Restoring Northern Sierra Nevada Mixed Conifer Forest Composition and Structure with Prescribed Fires of Varying Intensities

Schmidt, Lars; Hille, M.G.; Stephens, Scott L.

doi:10.4996/fireecology.0202020

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Ultimately, it is probable that the large loss in the unthinned but burned stand portion primarily reflects the availability of the many white fir saplings there to sustain damage sufficient to eventually prove lethal. Regardless, this mortality conforms to the findings of previous studies in various western USA forest types involving prescription fire in which the extent of its lethality in the sapling size class was readily evident [32,39,40]. Unlike seedlings for which populations may be largely replenished, subject to the seed crop availability, soon after broadcast under burning, sapling replenishment post-fire is dependent on the persistence of seedlings long enough to attain sapling size, which is far less certain, especially with periodic application.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Responses of a Sierran Mixed Conifer Understory Plant Community to Cover Story Thinning, Slash Mastication, and Prescribed Fire Restoration Treatments

Rf¹,

Sl²

2016

Forest Res

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Thinning implemented with a cut-to-length harvesting system coupled with on-site slash mastication and redistribution and followed by prescribed under burning were assessed for their impacts on the shrub understory and natural regeneration in an uneven-aged Sierra Nevada mixed conifer stand. Initial suppression of the cover and weight of huckleberry oak, the most prevalent ground cover species, by the combined thinning and mastication operations and those of prostrate ceanothus by the under burn were followed by a pronounced resurgence in abundance for both species in burned stand portions, particularly where thinning had preceded the fire. White fir was most prevalent initially among species represented in the seedling size class of natural regeneration and became predominant thereafter while this species dominated the sapling class throughout the study. White fir seedling establishment was enhanced where the mechanized operations were excluded, and especially so where fire was as well, and such was also the case for incense-cedar initially but its seedling abundance declined precipitously as the study progressed. White fir saplings were most numerous in the unthinned stand subunit but the under burn proved lethal to many of them therein. Jeffrey and sugar pine were little represented among seedlings and absent altogether among saplings.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Responses of a Sierran Mixed Conifer Understory Plant Community to Cover Story Thinning, Slash Mastication, and Prescribed Fire Restoration Treatments

Rf¹,

Sl²

2016

Forest Res

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“…Planting fire-resistant species in their characteristic spatial pattern enables restoration of functioning fire-stand development linkages (Thomas and Agee 1986) Allow some local accumulations of coarse fuels to burn during prescribed fires, especially in areas of relatively low overstory stocking Patches of exposed mineral soil with limited competition from understory plants originating from long-burning coarse fuels are thought to promote spatiallyclumped tree seedling establishment and survival Include occasional patches of moderate and high severity, as well as unburned refugia within prescribed fire units Prescribed fires that uniformly burn dense forests at low severity do not appear to restore spatial heterogeneity to fire-frequent forests (Schmidt et al, 2006, van Wagtendonk and Lutz 2007, Collins et al, 2011 Where appropriate, use slashing and hand piling to create a spatially heterogeneous fuel distribution Long fire-free intervals have homogenized the distribution of surface and canopy fuels. Heterogeneous surface fuels are thought to cause small-scale variation in fire intensity, duration and severity, maintaining a patchy forest structure (Stephens et al, 2008) 4.2.4.…”

Section: Recommendation Basismentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Published information on how thinning and prescribed fire treatments affect tree spatial patterns is limited to only three empirical studies (Schmidt et al, 2006;North et al, 2007;. Both the Healthy Forest Restoration Act and the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program require monitoring to evaluate whether projects achieve the stated goals.…”

Section: Monitor Spatial Outcomes Of Treatments To Guide Adaptive Manmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tree spatial patterns in fire-frequent forests of western North America, including mechanisms of pattern formation and implications for designing fuel reduction and restoration treatments

Larson

Churchill

2012

Forest Ecology and Management

273

277

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“…Multiple authors agree that more intense fires are needed (Schmidt et al 2006, van Wagtendonk and Lutz 2007, Collins et al 2011). However, agency proposals appear conflicted.…”

Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical forest structure and fire in Sierran mixed‐conifer forests reconstructed from General Land Office survey data

Baker

2014

Ecosphere

150

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Abstract. Dry forests of the western United States (ponderosa pine, dry mixed conifer) are often considered at risk of uncharacteristic severe fires, but recent research has found historically extensive severe fire. This has left divergent perspectives about how to restore dry forests, protect people and infrastructure from fire, and interpret the ecological effects of large fires, such as the 2013 Rim fire, a human-set 104,000 ha fire in the western Sierra Nevada Mountains. To help resolve this uncertainty, I used new methods to reconstruct historical forest structure and fire and test 11 hypotheses about them, using A.D. 1865-1885 General Land Office surveys, across 330,000 ha of Sierran mixed-conifer forests. The reconstructions show these historical forests were open and park-like in places, but generally dense, averaging 293 trees/ha; shade-tolerant trees and large trees were abundant, but smaller (,60 cm diameter) pines and oaks numerically dominated. These smaller trees, along with common understory seedlings and saplings and almost pervasive shrubs, created abundant ladder fuels. It is not surprising, given these conditions, that just 13-26% of historical Sierran mixed-conifer forests had only low-severity fire, with mixed-severity fire over 43-48%, and high-severity fire over 31-39% of the land area. The high-severity fire rotation was 281 years in the northern and 354 years in the southern Sierra, short enough to contribute to high levels of heterogeneity, including abundant areas and large patches (up to 9400 ha) of earlysuccessional forest and montane chaparral, but long enough to allow recovery of old-growth forest over large land areas. Proposals to reduce fuels and fire severity would actually reduce, not restore, historical forest heterogeneity important to wildlife and resiliency. Sierran mixed-conifer forests are inherently dangerous places to live, which cannot be changed without creating artificial forests over large land areas. However, people can adapt to fires by channeling development to safer areas and modifying ignition zones near houses and communities to survive fire.

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Restoring Northern Sierra Nevada Mixed Conifer Forest Composition and Structure with Prescribed Fires of Varying Intensities

Cited by 19 publications

References 17 publications

Responses of a Sierran Mixed Conifer Understory Plant Community to Cover Story Thinning, Slash Mastication, and Prescribed Fire Restoration Treatments

Responses of a Sierran Mixed Conifer Understory Plant Community to Cover Story Thinning, Slash Mastication, and Prescribed Fire Restoration Treatments

Tree spatial patterns in fire-frequent forests of western North America, including mechanisms of pattern formation and implications for designing fuel reduction and restoration treatments

Historical forest structure and fire in Sierran mixed‐conifer forests reconstructed from General Land Office survey data

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