FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Biological Sciences (BIO B): BIO-20

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Survival, growth and recruitment of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) in burned and unburned forests. A. DELONG, C. LYON, D. FRISH and I.J. STOUT. Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816. A 3,344 m² long belt transect was established in a section of a longleaf pine forest located on the UCF campus in 1990. All longleaf pines with a dbh ≥ 2.54cm were individually tagged during the study period, with the exception of 2003.  During 1995, a wildfire burned through a portion of the transect.  Post fire, longleaf pines were monitored in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003. Comparisons of survival, growth and recruitment of adult pines were made between burned and unburned sites. Results from Kaplan-Meier and log-rank analyses indicate that pines in burned sections experience reduced survival (p<0.001). One-way ANOVA analyses reveal no significant differences between burned and unburned sections in growth (p=0.447) or recruitment (p=0.302).  Our results for recruitment and growth are contrary to those of previous investigations.  We suggest that the extreme drought of 1997 and 1998 experienced throughout Florida may have caused additive stress to the trees in the burned section, thereby affecting our results and hindering survival, growth, and recruitment of longleaf pines in the study area.  We also suggest that further research be conducted to determine the dynamics of longleaf pine forests after fire, with concentration on the large mortality of adult pines.