Landscape-Scale Vegetation Change Following Fire in Point Reyes, California, USA

Forrestel, Alison; Moritz, Max A.; Stephens, Scott L.

doi:10.4996/fireecology.0702114

Cited by 25 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Whether the expansion of P. muricata forest into previously unforested areas following fire described in our study and Forrestel et al (2011) is typical or atypical is difficult to answer given the paucity of fire ecology research in these forests. Pinus muricata and the other California closed-cone pines were widespread in continuous forests along the California coast as recent as 12,000 years ago, but changes toward a regionally hotter and drier climate in recent millennia have restricted their distribution to a narrow band of disjoint populations where maritime conditions persist (Axelrod, 1967).…”

Section: Spatial Variability In Stand Structure In Newly Established mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Our results, coupled with those found in a study examining broad-scale vegetation change following the Vision Fire, present evidence of multiple modes of forest expansion in this California closed-cone pine forest. Using mapped GIS vegetation polygons, Forrestel et al (2011) found the binary presence or absence of post-fire P. muricata vegetation community polygons to be best predicted by proximity to mapped pre-fire stands, which implies that P. muricata can expand in gross area and at broad scales following fire via an advancing front (sensu Harper, 1977). The stand-level scale of our analysis and results, however, suggest that isolated P. muricata trees present an important alternative mode of localized forest expansion following disturbance, and are an important driver of heterogeneity among stands.…”

Section: Spatial Variability In Stand Structure In Newly Established mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pinus muricata trees in the study area established after the 1995 Vision Fire and comprise a single cohort of trees 614-years-old at the time of this study. Because other studies have examined in situ post-fire regeneration of P. muricata stands (Holzman and Folger, 2005;Harvey, 2010) and due to the significant expansion of P. muricata following the Vision Fire (Forrestel et al, 2011), we focused on stands that were non-forest prior to the fire ( Fig. 1).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sample plots were randomly located within mapped P. muricata forest patches identified on a map of post-fire vegetation digitized from 1-m resolution natural color aerial digital-orthophotoquarter-quadrangles (DOQQs) taken in March 2004 (Forrestel et al, 2011). Stands were defined by a minimum of 5 trees per 100 m 2 (0.01 ha) and were not forested by P. muricata prior to the 1995 Vision fire.…”

Section: Forest Stand Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, by triggering the release of seeds from serotinous cones, the fire initiated dense regeneration of P. muricata in previously forested areas (Folger, 1998) and catalyzed forest expansion. The area forested by P. muricata increased by 360 ha (85%) following the fire, most notably down slope from Inverness Ridge and into pre-fire coastal scrub, grassland, and Pseudotsuga menziesii/ mixed-evergreen forest communities (Forrestel et al, 2011) (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Spatial variability in stand structure and density-dependent mortality in newly established post-fire stands of a California closed-cone pine forest

Harvey¹,

Holzman²,

Davis³

2011

Forest Ecology and Management

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Section: Spatial Variability In Stand Structure In Newly Established mentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Spatial Variability In Stand Structure In Newly Established mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Forest Stand Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Spatial variability in stand structure and density-dependent mortality in newly established post-fire stands of a California closed-cone pine forest

Harvey¹,

Holzman²,

Davis³

2011

Forest Ecology and Management

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Plant selection initiates alternative successional trajectories in the soil microbial community after disturbance

Duhamel

Wan

Bogar

et al. 2019

Ecological Monographs

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Because interactions between plants and microbial organisms can influence species diversity and rates of nutrient cycling, how plants shape microbial communities is fundamental to understanding the structure of ecosystems. Despite this, the spatial and temporal scales over which plants influence microbial communities is poorly understood, particularly whether past abiotic or biotic legacies strongly constrain microbial community development. We examined biogeochemical cycling and microbial community structure in a coastal landscape where historical patterns of vegetation transition after a large fire in 1995 are well known, allowing us to account for past abiotic and biotic conditions. We found that alternative states in microbial community structure and ecosystem processes emerged under different plant species, regardless of past conditions. Greenhouse studies further demonstrated that these differences arise from direct plant selection of microbes, with selection stronger in roots compared with soils, especially for bacteria. Correlation of microbial community structure with seedling growth rates was also stronger for fungi compared to bacteria. Despite these effects, minimal overlap between seedling and field microbial communities indicates that the effects of initial plant selection are not stable; rather, plant selection initiated alternative successional trajectories after the fire. Using data from a guild where we have abundant natural history information, ectomycorrhizal fungi, we show that greenhouse communities are dominated by ruderal taxa that are also common in the field after the fire and that these ruderal fungi strongly alter spatial patterns in plant–soil feedback, enabling invasion and transformation of soils previously occupied by heterospecific plants, thus potentially acting as keystone mutualists.

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Recoupling fire and grazing reduces wildland fuel loads on rangelands

et al. 2019

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Fire suppression and exclusion, the historically dominant paradigm of fire management, has resulted in major modifications of fire-dependent ecosystems worldwide. These changes are partially credited with a recent increase in wildfire number and extent, as well as more extreme fire behavior. Fire and herbivory historically interacted, and research has shown that the interaction creates a unique mosaic of vegetation heterogeneity that each disturbance alone does not create. Because fire and grazing have largely been decoupled in modern times, the degree to which the interaction affects fuels and fire regimes has not yet been quantified. We evaluated effects of fire-only and pyric herbivory on rangeland fuels and fire behavior simulated using BehavePlus at four sites across the southern Great Plains. We predicted patches managed via pyric herbivory would maintain lower fuel loads, and less intense simulated fire behavior than fire alone. We found that time since fire was a significant predictor of fuel loads and simulated fire behavior characteristics at all sites. Fuel loads and simulated fire behavior characteristics (flame length and rate of spread) increased with increasing time since fire in all simulated weather scenarios. Pyric herbivory mediated fuel accumulation at all sites. Mean fuel loads in fire-only treatments exceeded 5000 kg/ha within 24 months, but pyric herbivory treatments remained below 5000 kg/ha for approximately 36 months. Simulated flame lengths in fire-only treatments were consistently higher (up to 3 9 ) than in pyric herbivory treatments. Similarly, fire spread rates were higher in fire-only than in pyric herbivory treatments in all simulated weather conditions. Although all sites had potential to burn in the most extreme weather conditions, pyric herbivory reduced fuel accumulations, flame lengths, and rates of spread across all weather patterns simulated. These reductions extended the amount of time standard wildland firefighting techniques remain effective. Therefore, incorporating pyric herbivory into fuel management practices, in areas of high herbaceous productivity, increases the effectiveness of fuel treatments.

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Landscape-Scale Vegetation Change Following Fire in Point Reyes, California, USA

Cited by 25 publications

References 42 publications

Spatial variability in stand structure and density-dependent mortality in newly established post-fire stands of a California closed-cone pine forest

Spatial variability in stand structure and density-dependent mortality in newly established post-fire stands of a California closed-cone pine forest

Plant selection initiates alternative successional trajectories in the soil microbial community after disturbance

Recoupling fire and grazing reduces wildland fuel loads on rangelands

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