Using Fire to Regenerate Yellow-Poplar

Yellow-poplars silvical characteristics make it well adapted to regenerate after fire (Van Lear and Waldrop 1988). Yellow-poplar has light seeds disseminated by wind and gravity that remain viable on the forest floor for up to 8 to 10 years and germinate rapidly in fire-prepared seedbeds (McCarthy 1933). After three growing seasons, Shearin and others (1972) noted that the number and height of yellow-poplar seedlings was significantly greater in burned areas after a low-intensity winter burn on a clearcut area in the Piedmont and that viable seeds stored in the duff before burning accounted for the large number of seedlings. Sims (1932) found yellow-poplar seedlings to be more numerous in clearcuts and unharvested stands that had been burned than in similar, unburned stands.

Yellow-poplars fire adaptation means that silviculturalists using fire to regenerate oak need to conduct burns in combination with other stand treatments so that oaks and other hardwoods are selectively encouraged (Van Lear and Waldrop 1988).

See also: Using Prescribed Fire for Oak Management.