Fire Lines Volume 14 Issue 3
FIRE SCIENCE
RESEARCH BRIEF
Fire exclusion alters forest evapotranspiration: A comprehensive water budget analysis in longleaf pine woodlands
Authors: Steven T. Brantley, O. Stribling Stuber, Dakota L. Holder, R. Scott Taylor
This study by Brantley and colleagues addresses the critical need to understand how fire exclusion impacts forest evapotranspiration (ET) in longleaf pine woodlands, particularly as climate change poses challenges for water resource management. High evapotranspiration rates can deplete water yield in forested watersheds, and while thinning and prescribed fire are commonly used management tools to reduce ET and increase water yield, their effects have shown inconsistencies. By focusing on the interactions among various ET components, this study aims to clarify how fire exclusion alters these interactions and consequently affects total forest ET— providing insights into water yield in fire-dependent ecosystems.
The research for this study was conducted at the Jones Center at Ichauway, a private preserve in southwest Georgia. The study site included paired plots representing two soil moisture gradients, mesic and xeric, with reference plots burned every two years and treatment plots where fire had been excluded for 15–20 years. The researchers employed a comprehensive water budget approach, measuring woody transpiration using sap flux, modeling groundcover transpiration, and assessing canopy and groundcover interception. This multifaceted methodology allowed for a detailed analysis of the water budget components across the different site conditions and fire treatments.
