Wildlife Responses to California Shrubland Wildfire: Research Brief
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This brief discusses the findings from an in-depth synthesis of animal responses to fires in California shrubland systems.
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Prescribed burning and the drought: go or no go? Research Brief
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Research Brief/Management Consideration. One topic that is generating a great deal of interest among fire management professionals as California enters the fall prescribed fire season is whether we should be burning during this fourth year of drought. This brief discusses what managers should consider before doing a prescribed burn.
Read MorePrinciples of Effective Federal Fire Management Plans: Research Brief
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The six features of effective federal fire management plans are: consistent and compatible,
collaborative, clear and comprehensive, spatially and temporally scalable, informed by the best
available science, flexible and adaptive. Additional tools and strategies are discussed.
Meyer, M. D., Roberts, S. L., Wills, R., Brooks, M., & Winford, E. M.. 2015. Principles of effective USA federal fire management plans. Fire Ecology 11(2): 59–83. doi: 10.4996/fireecology.1102059.
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Response of California Spotted Owls to Fire and Salvage Logging in Southern California: Research Brief
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In this study, the average core area of the owls’ pre-fire forest habitat was 106 ha with a greater proportion of hardwoods compared to an average core area of 180 ha in the Sierra in which conifers dominate.
Read MoreA High Severity Fire in a Southern California Forest does not Adversely Affect Carnivore Species. Research Brief
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This ambitious four-year study assessed fire effects on the diversity of ten carnivore species and frequency of the three most common carnivore species after a 5670- ha fire in 2007.
Read More5-Years of Small Mammal Response to Fire Severity in a Southern California Mixed Conifer Forest: Research Brief
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In this 5-year study, the post-fire populations and microhabitat preferences of four small mammal species were compared. The study analyzed preferences in unburned, moderate and high-severity fire in mixed conifer forest.
Read MoreThe “Interval Squeeze”- Fire and Climate Change Combine to Accelerate Woody Plant Loss in Dry Climates: Research Brief
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Hotter, drier climates resulting from climate change will reduce the ability of woody plants to recover after fire. When combined with shorter fire return intervals, the resulting “interval squeeze” increases the risk for individual species extirpation.
Read MoreFire and fuel treatment effects on understory plant diversity in California mixed-conifer forests: Research Brief
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The authors surveyed understory vegetation across a gradient of increasing canopy loss, ranging from unmanaged forest to fuel treatments, fuel treatments followed by low-moderate severity wildfire, and high-severity wildfire only.
Read MoreSynthesis of Knowledge of Extreme Fire Behavior: Volume I for Fire Managers General Technical Report
/Abstract: The objective of this project is to synthesize existing (extreme fire behavior) EFB knowledge in a way that connects the weather, fuel, and topographic factors that contribute to development of EFB. This synthesis will focus on the state of the science, but will also consider how that science is currently presented to the fire management community, including incident commanders, fire behavior analysts, incident meteorologists, National Weather Service office forecasters, and firefighters. It will seek to clearly delineate the known, the unknown, and areas of research with the greatest potential impact on firefighter protection.
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Prescribed fire and season of burning influence levels of direct and beetle-caused tree mortality: Research Brief
/This study investigated the effect of burn season on direct and indirect tree mortality in mechanically thinned ponderosa and Jeffrey pine stands in California’s Tahoe National Forest.
Read MoreHistorical and current structure in a Southern Sierra Nevada forest landscape: Research Brief
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Compared to historic (1911) stands, current southern Sierra Nevada forests have a greater density of small to medium trees, lower density of large trees (>36 inches dbh), and greater density of white fir in mixed conifer.
Read MoreFire effects on small mammal communities in California’s frequent-fire forests: Research Brief
/A 2015 study indicates that the reintroduction of fire in frequent fire forests of the Sierra Nevada creates a heterogeneous forest landscape and promotes diverse small mammal assemblages.
Read MoreHousing Location Factors Determine Risk of Housing Loss from Wildfires in Southern CA: USGS Research Brief
/This study examined how housing location and arrangement affects the likelihood that a structure will be lost when a wildfire occurs.
Read MoreA Different Perspective on Global Fire: USGS Research Brief
/This article argues that fire is more akin to trophic processes such as herbivory, and that there has been a reluctance by ecologists to incorporate the process of fire into general theories of community development and assembly.
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A Decision Framework for Fire as a Restoration Tool: Research Brief
/This journal article provides a decision framework that integrates fire regime components, plant growth form, and survival attributes to predict how plants will respond to fires and how fires can be prescribed to enhance the likelihood of obtaining desired plant responses.
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A Critical Assessment of the Burning Index Used in Fighting Wildland Fires: USGS Research Brief
/This study found that the predictive capability of the commonly used Burning Index was quite limited and proposed an index with improved predictive ability for Los Angeles County, California.
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A Brief Evolutionary History of Pinus and Fire: USGS Research Brief
/In the Annals of Forest Science, USGS ecologist Jon Keeley has reviewed the evolution of pine life history strategies as shaped by wildfires.
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560-Year History of Santa Ana Fires From Charcoal: Research Brief
/There is evidence of 20 large fires (> 20,000 ha) in a 560 year fossil fire record for the Santa Barabara area of central California.
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10-Year Small Mammal Use on a Chaparral Fire Edge: Research Brief
/From 2002 to 2011, Sinead and Mark Borchert live-trapped small mammals in two grids across the 65‐m zone on either side of the perimeter of the 2002, 8,100‐ha Wolf Fire in Los Padres National Forest.
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