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Project ID:

25-1-01-31

Year:

2025

Date Started:

09/01/2025

Date Completed:

Title:

Evaluating impacts of prescribed burning on the understory layer of mid-latitude Appalachian forests

Project Proposal Abstract:

Proposal Purpose and Objectives: The closed-canopy forests in mid-latitude regions of the Blue Ridge, Ridge and Valley, and Central Appalachian ecoregions have significantly departed from their natural fire regimes. They previously experienced frequent low-severity fires, but fire suppression has allowed mesophilic species to dominate since the early 20th century.
Dense canopy layers also hide the understory layer of forested ecosystems from remote-sensing technology that would otherwise be used to quantify herbaceous community composition in these ecosystems. The current state of the understory layer has not yet been quantified, making it difficult to monitor its response to prescribed burning regimes.
Although scientists and forest management experts agree that prescribed burning promotes health in many ecosystems, its application in Eastern forests is in its infancy. Studies examining prescribed fire impacts on forest structure and understory herbaceous plant communities are absent. Hence, wildlife managers face a knowledge gap in determining proper fire frequencies, severities, and seasonality to achieve conservation goals.
Understory plants contribute to nutrient cycling, provide food and habitat for wildlife, and increase overall biodiversity in forest ecosystems. We expect that the changes in canopy cover and dominant dendrological species have led to a shift in understory community composition in the mid-latitude Appalachian region. We also expect prescribed burning regimes to change the composition of the understory community.

Activities to be Performed: To examine these hypotheses, we will quantify the species composition, ground coverage, and canopy coverage at three sites, one in each ecoregion. Each site has existing areas of prescribed burn applications, including unburned, once-burned, and twice-burned sections. These data will correlate site characteristics to the proportion of herbaceous ground cover and the likelihood of invasive species dominance.

Expected Deliverables: The data collected will inform tailored recommendations for the three sites studied and a decision-support tool allowing managers to predict the plant composition they expect to see at a given location and how the vegetation would likely respond to prescribed burning applications.

Benefits: This research aims to enhance the understanding of herbaceous plant communities in midlatitude forests and their responses to fire treatments. By reintroducing low-intensity fires, we can boost resilience, manage invasive species, and clarify the role of the herbaceous layer in ecosystem health. This study will provide the first broad-scale assessment of understory recovery under various fire treatments in an understudied area, guiding sustainable management practices for long-term ecosystem health. Additionally, assessing the current state of the understory and its responses to fire disturbances will help optimize forest management practices by informing risk assessments, allowing for more efficient resource allocation, emergency preparedness, and community wildfire protection plans by identifying areas of high fire risk.

Principal Investigator:

Mark A. Cochrane

Agency/Organization:

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Branch or Dept:

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Agreements Contact	Samantha Mais	University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Budget Contact	Samantha Mais	University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Student Investigator	Sarah Roth	University of Maryland	Department of Biology