Dataset Information

Does short-interval fire inhibit postfire recovery of chaparral across southern California?

ABSTRACT: Regrowth after fire is critical to the persistence of chaparral shrub communities in southern California, which has been subject to frequent fire events in recent decades. Fires that recur at short intervals of 10 years or less have been considered an inhibitor of recovery and the major cause of 'community type-conversion' in chaparral, primarily based on studies of small extents and limited time periods. However, recent sub-regional investigations based on remote sensing suggest that short-interval fire (SIF) does not have ubiquitous impact on postfire chaparral recovery. A region-wide analysis including a greater spatial extent and time period is needed to better understand SIF impact on chaparral. This study evaluates patterns of postfire recovery across southern California, based on temporal trajectories of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from June-solstice Landsat image series covering the period 1984-2018. High spatial resolution aerial images were used to calibrate Landsat NDVI trajectory-based estimates of change in fractional shrub cover (dFSC) for 294 stands. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess effects of time between fires and number of burns on recovery, using stand-aggregate samples (n = 294) and paired single- and multiple-burn sample plots (n = 528), and (2) to explain recovery variations among predominant single-burn locations based on shrub community type, climate, soils, and terrain. Stand-aggregate samples showed a significant but weak effect of SIF on recovery (p < 0.001; R² = 0.003). Results from paired sample plots showed no significant effect of SIF on dFSC among twice-burned sites, although recovery was diminished due to SIF at sites that burned three times within 25 years. Multiple linear regression showed that annual precipitation and temperature, chaparral community type, and edaphic variables explain 28% of regional variation in recovery of once-burned sites. Many stands that exhibited poor recovery had burned only once and consist of xeric, desert-fringe chamise in soils of low clay content.

SUBMITTER: Storey EA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7670083 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Does short-interval fire inhibit postfire recovery of chaparral across southern California?

Storey Emanuel A EA Stow Douglas A DA O'Leary John F JF Davis Frank W FW Roberts Dar A DA

The Science of the total environment 20200911

Regrowth after fire is critical to the persistence of chaparral shrub communities in southern California, which has been subject to frequent fire events in recent decades. Fires that recur at short intervals of 10 years or less have been considered an inhibitor of recovery and the major cause of 'community type-conversion' in chaparral, primarily based on studies of small extents and limited time periods. However, recent sub-regional investigations based on remote sensing suggest that short-inte ...[more]

PMID: 33182014

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Project description:Fire is rampant throughout subtropical South and Southeast Asian grasslands. However, very little is known about the role of fire and pyric herbivory on the functioning of highly productive subtropical monsoon grasslands lying within the Cwa climatic region. We assessed the temporal effect of fire on postfire regrowth quality and associated pyric-herbivory in the subtropical monsoon grasslands of Bardia National Park, Nepal. Every year, grasslands are burned as a management intervention in the park, especially between March and May. Within a week after fire, at the end of March 2020, we established 60 m × 60 m plots within patches of burned grassland in the core area of the Park. We collected grass samples from the plots and determined physical and chemical properties of the vegetation at regular 30-day intervals from April to July 2020, starting from 30 days after fire to assess postfire regrowth forage quality. We counted pellet groups of cervids that are abundant in the area for the same four months from 2 m × 2 m quadrats that were permanently marked with pegs along the diagonal of each 60 m × 60 m plot to estimate intensity of use by deer to the progression of postfire regrowth. We observed strong and significant reductions in crude protein (mean value 9.1 to 4.1 [55% decrease]) and phosphorus (mean value 0.2 to 0.11 [45% decrease]) in forage collected during different time intervals, that is, from 30 days to 120 days after fire. Deer utilized the burned areas extensively for a short period, that is, up to two months after fire when the burned areas contained short grasses with a higher level of crude protein and phosphorus. The level of use of postfire regrowth by chital (Axis axis) differed significantly over time since fire, with higher intensity of use at 30 days after fire. The level of use of postfire regrowth by swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii) did not differ significantly until 90 days after fire, however, decreased significantly after 90 days since fire. Large-scale single event fires, thus, may not fulfil nutritional requirements of all species in the deer assemblage in these subtropical monsoon grasslands. This is likely because the nutritional requirements of herbivores differ due to differences in body size and physiological needs-maintenance, reproduction, and lactation. We recommend a spatiotemporal manipulation of fire to reinforce grazing feedback and to yield forage of high quality for the longest possible period for a sustainable high number of deer to maintain a viable tiger population within the park.

Dataset Information

Does short-interval fire inhibit postfire recovery of chaparral across southern California?

Publications

Does short-interval fire inhibit postfire recovery of chaparral across southern California?

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