SGER: Patterns and Mechanisms of Community Recovery Following Severe Fire in the Long Island Pine Barrens

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Gurevitch DEB-9634664 This study will investigate the critical initial phase of regeneration on the Long Island Pine Barrens following a fire in August 1995 which burned almost 7,000 acres. Pine barrens are well-studied systems, but little is known about the conditions which lead to pine or oak dominated communities in the barrens. It is anticipated that events in the early years following the fire will be crucial in determining community composition. Experiments will be established which investigate the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors and how these factors interact. Particular attention will be paid to the importance of seed and seedling predation by small mammals and competition among tree seedlings in determining the trajectory of revegetation of the pine barrens following a catastrophic fire. Revegetation of the dwarf pine plains, a globally rare ecosystem located within the Long Island pine barrens, will be compared with that of the burned (full stature) pine barrens. Data on the response of dwarf and normal pine barrens to severe following long-term fire suppression will help our assessment of fire management options, including controlled burns, for pine barrens newly protected by the Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1995.