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Toast Me Timbers!

Season 6 | Episode 2

Toast Me Timbers!

February 4, 2025

Foresters are increasingly aware of the importance of prescribed fire as a silvicultural tool in the maintenance and management of fire-adapted forest ecosystems.  At the same time concerns remain over the impact of those fires on the timber resource. Join us for a conversation with Mike Saunders, Professor of Silviculture in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, as we explore the effects of prescribed fire on tree wounding and timber quality in the oak-hickory forests of North America.

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GUEST ON THIS EPISODE

Michael R. Saunders, Ph.D.

Professor of Hardwood Silviculture, Department of Ecology and Natural Resources, Purdue University

Dr. Mike Saunders is currently a Professor of Hardwood Silviculture in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, a member of the Institute for Digital Forestry (IDiF), and a scientist within the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (HTIRC). He also currents serves at the Editor-in-Chief for the Society of American Forester’s journal Forest Science.  Mike obtained two B.S.’s from Iowa State in 1994, an M.S. from the University of Minnesota in 1998, and a Ph.D. in 2007 at the University of Maine.

Dr. Saunders’ research seeks to develop robust silvicultural systems that can be used for successful establishment of diverse, high-quality, hardwood-dominated forest types in eastern North America. Mike co-leads the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment, a large-scale forest management study in southern Indiana that includes scientists from seven universities and agencies. In recent years, his focus has shifted to better understanding the role of fire, in both historical and modern contexts, in the ecology and management of oak-dominated forests.

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Episode Show Notes

Prescribed Fire Causes Wounding and Minor Tree Quality Degradation in Oak Forests, Saunders et al., Forests 2023, 14, 227.

The Fire-Oak Literature of Eastern North America: Synthesis and Guidelines, Brose et al., U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, General Technical Report NRS-135, July 2014.

A Review on the Dynamics of Prescribed Fire, Tree Mortality, and Injury in Managing Oak Natural Communities to Minimize Economic Loss in North America, Dey and Schweitzer, Forests 2018, 9, 461.

Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in the Southern Region

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