ORIGINAL ARTICLES Effects of Soil Burn Severity on Post-Fire Tree Recruitment in

• Main Authors: Boreal Forest, Jill F. Johnstone, F. Stuart, Chapin Iii
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: soil organic layer; Canada; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.373.2476; http://www.lter.uaf.edu/dev2009/pdf/970_Johnstone_chapin.pdf

Fire, which is the dominant disturbance in the boreal forest, creates substantial heterogeneity in soil burn severity at patch and landscape scales. We present results from five field experiments in Yukon Territory, Canada, and Alaska, USA that document the effects of soil burn severity on the germination and establishment of four common boreal trees: Picea glauca, Picea mariana, Pinus contorta subsp. latifolia, and Populus tremuloides. Burn severity had strong positive effects on seed germination and net seedling establishment after 3 years. Growth of transplanted seedlings was also significantly higher on severely burned soils. Our data and a synthesis of the literature indicated a consistent