Prescribed Fire Use Among Black Landowners in the Red Hills Region, USA

The Red Hills Region of southern Alabama, northern Florida, and southwestern Georgia is one of the most prominent areas in the United States for conducting prescribed fire research and is the birthplace of fire ecology. The culture of prescribed burning in the Red Hills has been influenced by multiple ethnic groups, including the Seminole and Creek nations, Black landowners, and White researchers. Given the distinctive reliance of the region on prescribed fire, it is noteworthy that the combined issues of Black land loss, underrepresentation, and incentives for using prescribed fire on private lands in the southeastern United States have generated questions about diversity and inclusion in landowner outreach. To increase understanding about Black landowner historic and current use of prescribed fire for land management in the Red Hills Region, formal and informal interviews were conducted from May through August 2019 with 21 Black landowners and tenants to document the perspectives and thoughts of Black landowners and tenants of southern Alabama, northern Florida, and southwestern Georgia. The results of this research show that Black landowners, tenants, and fire experts, have been, and continue to be, influential in the development and sustainment of fire traditions in the RedHills and in the resilience of the longleaf pine ecosystem

2016_burn_data$Fuel.moisture

Contains live fuel moisture data collected during fires. Includes Date, Time of collecion, and gravimetric fuel moisture expressed on dry fuel weigh basis (g/g

Soil Sample Data with 4 Site Codes

Soil Sample Data documentation. 137 records, each representing a point at which soil samples were obtained. Variables are "SITECODE", "SITENUM", "TDIST" (m), "X" (m), "Y" (m), "EL.CA.MOL" (mol/m2), "EL.MG.MOL" (mol/m2), "EL.K.MOL" (mol/m2), "EX.CA.MOL" (mol/m2), "EX.MG.MOL" (mol/m2), "EX.K.MOL" (mol/m2) "SITECODE", values 1-4, is code indicating area of landscape where samples were taken. In the accompanying manuscript, corresponding locations and codes are 1=Camps Pond (A), 2=Wangum (D), 3 = #4 Trail (B), 4 = Backgate (C). "SITENUM", values 1-104 (not inclusive). SITENUM 1-18 and 52-95 are at Camps Pond. SITENUM 19-30 are at Wangum, SITENUM 31-36 are at #4 Trail. SITENUM 101 is at Backgate, and SITENUM 104 is at #4 Trail. "TDIST" indicates distance along transect, in meters. SITENUM 101 consists of two parallel transects: the first transect has distances from 0-100, and second, from 200-300 (i.e., the different transect is indicated by adding 200 to each distance along it). SITENUM 104 consists of a single 200 m transect with soil sample sites at 5 m intervals. Every record is defined by a unique combination of "SITENUM" and "TDIST". "X" and "Y" are xy coordinates (in m) where soil sample was taken. There is a unique XY coordinate reference system at each value of "SITENUM". "EL.CA.MOL" (mol/m2), "EL.MG.MOL" (mol/m2), "EL.K.MOL" (mol/m2), "EX.CA.MOL" (mol/m2), "EX.MG.MOL" (mol/m2), "EX.K.MOL" (mol/m2) are values of exchangeable calcium, magnesium and potassium

TCnonSpatial.R

Performs the multiple linear regression and relative importance analysi

Tree Map Data Checked 2015

The file "Tree Map Data Checked 2015.txt" provides tree map data for plots where soil samples were taken. Variables are "SITENUM", "X" (m), "Y" (m), "Z" (m), "DBH" (cm), and "SPECIES". It has original site numbers (not grouped into 4 sites, and not numbered consecutively). 1:18 - Camps Pond 19:30 - Wangum 31:36 - #4 Trail 51-98: Sites originally sampled by Feike Dijkstra, n=18, all at Camps Pond 104: Transect #1 at #4 Trail 101: “Back Gate” transects #1 and #2 X, Y, and Z are local tree-location coordinates. Each SITENUM has a common coordinate reference system. DBH is tree's breast-height diameter. SPECIES is a four-letter acronym that is a concatentation of the first two letters of the genus and species. Acronyms and associated species are given below "species","binomial" "acpe","Acer pennsylvanica" "acru","Acer rubrum" "acsa","Acer saccharum" "beal","Betula alleghaniensis" "bepa","Betula papyrifera" "bepo","Betula populifolia" "crb","Crataegus brainerdii" "caca","Carpinus caroliniana" "caov","Carya ovata" "fram","Fraxinus americana" "fagr","Fagus grandifolia" "havi","Hammamelis virginiana" "masy","Malus sylvestris" "osvi","Ostrya virginiana" "pran","Prunus angustifolia" "pprr","Picea rubens "prse","Prunus serotina" "pist","Pinus strobus" "qual","Quercus alba" "quru","Quercus rubra" "tsca","Tsuga canadensis

