Landscape scale vegetation-type conversion and fire hazard in the San Francisco bay area open spaces

Russell, Will; McBride, Joe R.

doi:10.1016/s0169-2046(02)00233-5

Cited by 44 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Berkeley has a typical Mediterranean climate with a dry summer and a wet and warm winter. The original vegetation in Berkeley was grassland dominated by annuals like soft chess (Bromus mollis) and later invaded by shrubs like coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis) and others (Russell and McBride, 2003). Berkeley developed slowly in the 19th century from a fishing village on the San Francisco Bay.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Can you see green? Assessing the visibility of urban forests in cities

Yang

Zhao

McBride

et al. 2009

Landscape and Urban Planning

251

128

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Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Can you see green? Assessing the visibility of urban forests in cities

Yang

Zhao

McBride

et al. 2009

Landscape and Urban Planning

251

128

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“…Ungrazed grasslands pose a greater fire risk than grazed grasslands for two main reasons (Russell and McBride 2003). First, nonnative grassland plants produce high levels of fine fuels, which are very flammable.…”

Section: Reducing Fuel For Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, the shrubs that invade ungrazed lands burn hotter and longer than grass in grazed grasslands. The removal of grazing has increased shrub cover in grasslands, causing "a general increase in fire hazard within the open spaces of the San Francisco Bay Area" (Russell and McBride 2003). Livestock grazing can play the beneficial role otherwise allotted to prescribed fire or wildfire, managing vegetation where fire is inappropriate and livestock grazing does not conflict with other resource management objectives.…”

Section: Reducing Fuel For Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grazing controls the mass, height, and cover of non-native herbaceous vegetation, which is essential for the maintenance of habitat for many of California's native plants and animals, including many that are listed as threatened and endangered. In addition, grazing can reduce the encroachment of shrubs into grassland, which when present increase fire and fuel loads (Russell and McBride 2003) and diminish open grassland habitat (Ford and Hayes 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Benefits of Grazing—Livestock Grazing: A Conservation Tool on California's Annual Grasslands.

Barry¹,

Bush²,

Larson³

et al. 2015

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Working rangelands are open space lands that are managed with livestock grazing and rancher stewardship. Their management contributes to a variety of ecosystem services including food production, clean water, weed control, wildlife habitat maintenance and creation, fire fuel reduction, carbon sequestration, pollination services, and open space conservation. Photo: rrunaway/FiickrLooking out across the grasslands of California's Mediterranean climate zone, most of the plants you see are non-native annuals brought here from Europe and Asia. These include grasses, such as wild oats (Avena spp.) and soft chess (Bromus hordeaceus mollis) as well as forbs such as filarees (Erodium spp.) and black mustard (Brassica nigra). When left unmanaged, these non-native grasses and forbs can grow profusely in normal and above-normal precipitation years, degrading habitat conditions for some native plants and animals and increasing the risks of wildfire and pest plant infestations. California's Mediterraneantype grasslands are recognized among the world's "hot spots" of native biodiversity, despite being generally dominated by non-native species (Bartolome et al. 2014). An appreciation of this paradox and how it came to be can help conservation biologists, environmental regulators, agency managers, recreationists, and ranchers communicate more clearly about how to best manage California rangelands for the purposes of conservation.

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“…Increased connectivity between human-dominated and natural landscapes increases movement potential Nowak and McBride (1992) Spread of disease through population Fragmentation and decreased connectivity foster outbreaks in local populations Hess (1994), Lafferty and Gerber (2002), McCallum and Dobson (2002), O'Neill et al (1992) Fire spread and ignition Increased access and conducive spatial patterns in landscapes allow fire spread Platt (2001), Russell and McBride (2003) Increased extinction risk Fragmentation decreases immigration and emigration from populations (metapopulation structure) Fahrig and Jonsen (1998), Hanski (1994), Hardy and Dennis (1999) Positive effects of urbanization Increased habitat, and range expansion…”

Section: Spread Of Pest Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Ecological Connectivity in Urbanizing Landscapes

Bierwagen

2005

Environ Plann B Plann Des

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Nearly half the world's population lives in urban centers, and these areas are increasingly important components of regional and global land cover. However, their ecological attributes are often overlooked, despite the presence of species, ecosystem services, and risks associated with the spread of pests or threatening processes such as fire. Movement and dispersal of organisms contribute to species persistence in urban landscapes; however, landscape patterns that promote ecological connectivity may also facilitate the spread of undesirable organisms or processes. I investigate how urban form can be used to predict ecological connectivity and assist in prioritizing urban landscapes for conservation activities and risk management. I examine the value of qualitative and quantitative descriptions of urban morphology as predictors of ecological connectivity by comparing sixty-six cities in the USA. Results show that qualitative categories are not adequate for describing ecological connectivity; multivariate descriptions are much better predictors, with urban area, number of urban patches, urban patch extent, level of aggregation, and perimeter area fractal dimension composing the significant synthetic variables. The dominance of area as a differentiating variable led to the development of a new urban connectivity index using a combination of urban area and state population size. This metric, based on readily available aspatial data, explains 78% of variation in ecological connectivity. These results provide a simple but novel tool for beginning to understand the role of urban morphology in promoting desirable environmental outcomes and managing environmental risks in urbanizing landscapes.

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Landscape scale vegetation-type conversion and fire hazard in the San Francisco bay area open spaces

Cited by 44 publications

References 3 publications

Can you see green? Assessing the visibility of urban forests in cities

Can you see green? Assessing the visibility of urban forests in cities

The Benefits of Grazing—Livestock Grazing: A Conservation Tool on California's Annual Grasslands.

Predicting Ecological Connectivity in Urbanizing Landscapes

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