Co-Principal Investigator(s):

NATALIE CLEAVITT, Cornell University, NY

ANDREW FAST, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

REBECCA DIGIROLOMO, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

HEIDI ASBJORNSEN, University of New Hampshire

Collaborator(s): 

MARIKO YAMASAKI, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, NH

STEVE EISENHAURE, University of New Hampshire

Abstract: Northern red oak is one of the most valuable tree species for wildlife and timber in the Northeast. Forest managers need to better understand regeneration ecology of oak as climate change expands its potential range into the Northern Forest and beyond. Even where it is currently abundant, red oak regeneration has proven challenging to forest managers seeking to maintain its dominance. NSRC researchers will investigate whether fire plays a unique role in promoting oak establishment and recruitment near its northern range limit and provide critical silvicultural information specific to its management in the Northern Forest.

Through a combination of tree-ring analysis, regeneration studies in silvicultural prescribed burns, and controlled mesocosm (potted seedling) experiments, researchers will expand our understanding of how fire influences oak regeneration and how it can best be used silviculturally to meet this goal. The lack of previous studies on fire’s role in oak regeneration specifically in the Northeast makes this project scientifically novel and necessary to inform future management.

Researchers will also investigate how soil is transformed by fire and may benefit oak regeneration. Researchers will reach out to stakeholders at many stages of the project with immediate educational benefits through field work with community scientists, prescribed fire demonstration, and active collaborations with local forest groups. The project will provide fundamental information on oak regeneration and the use of prescribed fire as a tool to help create more resilient and climate-ready forests and will help others to adopt and accept this approach in ways that are supported by data.

Final Products

Download 2022 progress report (PDF)

Ton K, Vadeboncoeur MA, Cleavitt N, Powell A, Asbjornsen H. (2026). Effects of prescribed fire on Quercus rubra regeneration near its northern range limit.  Forest Ecology and Management 606: 123565. [open access] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2026.123565    

Ton, Khanh.  2025.  Effects of silvicultural burns on Quercus rubra regeneration near its northern range limit. MSc Thesis, Department of Natural Resources, University of New Hampshire. Available at:  https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/2005 

Ton, K., M.A. Vadeboncoeur, N. Cleavitt, and H. Asbjornsen. 2025. Northern red oak regeneration in burned and unburned stands in the White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, USA, 2023-2024 ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f488d29e300ce386fd6c99920e2d5f3b 

Presentations

• Ton, K.  Little fires everywhere . . . little oaks everywhere?  Hubbard Brook summer student symposium, Woodstock, NH, August 2023 

• Powell A and Cleavitt NL, The effect of Fire on Northern Red Oak Regeneration.  Poster presentation at the Pennsylvania Botany Symposium, State College, PA, October 2023.  [2^nd place student poster winner] 

• Vadeboncoeur MA. All about the seedlings: three regeneration-focused NSRC projects at UNH. Invited talk at the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Conference, Burlington VT, December 2023. 

• Ton. K. Prescribed Fire Effects on Red Oak (Quercus rubra) Regeneration in Northern New Hampshire,  Seminar presentation, UNH Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Durham, NH, February 2024. 

• Ton, K. Prescribed fire improves red oak regeneration in northern New Hampshire. Poster presentation, New England SAF, Burlington VT, March 2024. 

• Ton, K. Oral presentation, Annual Hubbard Brook Meeting, Plymouth NH, July 2024. 

• Ton, K, Vadeboncoeur MA, Cleavitt N, Powell A, Asbjornsen H.  Prescribed Fire Improves Red Oak Regeneration in Northern NH​.   Poster presentation, Ecological Society of America, Long Beach CA, August 2024. 

• Ton, K. Prescribed fire improves Quercus rubra L. regeneration in northern New Hampshire.  Presentation at International Oak Symposium, Knoxville TN, October 2024. 

• Ton, K. Prescribed fire improves Quercus rubra L. regeneration in northern New Hampshire.  Seminar presentation for UNH Earth Systems Research Center, Durham, NH, December 2024. 

• Ton, K, Vadeboncoeur MA, Cleavitt N, Asbjornsen H.  Effects of silvicultural prescribed burns on Northern red oak regeneration near its northern range limit​.  Presentation at UNH Graduate Research Symposium, Durham, NH, April 2025. 

• Ton K, Vadeboncoeur MA, Cleavitt N, Powell A, Asbjornsen H. Effects of prescribed burning on Quercus rubra regeneration near its northern range limit in New Hampshire. Poster at Society of American Foresters Annual meeting, Hartford, CT, October 2025. 

• Hooper Z, Vadeboncoeur MA.  Forest fire regeneration dynamics of red oak in northern New England. Poster Presentation at UNH Undergraduate Research Conference, Durham, NH, April 2026.