Afire: Fire Effects Above and Belowground

Fire affects forests above and belowground. Travel along on a multiscale journey from forest-wide influences to molecular-level changes, unraveling the knowns and unknowns of fire effects on soil, vegetation, and carbon. 

Sharon Hood explains how fire affects tree mortality, tracing the pivotal role of carbohydrates in a tree's post-fire survival. Dexter Strother investigates the production and persistence of black carbon in soils, shedding light on its potential climate implications. Matt Dickinson shares innovative techniques for measuring belowground heat transfer during fires, and unveils the intricate effects on soil nutrients and microbial life.

Related Research:

• Long-term Efficacy of Fuel Reduction and Restoration Treatments in Northern Rockies Dry Forests (2024)
• Nonstructural Carbohydrates Explain Post-fire Tree Mortality and Recovery Patterns (2024)
• How Effective are Landscape Scale Fuel Treatments? (2023) 
• Understanding Post-fire Tree Mortality: Resources & Research 
• Lubrecht Fire-Fire Surrogate Study 
• Fire Exclusion Reduces A‐horizon Thickness in a Long‐term Prescribed Fire Experiment in Spodosols of Northern Florida, USA (2023) 
• Canopy-derived Fuels Drive Patterns of In-fire Energy Release and Understory Plant Mortality in a Longleaf Pine Sandhill in Northwest Florida, USA (2016) 
• Soil Heating in Fires: Process, Measurement, and Effects (2023)
• Soil Heating in Fire (SheFire): A Model and Measurement Method for Estimating Soil Heating and Effects During Wildland Fires (2022)
• Beyond "Fire Temperatures": Calibrating Thermocouple Probes and Modeling Their Response to Surface Fires in Hardwood Fuels (2008) 
• Temperature-Dependent Rate Models of Vascular Cambium Cell Mortality (2004)

Scientists:

• Sharon Hood, Research Ecologist, Missoula, Montana
• Dexter Strother, Research Ecologist, Athens, Georgia
• Matt Dickinson, Research Ecologist, Delaware, Ohio

Forestcast is an official USDA Forest Service podcast, and is produced by USDA Forest Service Research and Development.

Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/products/multimedia/forestcast

Questions or ideas for the show? Contact Jon at jonathan.yales@usda.gov