Dataset for: Efficacy of prescribed fire as a fuel reduction treatment in the Colorado Front Range

Prescribed fires are an important management tool for reducing fuels and returning fire to the landscape. However, rarely are changes in fuels fully quantified using pre- to post-prescribed fire measurements, and those studies that do exist show variable results. In the southern Rockies, little literature exists on the impacts of prescribed fires, thus we examined multiple prescribed fires in northern Colorado to understand fire effects and changes in fuel complexes. Most prominently, prescribed fires influenced litter, duff, and rotten coarse woody debris but did not influence other surface fuels. Crown base height increased and tree density decreased, while basal area was relatively unimpacted. Season of burning impacted fire effects as substrate burn severity, bole char, and crown volume scorched were highest in summer and fall. Continued monitoring of prescribed fires is critical to understand the influence of prescribed fire on wildfires and ultimately improving prescribed fire out..., All data were collected by Colorado Forest Restoration Institute field crews between 2017–2021 using protocols available here: https://cfri.colostate.edu/publication/. Plots were randomly located across each site. PreRX is used for data collected before prescribed fire, RX is used for data collected within 1–2 months of prescribed fire, and PostRX is used for data collected 1–2 years after prescribed fire. Data collected during the RX visit is limited to fine woody fuel,ground fuel, burn severity, and post-fire tree measurements. Fire severity measurements (RX) were recorded only in burned plots. Treatment Unit denotes different prescribed fire sites, with the exception of BSR-1C2 and BSR-2T4 being sub-units within the same site. 

BurnSeason: This worksheet contains the season and year of burn for each plot that experienced prescribed fire.
Plots: This table includes plot locations, date of each data collection visit, and whether the plot area experienced fire.
Trees: A 10 BAF prism wa..., Microsoft Excel