Prescribed Burning for Bushland Management: The South Texas Example Book

	List of Illustrations
	List of Tables
	Preface
	Acknowledgments
1	Prescribed Burning - A Perspective	3
	Prescribed Burning Defined	6
	Historical Role of Fire in South Texas	8
	Conclusions	20
2	Vegetation and Climate of South Texas	22
	Coastal Zone	25
	Rio Grande Plains	29
	The Tamaulipan Thorn Woodland and Thornshrub	31
	Vegetation Subtypes	36
3	Mode of Fire Action and Factors Regulating Fire Behavior	40
	Heat Characteristics	40
	Heat Transfer Processes	42
	Ignition and the Combustion Process	44
	Fuel Influences	47
	Methods for Determining Fire Temperatures	55
	Weather Influences on Fire Behavior	59
	Topographical Influences	66
4	Factors Regulating Relative Susceptibility of Plants to Fire	68
	Physical Heat Resistance	68
	Physiological Influences	69
	Herbaceous Plant Morphology	70
	Fire Adaptations of Tamaulipan Thornshrubs	73
	Season of Burning	76
5	Fire Effects on Soils	77
	Soil Temperature	77
	Soil Water Relationships	79
	Watershed Hydrologic Characteristics	82
	Organic Matter Content	84
	Soil Nutrient Status	87
	Response of pH	90
	Summary	91
6	Burning Techniques and Fire Plans	93
	Selection of Burns by Purpose	93
	Fire Fronts	96
	Fire Plans	98
	Personnel and Equipment	108
	Checklist: Planning Chronology for Prescribed Burning	114
7	Vegetation Management with Prescribed Burning: Selected Applications	121
	Suppression of Woody Plants	122
	Improvement of Herbaceous Forage Stands	132
	Livestock Responses	142
	Grazing Management Considerations	143
8	Prescribed Burning and Wildlife Management	146
	Wildlife Habitat: Definitional Bounds	150
	Burning for Improvement of White-tailed Deer Habitat	152
	Small Mammals	158
	Habitat Improvement for Northern Bobwhites	159
	Burning and Mourning Dove Habitat	164
	Invertebrates	165
	Management Implications	170
	Research Implications	171
9	Burning-Based Vegetation Management Systems	172
	Herbicide-Prescribed Burning Systems	175
	Mechanical-Prescribed Burning Systems	192
	General Considerations and Summary	194
	Grazing Management Considerations	194
10	Salient Economic Aspects of Prescribed Burning	196
	A Production Response Model for Economic Analysis	196
	Data Needs for the Model	198
	Results of NPV Analyses	199
	Costs and Benefits Associated with Prescribed Burning	200
	Hypothetical Case Study	203
	Appendix A. Scientific Designations of Plants and Animals Mentioned in Text	211
	Appendix B. Chemical Names of Herbicides Mentioned in Text	215
	Glossary of Terms	217
	Literature Cited	225
	Index	241