Introduction

The objective of our research is to evaluate the ecological effects of military training (Fig. 1) and forest management activities at Ft. Benning to determine if there are thresholds beyond which upland forests do not sustain the combined effects of military use and advanced (2-yr interval) or delayed (4-yr interval) prescribed fires. Our experimental approach is comparing forest stands on sandy and clayey soil (Fig. 2) in heavier (open to tracked vehicles) and lighter (primarily dismounted infantry) military training compartments over one 4-yr or two 2-yr burn cycles. All of 32 upland forest stands were burned prior to the study in 2000; half (2-yr burn) were burned again in 2002. Here, we present 1) initial (2001) edaphic conditions; 2) immediate (1-3 wk) pre and post burn soil conditions; and 3) longer term (1-2 growing seasons) response to fire. The initial conditions reflect the combined effects of ongoing and past military training, forest thinning (typically at 9 yr intervals), and both prescribed burns (typically at 3 yr intervals) and wildfires over the last 20 yr. We asked if soil texture or military training intensity are related to differences among the sites in initial edaphic conditions or response to the experimental burn.