The Effects of Variable Frequency Prescribed Fire Regime on Red Pine Growth
Aaron Anderson Forest Management & Ecosystem Restoration and Management
Ella Wentz Ecosystem Restoration and Management
Nick Eidenschink Ecosystem Restoration and Management
Drew Semling Forest Management
Fire has long been a Native American practice and a natural disturbance that serves as a key ecological disturbance that modulates forest site conditions through thermal selectivity that favors fire-adapted species. Fire improves forest health by selectively controlling competing woody vegetation, freeing up essential site resources such as light, nutrients, and water. Post-fire soil amendment of pyrogenic carbon has also been linked to short duration increases in inorganic nutrients and improved water retention. To help elucidate trends in forest site conditions, researchers use dendrochronological techniques to identify fire scars, calculate tree age, and evaluate interannual growth trends in alternating concentric rings of early and late wood. In this study, we investigated tree ring growth in red pine ( Pinus resinosa ) that has been subjected to moderate intensity prescribed fire. The Treehaven prescribed burn project consists of eight treatments replicated three times, with treatments designed to test the effects of burn frequency, thinning, and seasonality on tree growth and health. In this study, we collected three increment bore samples from five random red pine in nine units representing the control and annual and biennial spring and fall burn units. Tree cores were dried and glued on wooden mounts. All analyses were performed in R (version 4.5.3, R Development Core Team, 2026), first to determine age and annual growth of early and late wood using R package MtreeRings and dplR second to evaluate the effect of prescribed fire using linear mixed models to detect potential changes in tree growth related to prescribed burning.
Advisors: Mike Tiller, Ph.D. Artur Stefanski, Ph.D.
Subject Area: Forestry
Type: Oral
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Jim and Katie Krause CNR Student Research Symposium
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