Prescribed Burning

After the rain during the previous weeks, last week turned out to be a good week to burn with the season drawing to a close.  At Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest, we were able to burn two tracts, as was the Charleston Audubon and Natural History Society at their McAlhaney Nature Preserve.  Charleston Audubon posted images and descriptions of the procedures and goals for their burning.

As we have noted in previous posts, the main purpose of burning forest land is to reduce the fuel load and prevent disastrous wildfires like the one near Myrtle Beach four years ago.  Whether by lightning or careless human activity, forests will burn at some point.  Not only does less fuel equal a less intense fire, some ecosystems, like the Longleaf Pine savanna, have evolved with periodic fire and require fire to maintain their health.

The first site we burned was the Longleaf Pine restoration tract we planted in January 2007.

Longleaf restoration site preburn - Mark Musselman

Longleaf restoration site preburn - Mark Musselman

Longleaf restoration site (wiregrass) preburn - Mark Musselman

It appears that fire is essential for production of viable seed by these plants. Wire grass may actually be the most important, if not the most obvious, species in a longleaf pine savanna, because it is the plant that produces most of the fuel for the fires that sustain the community. Longleaf pines themselves do not produce enough fuel to keep their “home fires” burning. If it weren’t for wire grass and the fires it sustains, the savannas would cease to exist. That is exactly what happens when fire is suppressed in these communities. -- Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations

Starting fire with drip torch - Mark Musselman

Drip torches containing a 4:1 mixture of diesel to gasoline were used to set the fire on the downwind side of the stand, which allowed the fire to burn into the wind at a slower, steadier pace than if the fire were started on the upwind side of the stand.

Burning into wind - Mark Musselman

A fire break was plowed around the entire stand to ensure the fire did not migrate beyond the stand's boundaries and interior dirt roads allowed the stand to be burned in seven separate sections.  However, in the event that fire were to find a way across a break, volunteers were ready to extinguish the flames by smothering the fire with flappers or shoveled soil or by spraying the errant fire with water.

Volunteers Howard Bridgman and Paul Cooler - Mark Musselman

Although ascetically unattractive immediately after the burn, wiregrass and forbs will quickly begin to sprout producing an enhanced habitat for wildlife like wild turkeys, bobwhite quail, and fox squirrels.  Longleaf Pine benefit from the elimination of competing hardwood tree species and the reduction of fuel on the ground, which if allowed to accumulate could generate a fire too hot for the Longleaf Pines to withstand.

Longleaf restoration site postburn - Mark Musselman

The next day we burned a Loblolly Pine stand at the northern end of the Francis Beidler Forest.  The 37 acres were divided by fire breaks into three unequal units.  We began with the smallest (3 acres) to see how the fire would travel through the stand.  The fire burned slowly into the gentle west wind.

Loblolly Pine stand preburn - Mark Musselman

Recent rains kept the site moist and east-west running furrows between the rows of planted pine kept the fire from burning south to north.

Loblolly Pine stand preburn - Mark Musselman

Loblolly Pine stand slowly burning - Mark Musselman

Fire burned slowly and steadily where not stymied by standing water.

Loblolly Pine stand slowly burning - Mark Musselman

In the end 75-80% of the fuel was burned across the site.  In drier areas, the burn rate was 100%, while other areas (image below) did not burn in the low, wet areas.

Loblolly Pine stand postburn - Mark Musselman

Both burns successfully accomplished our goal of fuel reduction and exceeded our expectations considering the moist conditions.  However, hazards remain until all the hot spots are extinguished and all of the equipment is properly stored back at the center.  There is little room for error when driving the ATV up the ramp into the bed of the pickup.  Pushing the accelerator lever instead of gripping the brake lever results in spectacular damage to the toolbox and quality entertainment for the bystanders.  To quote Homer Simpson, "Doh!"

ATV vs toolbox - Mark Musselman

Spotted Versus Barred

If you have been to the Audubon Center at the Francis Beidler Forest or any wetland forest east of the Mississippi River, you have seen or heard a Barred Owl (Strix varia).

Barred Owl - Mark Musselman

The Associated Press reports that, To save the imperiled spotted owl, the Obama administration is moving forward with a controversial plan to shoot barred owls...

Eric Forsman, a U.S. Forest Service scientist whose work in the 1970s showed how the decline in spotted owls was tied to logging old-growth forests, was skeptical that killing barred owls would make a difference.

“There are not enough shotguns,” he said. “It would be just about like trying to wipe out coyotes.”

The Interior Department will accept public comments on the plan for 90 days.

Barred Owls here in our swamp have a varied diet.  We have previously reported that Barred Owls eat crayfish, ducklings, turtles, young opossums, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  It appears that they will eat anything that they can overpower and kill.  It's that attitude that has gotten them in trouble with their smaller cousins in the Pacific Northwest.

Visitors and staff enjoy spotting the Barred Owls during strolls around the boardwalk and sightings will increase through the spring as adults work to feed their growing young.  Spotted Owls are safe in our part of the world, but crayfish should be on high alert!

In the News

The winter season is the slowest of seasons in the swamp and at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest.  Some birds have migrated away, reptiles become inactive, and school groups are not interested in being out in the colder weather.  However, just because thinks have slowed down one should not get the idea that news is not happening.

The Post and Courier newspaper reported that Diamondback Rattlesnakes are being relocated instead of killed to preserve the species.  "The diamondback is a keystone species in the health of the longleaf savannah ecosystem, the pines that are the heart of the Lowcountry...and moving them to larger tracts of pinelands might be the best bet for conserving what is maybe the most hated native Lowcountry species -- a 6-foot-long, muscled arm-thick, venomous viper that people have stomped, chopped, shot and even dynamited for generations when they crossed paths."

We have several tracts of Longleaf Pine and plan to restore additional tracts as the land becomes available. We have made some cursory searches for Diamondback Rattlesnakes, but we have yet to detect any on Beidler Forest property.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources conducts a wading bird program.  From their site:  Researchers have placed metal bands, colored bands with engraved numbers and/or letters, wing tags, radio transmitters, and satellite transmitters on a small number of wading birds. We are interested in any sightings of marked birds. This information helps us to learn about the movement patterns and life spans of wading birds. More information about the purpose of banding birds can be found at the Bird Banding Lab website.

If you see a live bird with an engraved color band, we would appreciate it if you could attempt to read the numbers/letters on the band. Please also record the species of the bird, the color of the band, the color of the letters, which leg that band was attached to, and the location of the bird and send the information to wadingbirds@dnr.sc.gov. Photographs of the bird and the band are also very helpful.

If you find a dead bird of any species wearing a metal band, please report the band number to the Bird Banding Lab through their website or by calling 1-800-327-BAND (2263).

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources also issued a news release regarding the value of snags.  The Post and Courier newspaper ran a brief article on the subject and used one of our images.

Using our image was appropriate as we have an ample of supply of snag in the old-growth swamp...

and as this Pileated Woodpecker shows, there is a bounty of food in the dead wood!

Using a Wasp to Catch a Beetle: The Quest to Save Ash Trees - The non-native Emerald Ash Borer arrived on a boat from Asia and is eating its way through millions of ash trees.  We have plenty of ash trees at Beidler Forest, so we don't relish the thought of these beetles making their way here.  The wasp technique described in the article was not used here when researchers checked for the Emerald Ash Borer two years ago.  Instead, traps with the attracting scent of a female were hung from trees.  Note: moving firewood to other areas is one way for these and other insects can reach and infest areas faster than they could naturally expand their range.

Images by Mark Musselman