Spatial predictions of conifer regeneration after wildfire may help managers prioritize reforestation efforts: Research Brief

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Spatial predictions of conifer regeneration after wildfire may help managers prioritize reforestation efforts: Research Brief

Recent work by researchers from U.C. Berkeley and the U.S. Forest Service has produced a spatially-explicit predictive model that can be used to forecast where regeneration of (non-serotinous) conifers is most likely to occur after wildfire. This predictive model combines seed availability with climatic, topographic, and burn severity data to forecast the spatial patterns of post-fire conifer regeneration

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Using historical forest density estimates to inform management of contemporary Sierra Nevada forests: Research Brief

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Using historical forest density estimates to inform management of contemporary Sierra Nevada forests: Research Brief

This brief discusses and compares the two methods used to estimate historic tree densities of the Sierra Nevada. The study suggests that density estimates from distance-based estimators support the historical density estimates derived from timber inventories and reconstructions.

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How to Protect Old Trees When Reintroducing Fire: Research Brief

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How to Protect Old Trees When Reintroducing Fire: Research Brief

This brief is based on a synthesis that covers recent research documenting effects of introducing fire in fire suppressed forests, provides necessary background information to understand the breadth of the problem, provides realistic management solutions to reduce impacts and defines monitoring techniques to identify treatment effects.

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Understanding Spatial Controls of Mixed-Severity Fire: Research Brief

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Understanding Spatial Controls of Mixed-Severity Fire: Research Brief

Understanding the relative importance of biological and environmental characteristics conducive to a moderate severity wildfire can help managers predict outcomes to better guide when and where fires can safely be managed.

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Where the WUI is: Implications for wildfire mitigation and outreach communities: Research Brief

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Where the WUI is: Implications for wildfire mitigation and outreach communities: Research Brief

The WUI is often synonymous with fire risk to buildings, but this research suggests that this is not the case in all fire-prone states. While fire outreach was often present near areas where buildings are destroyed by wildfire, many communities are established after major fires.

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Non-Native Plants, Fuels, and Desert Revegetation: Research Brief

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Non-Native Plants, Fuels, and Desert Revegetation: Research Brief

To revegetate disturbed desert lands, practitioners often reestablish fertile islands as a first step in restoring native plants and associated fauna on disturbed desert sites. This research brief discusses the pros and cons of this approach considering native and non-native species.

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Chaparral Bird Communities Harmed by Shrub Removal: Research Brief

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Chaparral Bird Communities Harmed by Shrub Removal: Research Brief

To help managers make science-based decisions that incorporate wildlife information, this study experimentally compared the effects of two pre-fire vegetation reduction treatments (prescribed burning and shrub mastication) on the chaparral bird community.

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World Plants Converged on “Smoke” Cued Germination: Research Brief

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World Plants Converged on “Smoke” Cued Germination: Research Brief

Smoke cued germination occurs in an incredible diversity of plants in widely separated, fire-prone Mediterranean Climate Ecosystems around the world. This research suggests that convergent evolution might be the explanation. 

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Human Presence Diminishes the Importance of Climate in Determining U.S. Fire Activity: Research Brief

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Human Presence Diminishes the Importance of Climate in Determining U.S. Fire Activity: Research Brief

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers with the Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey showed that, across the U.S. on landscapes dominated by humans, climate has played a relatively small role in determining wildfire activity.

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Evolution and Biogeography of Epicormic Resprouting: Research Brief

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Evolution and Biogeography of Epicormic Resprouting: Research Brief

This brief describes the advantages and evolution of postfire epicormic resprouting, where trees resprout from the trunk or stem of trees. This form of resprouting is more rare than resprouting from the base of plants and occurs in Australia and South Africa, as well as in California, the Mediterranean Basin and the Canary Islands in the northern hemisphere.

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Wildfire recovery: a ‘hot moment’ for adaptation? Research Brief

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Wildfire recovery: a ‘hot moment’ for adaptation? Research Brief

This research brief discusses national trends in rebuilding and new development after wildfire, as well as policy choices and adaptation measures local governments and communities pursued after fire, through case studies.

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How can managers consider bumble bees during post-fire management? Research Brief

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How can managers consider bumble bees during post-fire management? Research Brief

Bumble bees are important pollinators of native plant species. This brief provides information that can support managers in making nuanced decisions to benefit bumble bees during post-fire management.

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Influence of fuels management and fire weather on the Rim Fire: Research Brief

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Influence of fuels management and fire weather on the Rim Fire: Research Brief

Authors analyzed the 2013 Rim Fire to see how fire severity varied with factors. Potential factors included the proportion of the landscape previously treated or burned, fire weather, vegetation, and water balance. 

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Without intervention, habitat for the California spotted owl is predicted to be lost to wildfire in 75 years: Research Brief

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Without intervention, habitat for the California spotted owl is predicted to be lost to wildfire in 75 years: Research Brief

Future moderate and high-severity fires may pose a substantial threat to the long-term persistence of the California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis).

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Are historical fire regimes compatible with future climate? Implications for forest restoration: Research Brief

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Are historical fire regimes compatible with future climate? Implications for forest restoration: Research Brief

Future climate-induced shifts in fire regimes and plant distributions could uncouple vegetation from the fire regimes for which they are adapted. The brief discusses changes to fire-adapted plant communities under modeled climate change scenarios and their implications on the Kaibab Plateau landscape.

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Maximum Fire Elevation in the Sierra Nevada Has Increased Over the Past Century: Research Brief

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Maximum Fire Elevation in the Sierra Nevada Has Increased Over the Past Century: Research Brief

Using a geodatabase, researchers found that the maximum elevation extent of wildfires and the probability of wildfire occurrence above 3000 m have increased over the last century in the Sierra Nevada. This trend may accelerate vegetation shifts towards upper montane forest types in current subalpine systems. 

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Photo courtesy of Sasha Berleman 

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