New study: Overstory and litter properties drive fuel dynamics
The composition of fire-dependent forests can shift after decades of fire exclusion. Forests can shift to trees with distinct overstory and leaf litter traits that can further suppress fire and make restoration difficult. We compared how leaf litter and overstory properties differed between fire-adapted pines and oaks, and the non-fire adapted species that often encroach after fire suppression. We found that trees produced distinct microclimates and that drying properties of leaf litter varied among species. This information is useful for understanding mesophytic encroachment and for accelerating successful restoration efforts
New study: Predicting spatial patterns of litter fuels for fire behavior modeling
UGA graduate and Landscape Ecology lab alumnus Suzie Blaydes recently published a new article in the journal Fire Ecology. The article uses long-term data and geospatial methods to predict litter fall in longleaf pine forests. The findings will contribute to the next generation of spatilly-explicit fuel and fire models