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Important Sites
Department of Geography, TAMU
Department of Geography,
UTK
Laboratory of
Tree-Ring Science
George Washington &
Jefferson National Forests
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Sites Sampled for our JFSP-Sponsored Research
To ensure we could obtain as much
information on the fire regimes of the central Appalachians as
possible, our project required collections along a north-south
gradient to better understand the spatial aspects of wildland fires.
We sampled at several spatial scales. First, we intensively
collected fire-scarred samples using the targeted sampling
technique. This constituted a "cluster." To investigate
the successional dynamics of the site, we established a 50 m X 20 m
"macroplot" and collected increment cores and stand
dynamics information within the individual mixed hardwood/pine
stand. Second, we expanded our spatial coverage for each site
by collecting four such fire history clusters and three macroplots.
Third, by sampling across a wide geographic area, we will analyze
the possible climatic or non-climatic mechanisms that lead to
regional fire years.
In October 2005, we completed our 15th
and final field expedition to our sites in the central Appalachians.
Every expedition was challenging. We drove thousands of miles and
hiked endless miles of trails (and off-trail) looking for suitable
sites and fire-scarred samples. We camped in wilderness areas,
stayed in Forest Service campgrounds, and occasionally got to stay
in hotel rooms to clean up after a few days of hard, sweaty work. We
regularly fought with yellow jackets and hornet nests, nearly
stepped on countless rattlesnakes, slid/tripped down slopes made
slippery by ever-persistent downpours, got caught in thunder and
lightning storms on mountain tops, and weathered physical injuries
one after another (Georgina's eye incident with a mountain laurel
branch and Henri blowing out his right knee on the very last field
expedition).
In the end, we collected nearly 800
fire-scarred samples and thousands and thousands of increment cores
for age structure analyses. The volume of data collected is
impressive and rivals any such similar study conducted in the
western U.S. As difficult as this project has been, we are humbled
to realize that our project, in a sense, is only just beginning.
Much remains to be done in the eastern U.S. concerning fire history,
and we hope our project has laid the foundation for future
generations of scientists to continue pursuing this important area
of research.
Jefferson National Forest: Brush Mountain
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Brush
Mountain A Site. Contrary to what many believe,
fire-scarred Table Mountain pines are abundant in these xeric
ridgetop locations. Many of our samples were well-preserved
standing snags with numerous ridges, indicating multiple fires
being recorded on individual specimens. We often took multiple
sections per tree, as well.
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Brush
Mountain D Site. This site is typical of most of
our sites, with a heavy understory of mountain laurel choking
the forest floor. Frequent fires would have kept the mountain
laurel in check. Now, we find our fire-scarred samples in the
middle of the mountain laurel, testifying to the changes that
have occurred in these ecosystems in the last 100 years.
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Jefferson National Forest: North Mountain
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North
Mountain B Site. Located at the top of a very steep
and arduous trail, this site demonstrates how dense the
understory is of these mixed hardwood/pine forests. Both Table
Mountain pines here have fire scars on their uphill side which
date to the early 1960s. No fire has occurred since, causing
an unprecedented build-up of fuels.
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North
Mountain D Site. Daniel Lewis (left), Georgina
Wight, and Preston Roberts are about to saw into this
spectacular fire-scarred log that we found on the slope of
North Mountain D. Logs were valuable for our project and we
spent much time over-turning logs looking for fire scars.
Notice the heavy growth of brush in the background.
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Jefferson National Forest: Griffith
Knob
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Griffith
Knob A Site. We found this site while taking a
break from the Forest Service workshop being held at Hungry
Mother State Park, Virginia. A quick trip up I-81 and we were
surprised to find such a "super-site." This sample
was a remnant "snag" completely surrounded by
mountain laurel.
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Griffith
Knob D Site. If you look closely, you can see the
numerous ridges on this fire-scarred snag remnant found at
Griffith Knob. This sample had been long dead and helped push
our record of fire history back to the early 1800s. Much of
our project relied on such remnant samples.
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Jefferson National Forest: Little Walker
Mountain
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Little
Walker Mountain D Site. Here, Georgina cores into a
small chestnut oak tree. At each site (three macroplots each),
we cored several hundred trees of all species above 5 cm dbh,
and inventoried all trees to obtain stand structure and
composition information.
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Little
Walker Mountain C Site. Here, Charles Lafon is
about to drop a large dead Table Mountain pine tree with a
large fire-scarred basal wound on its uphill side (to the
right of the tree trunk). Henri Grissino-Mayer guides
Charles's cut from the side to ensure maximum safety.
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Jefferson National Forest: Enterprise Road
and Little Mountain
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Enterprise
Road Site. This site was sampled to gain a better
sense of the ability of fire to spread across valleys to
adjacent mountains. We sampled about 20 fire-scarred samples.
Georgina is holding a short fire-scarred snag that we
eventually sampled. Note the other fire-scarred samples in the
photo.
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Little
Mountain Site. While Charles and I were debating to
make this site in to one of our major sites, Steve Croy came
back with this spectacular sample on his shoulder. Like the
Enterprise Road site, we collected a few decent samples from
this location.
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George Washington National Forest: Mill
Mountain
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Mill
Mountain A Site.
The Mill Mountain sites in general were all challenging
because of their steepness, rock outcrops with numerous
snakes, and yellow jacket nests. The sample above shows at
least four fire scars (upper part of sample).
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Mill
Mountain D Site. This site, surprisingly, was right
next to the site we'd been camping for several trips. the
number and quality of fire-scarred samples was exceptional.
This log has numerous ridges, all indicative of multiple fire
scars.
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George Washington National Forest:
Reddish Knob
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Reddish
Knob A Site.
Perhaps the most exceptional of all our sites with regard to
sample quality and quantity. Charles found this incredible
fire-scarred snag which, after cutting, looked more like a
dugout canoe! We cut numerous sections from this to make
additional displays.
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Reddish
Knob D Site. Here, Charles poses with David Mann
who did all the sawing for this site in spring 2005.Note again
the exceptional preservation of this short snag, which had
numerous ridges on its uphill side, indicative of multiple
fire scars being recorded.
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George Washington National Forest: Kelly
Mountain
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Kelly
Mountain A Site.
This was perhaps the most impressive sample we found at this
site. The eroded log was found lying on a rock scree slope,
protected from fires. The catface (pointed towards the camera)
was filled with lichen and moss, indicating a very old sample
with very old fire scars.
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Kelly
Mountain C Site. This was by far the best of the
four fire history clusters we found on Kelly Mountain. The
site had numerous, exceptional well-preserved fire-scarred
samples, like this fantastic remnant log that was half-buried
by debris on the forest floor.
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Peter's Mountain
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Peter's
Mountain Site.
Owned by The Nature Conservancy, this site also contained
exceptional, high-quality fire-scarred specimens. This site
comprises the master's research for Jennifer Hoss of Texas
A&M University.
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Peter's Mountain
Site. Like so many of our trips, sampling at
Peter's Mountain was often delayed for hours while we waited
for the rainstorm to pass over us. Shown here are Stockton
Maxwell (top left), Georgina (left), Charles (center), and
Henri (right).
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