Tour of the New Jersey Pinelands Day 2

Answer Question 1: Based on what you know about succession in New Jersey at which stage would you expect to find evergreen/coniferous trees?

The Pines, the Pines, the Pines are on Fire!

What makes the Pinelands so fire prone?

Flat Topography Fire has nothing to block its way on the flat land. It spreads very quickly.

Prevailing Westerly Winds Winds that come from the west have traveled over land for many miles losing their moisture before reaching New Jersey. Prevailing Westerly Winds

DRY & SANDY Soil The sandy soils drain moisture quickly. Fire is more likely to start in dry areas. This area was once part of the outer coastal plains which was once covered by water.

Highly flammable plant communities Read on to find out more about the traits of pitch pines and what makes them so adapted to fire. Highly flammable plant communities (Resinous Pitch Pine and Mountain Laurel)

99% caused by humans 1% caused by natural causes (lightning)

The Pinelands is second in the nation in fire proneness only to the chaparral of Southern California

Answer Question #2 Since fires are frequent in the Pinelands which stage of succession would you expect the forest to go back to after a fire? Why?

Forest Structure in the Pinelands

Understory Shrub layer Forest floor

Pitch Pine Canopy

Answer Question #3 Compare the structure of a Pinelands forest to the structure of the forest at Dallenbach’s.

Succession of the Fittest! Fittest, when talking about ecosystems or organisms, means who is the best at surviving and reproducing!

The Pitch Pine is a very fit species for the Pinelands region of New Jersey

Epicormic Branching This tree survives in near desert-like conditions by sending huge taproots and lateral roots far into sandy soil.  Pitch pines are self-pruning, dropping their lower branches as a way of keeping their feet out of a fire. Some pitch pines exhibit epicormic buds which sprout from under the bark in the aftermath of passing brush fires. An epicormic shoot is a shoot growing from an epicormic bud, which lies underneath the bark of a trunk, stem, or branch of a plant. Epicormic buds lie dormant beneath the bark, their growth suppressed by hormones from active shoots higher up the plant.

Serotinous Cones (Sir Rotteness) Pine cones that are tightly closed until heated by fire. Then they pop open like popcorn releasing the pine samaras.

Thick Bark Acts like a shield against fire. The plate-like bark of the pitch pine, full of insulating air pockets, allows the tree to survive fire as hot as 2,000 degrees if the crown remains intact.

Thicker Bark Serotinous Cones

What Are Serotinous Cones? Serotinous cones are covered with a resin that must be melted for the cone to open and release seeds. When a fire moves through the forest, the cones open and the seeds are distributed by winds and gravity. Fire creates its own wind tunnels that help to spread the fire and winds to spread the seeds within serotinous cones.

(the dominant species) Pitch Pines (the dominant species) survive the fire because… Answer Question 4

Why don’t the Pinelands go back to primary stage after a fire?

Succession in a Mid Atlantic hardwood forest includes the following steps: 3. End of Secondary Stage Mature Pine with Oak and Beech Understory 1. Primary Stage Grasses and Weeds 2. Middle of Secondary Stage Young Pines 4.Climax Stage Mature Oak and Beech Pines fall to the forest floor

We are talking about the Pinelands so… A fire has raged through your mature pine forest. Do not pass into the climax stage. Return to the secondary stage. Do not collect $200. Change to say “return to the middle secondary stage” Answer Questions 5

What problems might homeowners and the local government face? How does the presence of frequent fire affect those who live in the area? What problems might homeowners and the local government face? Answer Questions 6-7. Support your claims.

National Fire Protection Association has declared Wildland-Urban interface fires to be the fastest growing source of property loss. These are areas where homes are built against protected lands. Consider how close these homes are to forested areas that may go up in flames.

Here you can see just how close the fire can get!

What can be done to reduce the severity of fires? Make a claim now (Question 8)then add to your answer as you read on.

Prescribed Burning How fire managers protect the people of the Pinelands

Drip torches are used to start low intensity fires in areas that have been carefully chosen and prepared.

Fire breaks are used to prevent the fire from going further Fire breaks are used to prevent the fire from going further. Here the soil is exposed so that no plants are in the path of the fire to keep it from spreading.

Prescribed burning started in New Jersey in the 1930’s as away to reduce “fuel” of leaf litter and significantly lessen the risk of a catastrophic crown fire. Today prescribed burning burns 20,000 acres per year and that number is increasing as the wildland-urban interface (places where homes and forest meet) continues to grow.

Problems with Prescribed Burning Wind shifts can cause officials to lose control Smoke Respiratory problems

Ariel view of burned forest in the Pinelands

The Garden State Parkway during a wildfire in the Pinelands.

Regrowth after a fire

What stage of succession are the Pine Barrens “stuck” in? Why? Closure What stage of succession are the Pine Barrens “stuck” in? Why? Answer Question 10

SUCCESSION IN THE PINE BARRENS Primary Stage Secondary Stage Fire Mature (Climax) Stage

The Pine Barrens are “stuck” in the secondary stage of succession because of the frequent fires that come through the Pine Barrens. When a fire comes through any deciduous trees (maple, oak) are burnt and killed. The pitch pine survives the fire and is able to reproduce because of its serotinous cones, thick bark and epicormic branching.

More to Think About… Why doesn’t the forest go back to the primary stage after a fire? Explain why the dominant vegetation is always pitch pine trees. What adaptations do pitch pines have that make them survive and reproduce after a fire?