Evaluating Prescribed Fire Effectiveness Using Permanent Monitoring Plot Data: A Case Study

Fire Ecology

Table 1 Ponderosa pine fire effects monitoring plots located at Zion National Park, Utah, USA, by fire entry years, burn severity, season of burn, and whether the plot was included in analysis of first entry fires, second entry fires, or both. Plots, listed by field number, used for first entry fire data analysis included those with 1 yr, 2 yr, 5 yr and 10 yr post-fire remeasurements, and those used for second entry fire data analysis included those with 1 yr and 2 yr post-fire remeasurements. Burn severity by category is as defined in USDI NPS (2003). Pre-fire data were collected for all plots.

	Prescribed fire year		Burn severity		Season of burn		Included in analysis
Plot	First entry	Second entry	First entry^a	Second entry	First entry	Second entry	First entry	Second entry
3	1995	2006	Scorched	Scorched	Late summer	Spring	X	X
6	1995	1997	Lightly burned	Unburned	Late summer	Spring		X
7	1996	2004	Unburned	Lightly burned	Fall	Fall		X
8	1996	2004	Scorched	Lightly burned	Fall	Fall		X
10	1996	2004	Scorched	Scorched	Fall	Fall		X
1	1997		Scorched		Spring		X
2	1997	2008	Scorched	Lightly burned	Spring	Spring	X	X
4	1997	2008	Lightly burned	Unburned	Spring	Spring	X	X
5	1997	2006	Scorched	Unburned	Spring	Spring		X
17	1997	2008	Lightly burned	Scorched	Fall	Fall	X	X
26	1997	2007	Scorched	Lightly burned	Fall	Fall		X
12	1998		Unburned		Fall		X
13	1998		Scorched		Fall		X
14	1999		Scorched		Fall		X
47	1999	2007	Scorched	Scorched	Fall	Fall		X
						Sample size:	8	11

^a Fire monitoring handbook burn severity categories in order of increasing severity: unburned < scorched < lightly burned. Unburned (5 value) is not burned. Scorched (4 value) includes litter partially blackened, duff nearly unchanged, and wood and leaf structures unchanged. Lightly burned (3 value) includes litter charred to partially consumed, upper duff layer may be charred but is not altered over the entire depth, surface appears black, woody debris is partially burned, logs are scorched or blackened but not charred, and rotten wood is scorched to partially burned.