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Fuel treatment effects on soil chemistry and foliar physiology of three coniferous species at the Teakettle Experimental Forest, California, USA

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Abstract

A full factorial design crossing overstory (O) and understory (U) thinning and prescribed burning (B) was started at Teakettle Experimental Forest, California, in 2001 with the aim of achieving shifts in species composition to favor fire-resistant pines over fir. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the use of metabolic changes as early indicators for predicting the effects of these treatments on species-specific growth and long-term productivity of Pinus jeffreyi, Pinus lambertiana, and Abies concolor. Foliar polyamines, amino acids, soluble proteins and chlorophyll were quantified and related with foliar and soil chemistry. Most changes in soil chemistry occurred only with combined treatments (BU or BO). Changes in foliar metabolism were not driven by soil chemistry. In general, the pines were more sensitive to water stress as compared to fir as indicated by proline content. Understory thinning had no effect on any species. Both O and BO had species-specific effects on foliar amino acids, chlorophyll, soluble proteins, and inorganic ions. In addition, both O and BO were the most extreme thinning treatments for pines as they greatly increase the time needed to replenish carbon stocks. With the exception of some amino acids, B by itself had no major effects on foliar inorganic ions, chlorophyll content, and polyamines for any of the three species while BU caused a decrease in chlorophyll in white fir, suggesting a decline in photosynthetic capacity. These data point to BU as the best management option to specifically decrease the growth of fire-sensitive white fir without a major impact on pines.

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Abbreviations

Con:

Control

B:

Burn only

U:

Understory thin

O:

Overstory thin

BU:

Burn + understory thin

BO:

Burn + overstory thin

Chl:

Chlorophyll

Put:

Putrescine

Spd:

Spermidine

Spm:

Spermine

GABA:

γ-Aminobutyric acid

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Joanne Rebbeck, Prof. John Battles, and Prof. Thomas Lee for their suggestions at various steps in data analysis and/or to improve the manuscript; to the field crew for help in sample collection; and to Kenneth R. Dudzik and Gloria Quigley for technical assistance. This research was conducted at the Teakettle Experimental Forest, which is owned and operated by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 271 Mast Road, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Rakesh Minocha & Stephanie Long

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, 46 College Road, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Swathi A. Turlapati

  3. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 1731 Research Park Drive, Davis, CA, 95618, USA

    Malcolm North

Authors
  1. Rakesh Minocha
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  2. Swathi A. Turlapati
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  3. Stephanie Long
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  4. Malcolm North
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Correspondence to Rakesh Minocha.

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Communicated by T. Koike.

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Minocha, R., Turlapati, S.A., Long, S. et al. Fuel treatment effects on soil chemistry and foliar physiology of three coniferous species at the Teakettle Experimental Forest, California, USA. Trees 27, 1101–1113 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0860-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0860-6

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