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Fire-Silviculture Relationships in Sierra Forests
C. Phillip Weatherspoon
Pacific Southwest Research Station
U.S. Forest Service
Redding, California
ABSTRACT: Many of the tools available for managing forested ecosystems lie within the disciplines of silviculture and fire management. These two sets of management practices, in fact, are commonly used in concert. Understanding the relationships between these two disciplines, therefore, can contribute to more intelligent ecosystem management.
Silvicultural techniques mimic to varying degrees some of the
disturbance functions - such as facilitating establishment of
regeneration and influencing forest structure and composition
- performed naturally by fire. This chapter provides a brief overview
of some of these relationships for a range of stand structures
and fire regimes. Effects of partial cuttings on fire hazard also
are discussed. Research is needed to clarify basic relationships
between fire regimes and the dynamics and structures of stands
and landscapes. Adaptive management experiments also should be
undertaken to determine the practicability and long-term ecological
consequences of a range of silvicultural and fire treatments.
