Prescribed fire is used as a tool across the United States to achieve many diverse management goals such as reducing fuels, managing habitat, and favoring the success of desired species. Although fire is a valuable management tool, it may have detrimental effects on the environment that should be considered before use. The majority of current research focuses on wildfires, especially those in the western U.S. due to their high intensity and drastic effects. This breaking study investigated the immediate post-burn effects of a low intensity dormant season burn in early 2019 on erosion potential in an upland hardwood ecosystem in comparison to one-year post burn and unburned control treatments. Short term impacts on erosion potential were measured by examining overland flow and throughfall kinetic energy (TKE). TKE impacts soil detachment which is an important factor in the soil erosion process.
Results/Conclusions
Baseline measurements were collected on the 2018 burn plots, unburned control plots, and 2019 burn plots. TKE measurements taken during the dormant season showed no significant differences between the treatment units (P-Value= 0.425). The average sand loss for the 2018 burn, unburned control, and pre-burn plots were 0.39, 0.41, and 0.39 g/cm2 respectively during the dormant season. Overland flow showed no significant difference between treatments prior to the spring 2019 burn (P-Value=0.216). The average overland flow was 9.8%, 15.5%, and 11.6% of the total volume of throughfall for 2018 burn, unburned control, and pre-burn plots respectively. Erosion rate data are still pending. While no differences in burn treatments were observed in the dormant season, it is hypothesized that differences will become apparent in the growing season. It is likely that reduction in midstory as a result of the prescribed fire will lead to increased TKE during the growing season when compared to unburned plots. Increased throughfall kinetic energy and the resulting increase of soil detachment can lead to increased erosion on forest sites. If it is found that prescribed fires can lead to an increase in overland flow and sediment detachment in forest sites, it could have negative impacts on soil health and stream quality.