Fire And Northern Hardwood Forests In The Southern Appalachians

Northern hardwoods are high elevation forests on moist sites with northerly aspects in the Southern Appalachians. They provide a diverse habitat for various birds and other wildlife including federally endangered species. Wind and ice storms are the most frequent disturbances, while natural fires are very rare in this fire-sensitive community. Within the past few centuries, northern hardwoods and other communities in the Southern Appalachians have undergone a range of fire regimes related to Native American burning, early European land clearing, heavy logging and subsequent slash fires, and finally fire suppression. There are very few stands of old growth and late-successional northern hardwoods left in the Southern Appalachians, since almost all stands were harvested during the last century. While fire suppression had negative effects on fire-adapted communities like oak and pine forests, it generally had a neutral to positive effect on fire-sensitive northern hardwood forests. Due to the sensitivity of the northern hardwood forest type to fire, prescribed fire programs do not play a large role in their management. For more information about the northern hardwood community type, please refer to the following sections:

• Ecosystem description: where to find northern hardwoods, community subtypes, important plant and animal species.
• Historic fire regime: natural fire regime, fire frequency in comparison to other community types, anthropogenic fires.
• Effects of fire on vegetation and wildlife: fire resistance and regeneration methods of tree species, birds favored by post-fire conditions, community shifts.
• Fire suppression: effects of fire suppression on plant community and wildlife.