Most of the first-year mortality was assumed to be caused by crown burn- 

 ing. Bole burning, even when severe, did not appear to cause death the first 

 year. A small infestation of turpentine beetles was noted the first year (on 

 only six trees out of the 200 observed), but no particular correlation of 

 beetle attack with injury could be detected. 



Second-year mortality, although correlated with crown damage and tree 

 size, was more erratic than first-year mortality. Severe bole burning that 

 injured the cambium probably caused most of the second-year mortality. Smaller 

 trees, having thinner bark, probably were more susceptible to cambium injury 

 from fire than larger trees. Several trees in the 3- to 5-inch classes died 

 the second year even though their crowns were damaged less than 70 percent . 

 On the other hand, no trees 6 inches and larger died the second year except 

 those that had crown injury greater than 80 percent. 



Total mortality 2 years after the fire is tabulated below (see also fig. 

 2). The erratic behavior of the 0-24 percent class may be due to the small 

 number of trees observed in this category: 



Crown burned Mortal ity 



Percent Percent 



- 



24 



14 



25 - 



49 



6 



50 - 



59 



20 



60 - 



69 



24 



70 - 



79 



20 



80 - 



89 



63 



90 - 



■ 94 



100 



95 - 



100 



100 



Only one additional tree died on this plot between the second and eighth year 

 following the fire. 



Growth 



Diameter growth for the 8-year period following the fire is plotted in 

 figure 3 over d.b.h. for three broad damage classes: 70 to 89 percent crown 

 damage; 50 to 69 percent; and less than 50 percent. This graph also shows 

 two curves of normal 8-year diameter growth for ages 30 and 40 (3^) . Individ- 

 ual ages for all the trees in this study were not measured, but most of the 

 smaller trees were about 30 years old, and the larger ones about 40, at the 

 time of the fire. 



Trees whose crowns were damaged less than 50 percent followed the expected 

 growth curve very closely. Trees more severely burned, however, showed reduced 

 growth especially in the 6- to 9-inch diameter classes (there were no larger 

 trees in the severely damaged classes). Although this study had insufficient 

 trees to give reliable growth figures, the results suggest that reductions in 



5 



