Historical fire regimes: spatial patterns and controls: Research Brief

This  paper  offers  a  reconstruction  of  historic fire   regimes  and  forest  age  structures in  a  mixed-­‐ conifer  forest  in  the  Klamath  Mountains  of   northern  California,  demonstrating  the  historic   importance  of  temporal  and  spatial  controls  on   fire  in  the  area,  and  providing  critical context for   current  restoration  and  management  activities.
View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

High-severity wildfire effects on carbon stocks and emissions in fuels treated and untreated forest: Research Brief

North  and  Hurteau  (2011)  investigated  the  forest   carbon  tradeoffs  of  wildfire  in  treated  and   untreated  mixed-­‐conifer forests,  as  well  as  the   carbon  cost  of  implementing  fuels  reduction   treatments.
View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Grassland-Shrubland-Woodland Mosaic Shifts: Research Brief

Callaway and Davis were able "to quantify dynamic chaparral in vegetation patterns and the relative importance of fire, livestock grazing, topography,  and substrate in grassland, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and oak woodland distribution in central coastal California.”
View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Goals & obstacles of WUI mitigation programs in the US: Research Brief

The authors surveyed administrators of regulatory and voluntary wildfire reduction programs in 25 US states to gain information on how they are organized, what they are trying to accomplish, what obstacles existed in their implementation, and how well they may be working.
View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fuel treatment effectiveness in California yellow pine and mixed conifer forests: Research Brief

Management  strategies  to   reduce  fire  spread  and  severity  typically  involve   targeted reduction  of  forest  fuels  through  some   combination  of  mechanical,  hand,  and/or  burning   treatments.  A  2012  study  by  Safford  et  al.   evaluates  the  effectiveness  of  such  forest  fuel   treatments  in  mixed  conifer  and  yellow  pine   forests  in  the  California  National  Forests.

View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fuel Modification Impacts on Nonnative Plant Invasion (overview): USGS Research Brief

In the April issue of Ecological Applications, USGS scientists Kyle Merriam (currently with the USFS) and Dr. Jon Keeley and USFS colleague Dr. Jan Beyers report that an unintended result of these fuel modification programs can be the introduction and spread of nonnative invasive plant species. 
View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fuel Age and Fire Spread in Chaparral Ecosystems: USGS Research Brief

In a paper published in Fire Management Today, USGS scientist Jon Keeley coauthors a paper with colleagues from the California Chaparral Institute that analyzes weather and fuel factors in a case study of a critical part of the 2003 Cedar Fire perimeter in San Diego County. 
View USGS Research Brief  PDF > 

Read More

Five Historic Fire Regimes in the Monterey Bay Region: Research Brief

Jason  Greenlee  and  Jean  Langenheim combined   fire  scar  dating,  historical  documents and  fire   behavior  modeling  to  reconstruct fire  regimes  for   the  major  vegetation  types  around  the  Monterey   Bay  area  from  pre-­‐11,000  BP  to  1979.         
View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fire-Scar Record in a Higher Elevation Chaparral Tree: Research Brief

Keith   Lombardo  and his colleagues  attempted  to  fill  a void in the fire history knowledge for pre-­Euro-­American  chaparral  fire  regimes   by  selecting  an  endemic  tree  commonly   associated  with  chaparral  at  higher  elevations. 
View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fire, Spatial Structure, and Heterogeneity in Sierra Nevada Forests: Research Brief

A 2013 study by Kane and others demonstrates that structural variation is significantly enhanced in the fire-frequent Sierra Nevada forests with the use of predominantly low- to moderate-severity fires. 
View Research Brief PDF >

Read More

Fire Temperature Patterns and Effects on Annual Plants in the Mojave Desert: USGS Research Brief

In a recent issue of the journal Ecological Applications, USGS scientist Dr. Matthew Brooks reports new information on temperature patterns during experimental fires, and the effects of these variable fire temperatures on annual plants in the Mojave Desert.
View USGS Research Brief PDF >

Read More