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Fort Hood Center for Cooperative Ecological Research
1996 Crown Fire - Page 2

The results indicate that burn severity ratings in the areas studied were low.This is because we only those to study vegetation regrowth in areas that were heavily burned.

Substrate codes indicate moderately to heavily burned substrate and vegetation codes also indicate moderately to heavily burned vegetation.

Burn Severity Table
 Class Substrate
BurnCode		 Vegetation
Burn Code
1 2.0 1.6
2 1.8 1.4
3  2.0 1.7
4 1.7 1.3
5 1.7 1.4
6 2.0 1.5


 

For substrate, the severity rating indicates that litter was mostly consumed to entirely consumed, leaving light colored ash, and duff was deeply burned to entirely consumed.

For vegetation, the severity rating indicates that most all plant parts were consumed, leaving some or no major stems and trunks.

This graph shows vegetation regrowth density (number of sprouts per hectare) for 1996, 1997, and 1998 in each class.

 Burnt & desicated rocks. © Chapter Staff

Charred tree trunk. © Chapter Staff

 

 


 

Density Graph

In most studies, similar density increases are noted for three to five years and then density begins to decrease as mortality from crowding and competition begins.

The top species in the regrowth were Texas ash (Fraxinus texensis), Texas oak (Quercus buckleyi), Plateau live oak (Q. fusiformis), shin oak (Q. sinuata), flame-leaf sumac (Rhus lanceolata), green-brier (Smilax bona-nox), and poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). These species were all common prior to the fire. However, there is one species that was also common prior to the fire that is not on this list: Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei). This species of juniper does not readily sprout and must recolonize from seed.

Click here to see pictures of typical transects taken for three years.

Summary
Black-capped vireos prefer early stages of vegetation succession and respond favorably to disturbance, often returning to burned areas within two to three years, however golden-cheeked warblers prefer later stages of vegetation succession, requiring mature Ashe juniper trees for their nest building material. Areas that burned in 1996 have undergone some major changes. Prior to 1996 they were occupied by warblers. Now, four years after a crown fire, this area is in an early stage of succession and vireos are beginning to colonize the area.

We plan to continue monitoring this area, including the secondary succession of vegetation, the vireo use of the area, and look long-term for the possible return of warblers.

Literature Cited
National Park Service. 1992. Western region fire monitoring handbook. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, San Francisco, California.

Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the Natural Resources Personnel at Fort Hood for working closely with The Nature Conservancy, and the Department of Defense for funding this project.