Severe drought drives pulse of snags and fuel loads
/Rates of tree death soared in the Sierra Nevada during the severe 2012-16 drought. While the acute effects of drought occurred over a short period, the mass mortality event kickstarted a decades-long process of snag fall, increased fuel loads, and changed fuel composition. Fuel loads, snag density, and snag fall rate were collected at two sites in Yosemite National Park (YOMI = mixed conifer site, YOPI = pine- dominated site) and one at Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park (SEKI) and modeled to predict future fuel loads and snag fall rates.
Northrop, Hudson, Jodi N. Axelson, Adrian J. Das, Nathan L. Stephenson, Emilio Vilanova, Scott L. Stephens, and John J. Battles. "Snag dynamics and surface fuel loads in the Sierra Nevada: Predicting the impact of the 2012–2016 drought." Forest Ecology and Management 551(2024): 121521.