TCspatial.R

Performs maximum likelihood, neighborhood analysis on flame temperature

HardwoodLocation.csv

Contains a numeric location identifier (Point), and X and Y location coordinates in Zone 16 UTM (coords.x1 coords.x2) for locations where hardwoods were sampled

Hardwoods influence effect of climate and intraspecific competition on growth of woodland longleaf pine trees

Abstract Longleaf pine woodlands of the North American Coastal Plain are proposed to be resilient to climate change impacts, but little is known about changes in limiting factors to longleaf pine growth as climate has changed in late 20th century and early 21st century. Moreover, the role that neighborhood trees play in the context of climate change remains largely unexplored. We used static and moving window tree ring and climatic analyses to measure the effects of climate on longleaf pine growth at a site in southwest Georgia, USA. We then performed maximum likelihood analysis to examine the influence of neighboring hardwoods on the response of longleaf pine growth to the joint effects of competition and climate. Analysis of climate data from local stations in southwest Georgia over six decades indicated that mean air temperature decreased until the late 20th century then began to rise, and that the variability of spring and summer precipitation has increased. Tree ring and climate analyses indicated longleaf pine radial growth is sensitive to precipitation and air temperature, and that the strength of correlation of longleaf pine growth to summer air temperature and summer precipitation increased since the 1950s. Likelihood models, which were applied over a shorter (23‐year) period and explicitly incorporated competition, did not support a link between summer temperature and growth but did indicate summer precipitation increased growth. Furthermore, basal area (BA) of neighboring hardwoods was correlated with greater pine growth per millimeter of precipitation. BA of neighboring longleaf pine negatively affected growth of conspecific trees; the presence of hardwoods increased the competitive effect when BA of neighboring pine trees was low (<10 m2 ha−1) but decreased the competitive effect when BA of neighboring pine trees was high (≥10 m2 ha−1). These results suggest that retention or recruitment of hardwood trees when restoring longleaf pine woodlands may contribute to increased ability to withstand dry summers and may help to allay concerns of managers that retention of hardwoods will unduly affect growth of residual mature longleaf pines

Fire Season, Overstory Density and Groundcover Composition Affect Understory Hardwood Sprout Demography in Longleaf Pine Woodlands

Seasonal timing of prescribed fire and alterations to the structure and composition of fuels in savannas and woodlands can release understory hardwoods, potentially resulting in a global increase of closed-canopy forest and a loss of biodiversity. We hypothesized that growing-season fire, high overstory density, and wiregrass presence in longleaf pine woodlands would reduce the number and stature of understory hardwoods, and that because evergreen hardwoods retain live leaves, dormant-season fire would reduce performance and survival of evergreen more than deciduous hardwoods. Understory hardwood survival and height were monitored over seven years in longleaf pine woodlands in southwest Georgia with a range of overstory density, groundcover composition, and season of application of prescribed fire. Hardwood stem survival decreased with increasing overstory density, and deciduous hardwoods were more abundant in the absence of wiregrass. Contrary to expectations, evergreen hardwood growth increased following dormant-season fire. Differences in hardwood stem survival and height suggest that low fire intensity in areas with low overstory density increase the risk that hardwoods will grow out of the understory. These results indicate a need for focused research into the effects of groundcover composition on hardwood stem dynamics and emphasize that adequate overstory density is important in longleaf ecosystem management