Phenology of Fire: Listening to the Plants and Animals

PANEL DISCUSSION: Thursday, January 18, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET

Season of fire. Opening the burn window. Both of these focus on one of the elements that make up a fire regime – frequency, intensity/severity, extent/scale, and seasonality. Decades of spring-and/or autumn-centric fire can cause a site or landscape to respond very differently than when burned repeatedly across all flammable seasons. Summer burns can produce differing fire effects including increased species richness averages, biomass, and stem counts (especially forbs), and breaking up the plant species dominance resulting from dormant season burn windows. Our panelists will bring fresh voices to how we can learn from listening to our fire-dependent plants and animals and let the fire effects lead us toward desired outcomes.

This panel discussion has been approved for 1.5 Category 1 CFE's by the Society of American Foresters.

Dr. Todd Aschenbach (Moderator)
Dr. Todd Aschenbach is a professor of natural resources management at Grand Valley State University in West Michigan. His teaching and research interests focus on wildland fire and ecological restoration. He also works as an on-call wildland firefighter for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and conducts wildfire research with the US Forest Service’s Fire Behavior Assessment Team.

Tyler Briggs (Panelist)
Tyler Briggs works as the Fire Manager for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission. He has been with the Commission since 2011. He is an NWCG Type 2 Burn Boss, Incident Commander Type 4, as well as an Engine, Crew and Firing Boss. He earned a Master’s degree in Geography from the University at Albany and a BS in Geography from SUNY Oneonta. Tyler is a native of Cuylerville, NY where he attended York Central School.

Dr. Donald Hagan (Panelist)
Dr. Donald Hagan (he/him/his) is an applied ecologist who studies the effects of fire on population, community and ecosystem-level processes in forest ecosystems. He conducts most of his research in the southern Appalachian and Piedmont regions, but he has also worked extensively in the SE Coastal Plain, Florida, the Northern Great Plains, and in the tropical dry forests of coastal Ecuador. Current research projects are supported by the Joint Fire Science Program, the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Department of Energy. Hagan is passionate about teaching and mentoring and is heavily involved with Clemson's Creative Inquiry undergraduate research program. He also works closely with the "Fire Tigers" -- Clemson's wildland and prescribed fire crew. Since 2015 he has served on the board of the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists.

Mary Parr (Panelist)
Mary Parr is an Indigenous woman, fire practitioner, land steward, and graduate student. Parr is the Stewardship Manager for Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, an environmental education center and biological field station located in Southwest, MI. Parr manages 850 acres, coordinates conservation efforts, leads the prescribed fire program, and mentors undergraduate students. Concurrently, Parr is completing her Masters in Biology at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, studying plant community response to fire season and order of application in prairies and savannas of the Great Lakes Basin. Parr is a tribal member of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Matt Vaughan (Panelist)
Matt (he/him/his) is a Wildland Fire Ecologist & Practitioner who recently started in a new position as Director of Stewardship and Forestry Education with Forest Stewards & Western Carolina University based in Cullowhee, NC USA. His background is in biogeography, fire history, and fire ecology, exploring basic and applied questions of fire effects on fuels and vegetation. He is currently pursuing projects with partners engaged in active forest management, especially involving low-shade removal (herbicide treatment) and monitoring prescribed fire effects on partner lands in the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network.

Our Panel

List of resources shared during the discussion:

Canopy reduction and fire seasonality effects on deer and turkey habitat in upland hardwoods. Mark A. Turner , Jacob T. Bones , Spencer G. Marshall, and Craig A. Harper, Forest Ecology and Management, Volume 553, 1 February 2024, 121657, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121657
How do fire behavior and fuel consumption vary between dormant and early growing season prescribed burns in the southern Appalachian Mountains? Matthew C. Vaughan, Donald L. Hagan, William C. Bridges Jr, Matthew B. Dickinson and T. Adam Coates. Fire Ecology (2021) 17:27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-021-00108-1
Effects of burn season on fire-excluded plant communities in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. Matthew C. Vaughan, Donald L. Hagan, William C. Bridges Jr., Kyle Barrett, Steve Norman, T. Adam Coates, and Rob Klein. Forest Ecology and Management, Volume 516, 15 July 2022, 120244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120244
Changes in canopy cover and forest structure following dormant season and early growing season prescribed burns in the Southern Appalachians, USA. Allison L. Melcher, Donald Hagan, Kyle Barrett, Beth Ross and Jean Lorber. Fire Ecology volume 19, Article number: 27 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-023-00184-5
Vegetation Dynamics After Spring and Summer Fires in Red and White Pine Stands at Voyageurs National Park. Author(s): Scott A. Weyenberg and Noel B. Pavlovic. Natural Areas Journal, 34(4):443-458. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3375/043.034.0406 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.3375/043.034.04
Vegetation Responses to Season of Fire in Tallgrass Prairie: A 13-Year Case Study. Weir, J.R., Scasta, J.D.. fire ecol 13, 137–142 (2017). https://doi.org/10.4996/fireecology.130290241
Prescribed fire in North American forests and woodlands: history, current practice, and challenges. Kevin C Ryan, Eric E Knapp, and J Morgan Varner. Front Ecol Environ 2013; 11. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/120329
Responses of soil carbon, nitrogen and cations to the frequency and seasonality of prescribed burning in a Cape Cod oak-pine forest. Neill C, Patterson WA, and Crary DW. (2007). Forest Ecology and Management 250(3). https://darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1bb68299-4e8f-5cda-9978-e6fc5aa62b38/content
Effects of fire seasonality and intensity on resprouting woody plants in prairie-forest communities. Jed Meunier, Nathan S. Holoubek, Yari Johnson, Tim Kuhman, Brad Strobel. Restoration Ecology, Volume29, Issue8, https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13451
Ecological Effects of Prescribed Fire Season: A Literature Review and Synthesis for Managers. Eric E. Knapp, Becky L. Estes, and Carl N. Skinner. General Technical Report, PSW-GTR-224, 2009. https://doi.org/10.2737/PSW-GTR-224
Vegetation’s influence on fire behavior goes beyond just being fuel. Loudermilk, E.L., O’Brien, J.J., Goodrick, S.L. et al. fire ecol 18, 9 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-022-00132-9
Lightning-Season Burning: Friend or Foe of Breeding Birds? Jim Cox & Brent Widener. Tall Timbers Research Station Miscellaneous Publication 17. https://ncforestservice.gov/publications/FireBreedingBirdsBooklet-small.pdf
Direct and Indirect Effects of Fire on Eastern Box Turtles. Katie A. Harris, Joseph D. Clark, R. Dwayne Elmore, Craig A. Harper, 2020. RESEARCH BRIEF #36. https://oakfirescience.com/research-brief/direct-and-indirect-effects-of-fire-on-eastern-box-turtles/
Cronon, William. Changes in the Land. New York. Hill and Wang. 2003. Reconsidering the fire ecology of the iconic American chestnut. Jeffrey M. Kane, J. Morgan Varner, Michael C. Stambaugh, Michael R. Saunders. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3267
R.W. Kimmerer, F.K. Lake, The Role of Indigenous Burning in Land Management, Journal of Forestry, Volume 99, Issue 11, November 2001, Pages 36–41, https://doi.org/10.1093/jof/99.11.36
The Effect Of Season Of Prescribed Fire On Richness And Abundance Of Breeding Bird Species And Vegetation Structure In Minnesota Lowland Brush Ecosystems Hawkinson, Annie (2019); https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/206176