Role of burning season on initial understory vegetation response to prescribed fire in a mixed conifer forest

Published source details Knapp E.E., Schwilk D.W., Kane J.M. & Keeley J.E. (2006) Role of burning season on initial understory vegetation response to prescribed fire in a mixed conifer forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 37, 11-22.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Use prescribed fire: effect on understory plants Action Link

Use prescribed fire: effect on understory plants

A replicated, randomized, controlled study in 2001-2004 in temperate coniferous forest in California, USA (Knapp et al. 2007) found no effect of prescribed fire on cover and species richness of understory vegetation. Total plant cover increased by 0.6% in unburned compared with 0.8% in early- and 2.0% in late-burned plots. Numbers of species/1 m² increased by 0.12 in unburned compared with a 0.34 increase in early and a 0.03 decrease in late burned plots. Numbers of species/0.1 ha decreased by 0.7 in unburned compared with increases of 6.0 in early- and 6.6 in late-burned plots. Data were collected in 2004 in ten plots (0.1 ha) that were established in each of three unburned, three early-burned (June 2002) and three late-burned (September-October 2001) randomly assigned treatment units (15-20 ha).