Timber thinning and prescribed burning as methods to increase herbage on grazed and protected longleaf pine ranges
January 23, 2021
| Selective commercial timber thinning and prescribed burning are effective tools in maintaining a productive forage resource on stocked range of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). Productive mixtures of herbaceous species can be sustained through periodic timber thinning to maintain 12 to 20 m2/ha of longleaf pine basal area and rotational winter burning, at 3-year intervals. Two to three years of heavy use can be expected after patch cutting if the area of patch cuts constitute a minor percentage of the total grazed range unit. Heavy use may convert patch cuts predominantly to carpetgrass and forested range to a mixture of forbs. Pine plantations throughout the South can be managed for concurrent production of wood fiber and forage (Pearson et al. 1971, Grelen and Enghardt 1973, and Hart et al. 1970). With proper management, continuous grazing by cattle is not detrimental to establishing and growing artificially regenerated pine plantations (Pearson et al. 1971), nor is forage production seriously diminished by pine canopies until plantations approach 10 years of age (Wolters 1973). Many longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) plantations are rapidly approaching or have already attained commercial timber size and could be thinned to generate immediate cash income. Observations and available literature suggest that selective tree removal or patch cutting within a plantation drastically alters forage production and livestock utilization patterns; thus, the current study was started to determine what effects the rate of tree removal had on concurrent forage production, its botanical composition, and utilization by cattle when the range was burned by controlled backfire every third year. Findings will facilitate development of guidelines to integrate management of timber and forage on longleaf pine ranges. |