Indications of vigor loss after fire in Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea) from electrical resistance measurements

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Contents Vol 15(3)

doi:10.1071/WF05092

Indications of vigor loss after fire in Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea) from electrical resistance measurements*

Timothy E. Paysen ^A ^D, Andrea L. Koonce ^B, Edwin Taylor ^C, Maria Ouxiliadora Rodriquez ^C

^A USDA Forest Service, Riverside Forest Fire Laboratory, Riverside, CA, USA.
^B San Bernardino National Forest, 602 South Tippecanoe Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92408, USA.
^C MARENA, Ministerio del Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.
^D Corresponding author. Email: tpaysen@fs.fed.us





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International Journal of Wildland Fire 15(3) 415–425 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF05092
Submitted: 3 October 2005 Accepted: 24 May 2006 Published online: 5 September 2006

Abstract

In May 1993, electrical resistance measurements were performed on trees in burned and unburned stands of Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea Mor.) in north-eastern Nicaragua to determine whether tree vigor was affected by fire. An Osmose model OZ-67 Shigometer with digital readout was used to collect the sample electrical resistance data. Computer-simulated randomization techniques were used to evaluate the significance of differences in electrical resistance between living trees of burned and unburned stands of various ages. Electrical resistance was used as an index of the general metabolic activity of the tree – our chosen definition of tree vigor. Results indicate a loss of tree vigor in stands that burned in comparison with those that did not.

Keywords: fire damage; fire effects; Nicaragua; tropics.

^* This article was written and prepared by US Government employees on official time and is therefore in the public domain and not subject to copyright.