Repeated Application of Fuel Reduction Treatments in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA: Implications for Achieving Management Goals

Fire Ecology

Table 3 Mean density of tree reproduction (≤1.4 m tall) for oaks and all species combined by treatment and year, Green River Game Land, Polk County, North Carolina, USA.

	Oaks (stems ha⁻¹)	All species (stems ha⁻¹)
Pretreatment
C	13 001	29 450
B	13 649	33 666
M	12 315	22 166
MB	15 801	29 116
Year 1 (1 growing season after first burn and mechanical treatments)
C	11 950 a¹	31 648 a
B	15 400 ab	83 214 b
M	11 117 a	22 331 a
MB	20 116 b	80 468 b
Year 3
C	15 484 a	45 917 a
B	30 882 b	129 334 c
M	11 500 a	30 949 a
MB	28 850 b	90 968 b
Year 5 (1 growing season after second burn)
C	13 701 a	36 183 a
B	23 134 bc	65 332 b
M	18 117 ab	39 982 a
MB	28 417 c	69 281 b
Year 9
C	13 098	29 899 a
B	20 333	54 750 b
M	14 867	29 751 a
MB	21 099	47 384 b
Year 10 (1 growing season after third burn and second mechanical treatments)
C	13 484 a	32 683 a
B	24 893 b	76 652 b
M	16 868 a	30 784 a
MB	38 633 c	87 517 b
Year 11
C	13 884 a	32 699 a
B	25 051 b	79 601 b
M	16 282 a	40 051 a
MB	29 751 b	70 516 b
Year 12
C	10 984 a	26 167 a
B	21 366 bc	69 849 d
M	16 482 b	37 816 b
MB	21 499 c	50 366 c

¹ Means followed by the same letter within a column and year are not significantly different at the Bonferroni adjusted level α = 0.00625 (overall α = 0.05). The absence of letters indicates that there were no significant differences within that column and year.