Use of prescribed burning for managing natural and historic resources in Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park,USA

The purpose of this study was to provide the National Park Service with quantitative information regarding the effect of fire on fuel loads and pest species such asLonicera japonica, Ligustrum sinense, andRhus radicans.Three study areas of ten plots each were located in Chickamauga Battlefield Reservation of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Fuel weights, aboveground biomass of honeysuckle, and counts of privet and poison ivy were collected both before and after prescribed fire. Additionally, one fourth of each of 14 plots was treated with glyphosate (tradename Roundup) to test for the use of fire as a herbicide pretreatment. This was a randomized block design with subsampling.Prescribed burning did significantly ( = 0.05) reduce fuel loads and the biomass of honeysuckle on burned plots. There was a statistically different response in fuel load reduction between fall and winter burns. Poison ivy significantly increased on burned plots, while privet counts did not vary significantly.Applications of glyphosate negatively impacted all three target species. Honeysuckle appeared to be damaged more readily on untreated plots, while no difference in response was noted on privet. Significantly more poison ivy growing points were killed by herbicide applications on burned plots than on unburned plots.