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Genomics and Applied Biology, 2010, Vol.1, No.1
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desirable species (Loftis, 1983; Sander, 1979; Schuler
and Miller, 1995). Combining prescribed fire with
shelterwood harvests have produced promising results
(Jackson and Buckley, 2004; Brose et al., 1999) as this
combined practice takes advantage of the fire
tolerance of oak.
Harvesting alters the fuel load in the forest and the
subsequent carbon pool contained within the fuel
(Barton et al., 1996). Accordingly, this will impact not
only how a prescribed fire will burn, but also the
carbon emissions that result from burning. Carbon
dioxide (CO
2
) accounts for the largest fraction of
emitted carbon from biomass burning, with more than
80% of the carbon consumed by fire oxidized into
carbon dioxide (Kasischke et al., 2005). CO
2
is unique
among gaseous combustion products in which it does
not undergo chemical reaction in the atmosphere.
Once in the atmosphere, it has an atmospheric lifetime
of more than 50 years before being reabsorbed by
plants through photosynthesis. Since prescribed fires
in eastern hardwood forests typically consume only
ground-level vegetation, it is doubtful that their
contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) particulates are
significant on a global scale. However, this could
change as its use continues to increase.
The national plan for reducing GHG in the United
States includes voluntary reporting by entities in the
public and private sector (Abraham, 2004). Since
forest activities at the national level represent a
significant fraction of the potential GHG mitigation
activities (Pacala and Socolow, 2004; Caldeira et al.,
2004), participation requires estimating and
monitoring forest carbon stocks and sequestration
rates, including leakages from management systems
that result from harvesting and prescribed fire
(Birdsey, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to report
the fuel load following shelterwood harvests of two
intensities, and the total carbon content contained in
these fuels. The research will provide necessary
information for forest managers regarding how
harvest intensity affects fuel loads and the subsequent
potential carbon emissions from either prescribed or
wild fire after stands are harvested.
1 Results
1.1 Percent carbon
ANOVA (analysis of variance) performed on the
percent carbon revealed that differences existed between
fuel components. Duncan's multiple range test was
performed on the percent carbon means to determine
where significant differences occurred (Table 1). The
forest litter and woody plants displayed significantly
greater carbon content than herbaceous material. Forest
litter and woody plants displayed a content close to 50
percent, which is the common factor used for woody
plant components when the carbon content is unknown.
Table 1 The percent carbon by weight values determined by
fuel component for Richland Furnace State Forest in southern
Ohio
Carbon by weight (%)
Forest
floor
fuels
Sample
size
Mean
Standard
deviation
Mini-
mum
Maxi-
mum
Herbace
-ous
plant
11
34.12a 4.24
29.51
41.60
Forest
litter
12
49.34b 1.17
46.45
50.47
Woody
plant
13
48.09b 1.19
45.57
49.90
Note: Lowercases mean followed by the same letter aren't
significantly different between forest floor fuels (Duncan's
MRT, p=0.05)
The appropriate percent carbon values for each fuel
component were applied to the estimated biomass
values to determine the carbon content. The percent
carbon by weight value was not determined for
deadwood material. Therefore in this case a value of
0.5 was applied to each decay class once the biomass
was determined.
1.2 Fuel Load and Carbon
One year following harvest the 50% stocking treat
ment had the highest total fuel loading compared to
the 70% treatment and the control (table 2). The 50%
treatment contained the greatest amount of coarse
woody debris (deadwood) compared to the 70%
treatment and the control as a higher amount of
deadwood stems >5 cm diameter occurred in this
treatment. Accordingly, the higher logging intensity