e13ec71fCAS | 

Glass DW, Johnson DW, Blank RR, Miller WW (2008) Factors affecting mineral nitrogen transformations by soil heating: a laboratory-simulated fire study. Soil Science 173, 387–400.
| Factors affecting mineral nitrogen transformations by soil heating: a laboratory-simulated fire study.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1cXns1ejtbk%3D&md5=b3842f9bc4923a8331b5ba20545cccdaCAS | 

Guerrero C, Mataix-Solera J, Gómez I, García-Orenes F, Jordán MM (2005) Microbial recolonization and chemical changes in a soil heated at different temperatures. International Journal of Wildland Fire 14, 385–400.
| Microbial recolonization and chemical changes in a soil heated at different temperatures.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2MXht1CrtbzF&md5=e90cccca0315ecfbff99a8518954d0dbCAS | 

Hartford RA, Frandsen WH (1992) When it’s hot, it’s hot... or maybe it’s not! (Surface flaming may not portend extensive soil heating). International Journal of Wildland Fire 2, 139–144.
| When it’s hot, it’s hot... or maybe it’s not! (Surface flaming may not portend extensive soil heating).CrossRef | 

Hebel CL, Smith JE, Cromack E (2009) Invasive plant species and soil microbial response to wildfire burn severity in the Cascade Range of Oregon. Applied Soil Ecology 42, 150–159.
| Invasive plant species and soil microbial response to wildfire burn severity in the Cascade Range of Oregon.CrossRef | 

Hungerford RD, Harrington MG, Frandsen WH, Ryan KC, Niehoff GJ (1991) Influence of fire on factors that affect site productivity. In ‘Proceedings – Management and Productivity of Western-montane Forest Soils’, 10–12 April 1990, Boise, ID. (Eds AE Harvey, LF Neuenschwander) USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, INT-GTR 280, pp. 32–50. (Ogden, UT)

Jiménez Esquilín AE, Stromberger ME, Massman WJ, Frank JM, Sheppard WD (2007) Microbial community structure and activity in a Colorado Rocky Mountain forest soil scarred by slash pile burning. Soil Biology & Biochemistry39, 1111–1120.
| Microbial community structure and activity in a Colorado Rocky Mountain forest soil scarred by slash pile burning.CrossRef | 

Johnson BG, Johnson DW, Miller WW, Carroll-Moore EM, Board DI (2011) The effects of slash pile burning on soil and water macronutrients. Soil Science 176, 413–425.
| The effects of slash pile burning on soil and water macronutrients.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3MXpsFOmu7w%3D&md5=7bd0d59d2822cf419129cb613c4cf315CAS | 

Jury WA, Gardner WR, Gardner WH (1991) ‘Soil Physics.’ (Wiley: New York)

Knapp EE, Varner JM, Busse MB, Skinner CN, Shestak CJ (2011) Behavior and effects of prescribed burning of masticated fuelbeds. International Journal of Wildland Fire 20, 932–945.
| Behavior and effects of prescribed burning of masticated fuelbeds.CrossRef | 

Korb JE, Johnson NC, Covington WW (2004) Slash pile burning effects on soil biotic and chemical properties and plant establishment: recommendations for amelioration. Restoration Ecology 12, 52–62.
| Slash pile burning effects on soil biotic and chemical properties and plant establishment: recommendations for amelioration.CrossRef | 

Massman WJ, Frank JM (2004) The effect of a controlled burn on the thermophysical properties of a dry soil using a new model of soil heat flow and a new high temperature heat flux sensor. International Journal of Wildland Fire13, 427–442.
| The effect of a controlled burn on the thermophysical properties of a dry soil using a new model of soil heat flow and a new high temperature heat flux sensor.CrossRef | 

Meyer NJ (2009) Soil and plant response to slash pile burning in a ponderosa pine forest. MSc thesis, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.

Neary DG, Ryan KC, DeBano LF (2005) Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on soil and water. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 4. (Ogden, UT)

Taylor AH (2004) Identifying forest reference conditions on early cut-over lands, Lake Tahoe Basin, USA. Ecological Applications 14, 1903–1920.
| Identifying forest reference conditions on early cut-over lands, Lake Tahoe Basin, USA.CrossRef | 

USDA Forest Service (2005) Soil quality monitoring. In ‘Forest Service Handbook’. R9RO 2509.18–2005–1. (Milwaukee, WI)

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (2007) Soil survey of the Tahoe Basin Area, California and Nevada. Available at http://soils.usda.gov/survey/printed_surveys/ [Verified 7 March 2013]

Wolfson BAS, Kolb TE, Sieg CH, Clancy KM (2005) Effects of post-fire conditions on germination and seedling success of diffuse knapweed in northern Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management 216, 342–358.
| Effects of post-fire conditions on germination and seedling success of diffuse knapweed in northern Arizona.CrossRef |  

For further details log on website :
http://www.publish.csiro.au/WF/WF12179