Forest Overstory Mortality & Recruitment Patterns Eight Years Following Wildfire in the Southern Appalachians

Author

• Ruth Cumberland, Clemson UniversityFollow

Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Forestry and Environmental Conservation

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. Don Hagan

Committee Member

Dr. Troy Farmer

Committee Member

Dr. Lillie Langlois

Abstract

In this study, we investigated patterns of forest overstory mortality and recruitment eight years after wildfire in a large wildfire site the Southern Appalachians, a topic that has not been thoroughly investigated to date. With evidence that pre-fire drought promotes post-fire mortality through impaired physiological function and increased fuel consumption, unknown patterns following wildfire are important to study under shifting climate and land-use conditions. In Chapter 1, three areas of interest were investigated: (a) functional group mortality response to wildfire effects, (b) temporal differences in early (1-3 years) and late (5-8 years) periods of delayed forest overstory mortality patterns following wildfire, and (c) solar radiation and topographical variation influences to cumulative forest overstory mortality. Analyses revealed: (a) fire-adapted overstory species were most resistant to fire effects, followed by heath, then fire-sensitive species. (b) mortality hazard risk increased in the later period compared to the early period, and (c) cumulative mortality over eight years showed that fire-induced mortality odds increased significantly from mesic sites to xeric sites. In Chapter 2, research addressed forest regeneration response eight years post-fire. Non-metric multidimensional scaling and generalized linear mixed effects models assessed functional group responses of differing plant communities. Findings suggest that a single drought-induced wildfire in the southern Appalachians may accelerate mesophication, with the strongest effects in Thermic Oak Forests, indicating a potential ecological resilience debt in long-unburned and fire-maintained plant communities of the southeast.

Recommended Citation

Cumberland, Ruth, "Forest Overstory Mortality & Recruitment Patterns Eight Years Following Wildfire in the Southern Appalachians" (2026). All Theses. 4753.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4753