Prescribed Burning as a Soil Amelioration Measure

Abstract

In Finland, attention first turned to the possibilities of using prescribed burning to promote forest regeneration at the end of the last century after reports of rather satisfactory stand development in areas subjected to slash-and-burn agriculture and forest fires (Heikinheimo 1915). The silvicultural use of prescribed burning flourished during two periods — in the 1920’s and during the 1950’s and 1960’s — when attempts were made to regenerate under-productive sites using prescribed burning, followed by sowing with Scots pine (Parviainen 1993). In the 1960’s, however, prescribed burning was rapidly replaced by mechanical site preparation methods. There were a number of practical problems associated with prescribed burning: the work schedule was dependent on the weather conditions, there was always a danger of the fire getting out of control, and there were fears that there would be an increase in nutrient leaching. Although there has since been a steady increase in this natural form of forest regeneration, there has been no major increase even during the past decade. The area treated annually by prescribed burning has, at its best, amounted to only a few thousand hectares.