Leaf litter and soil protect acorns from prescribed fire
U.S. Forest Service scientists have found that prescribed fires with the heat insulation of leaf litter and soil can help restore oak ecosystems.
Forest Service researchers are helping land managers find the best time to use prescribed fire when oak regeneration from acorns is a concern.
"Acorns inside the leaf litter or in the soil are for the most part protected from fire," says Cathryn Greenberg, Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) researcher and lead author of the study published in July in the journal Forest Ecology and Management. "However, when acorns ...