Forest Research: Open Access
Open Access

Department of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, USA

Publications

• Research Article   
  Influence of Altered Fire Return Intervals on Plant Diversity in the East Texas Pineywoods
  Author(s): William J. Steinley, Brian P. Oswald*, Kathryn R. Kidd and Jessica Glasscock
  
  The re-establishment of historic fire return intervals is vital to restoring forest health, species diversity, natural succession pathways and reduction of some invasive species. Studies in southern pine understory plant communities have revealed increased plant diversity and richness in response to fire, particularly in longleaf pine dominated sites. We aimed to further investigate the effect of fire frequency, stand characteristics and site management on understory plant community compositions in East Texas. Using 20 years of burn history data, fire return intervals were classified as either high or low; plots were also analyzed by site and cover type. Fuel load, litter depth, basal area, and canopy cover were recorded. Understory species occurrence was recorded to genus level and separated into grass, forb, and woody growth form groups. Our results indicated that grass and forb ric.. View More»
  DOI: 10.35248/2168-9776.24.13.529

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