Very Limited Age-Dependent Burning in Chaparral: Research Brief
/This study examined the historical fire intervals of two chaparral-dominated divisions of the Los Padres National Forest, California.
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Vegetation Succession & Fire in California’s Bay Area: Research Brief
/ This 2003 study used aerial photos taken between 1939 and 1997 to quantify vegetation change in the landscape mosaic of grasslands, shrublands, woodlands and forests of the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Using fire to increase the scale and benefits of forest fuel treatments: Research Brief
/This brief discussed a 2012 study that indicates less than 20% of national forest and national park lands in the Sierra Nevada are experiencing fuels treatments needed to mitigate continuing degradation from either the lack of fire or wildfire burning at high severity.
Read MoreUsing Fire for Invasive Plant Control in Wildlands: USGS Research Brief
/This brief summarizes the current state of knowledge on the use of fire as a tool to manage invasive plants in wildlands. The authors of two publications discuss risks and challenges of conducting prescribed burns, types of systems and circumstances in which burning may be effective for the management of invasive plants, complexities of fire and plant community interactions, impacts of prescribed burning on the broader plant community and the soil, and comprehensive monitoring plans.
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Read MoreType-converting Chaparral is Bad for Biodiversity: Research Brief
/Chaparral and coastal sage scrub have a higher number of rare and endangered plants in their communities than expected based on total land area occupied by these two shrubland types.
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Type Conversion Leads to Reduced Vertebrate Diversity: Research Brief
/Between the 1940s and the 1970s, converting chaparral to grasslands had become acceptable and widely practiced in western states. How these type conversions affected vertebrate diversity were addressed in this study.
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Type Conversion From Forest to Shrubland: Research Brief
/The soil characteristics and historical records of the Blue Canyon brush field were reviewed.
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Three-year Mashing Operations for Better Deer Forage: Research Brief
/In the interest of increasing browse for deer populations on California chaparral lands, a brush manipulation program was conducted by the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) from 1955 to 1960. The results of this project are discussed in this brief.
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The Vanishing Redneck As Ecosystem Hero: Research Brief
/As environmental stewards, rednecks should be credited for conserving forests with landscape-scale burning in the interest of improved hunting, tick control and fun
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The Role of Fuel Breaks in the Invasion of Nonnative Plants: USGS Research Brief
/In a U.S.G.S Report the authors discuss that an unintended results of fuel modification programs can be the introduction and spread of nonnative invasive plant species.
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The Lead-up to California's Clar Plan: Research Brief
/It took many years of relatively haphazard firefighting and political battles to reach the Clar Plan (Fire Plan of 1940), a statewide fire control plan implemented by the California Division of Forestry.
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The Hardiest Grasses for Type-converting Chaparral: Research Brief
/In 1955, four agronomists began a long term project to study “a major problem in the conversion of chaparral to grassland – the selection of adapted grass and legume species to seed areas once dominated by brush.”
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The 2007 Southern California Wildfires: Lessons in Complexity: USGS Research Brief
/Observations from the 2007 wildfire season in southern California led to several important implications for managing fire risk under these extreme environmental and social conditions.
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The 1967 Handbook for Type-converting Chaparral: Research Brief
/This 1967 handbook recommends a standardized type-conversion process for Chaparral in five steps.
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The 1957-1970’s Fuelbreak Program Summarized: Research Brief
/The Fuel Break Program was a historic, systematic effort to type convert mosaics linked by firelines with the goal of containing and/or controlling southern California chaparral wildfire.
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The 1836-1929 Fire History in Angeles National Forest: Research Brief
/These historic Angeles National Forest fires were almost all caused by people. At first, these ignitions were tolerated, but as people witnessed more flooding & erosion, they clamored for government intervention.
Read MoreStructure, fuels and fire behavior in Sierran riparian and upland forest: past and present: Research Brief
/Authors of this paper present quantitative information on the differences in stand structure, fuel loading, and fire behavior in current and reconstructed riparian and upland areas in the Sierra Nevada.
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Spanish Goats Harm Type-converted Land in Arizona: Research Brief
/With four different goat-grazing treatments at different stocking rates, the authors explored the effects of goat-grazing on type-converted shrub systems in Arizona.
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Southern California Wildfires Can Alter Ant Species Assemblages in Coastal Sage Scrub Habitats: USGS Research Brief
/A USGS study reports that after the 2003 fires, burned coastal sage scrub (CSS) plots displayed a significant shift in the overall community structure of ground foraging ant species.
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Source of Sediment Hazards on Steep Slopes: Research Brief
/ In southern California, the slopes are famous for producing high sediment yields following fires. The authors showed that large volumes of sediment are released when the “dams” are burned in wildfires in these ecosystems.
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