Description
During catastrophic fires like California’s Rim Fire in 2013, thousands of acres of trees can be reduced to ash and embers, says fire scientist Scott Stephens, and it’s unclear whether forests can regenerate on those huge swaths of land. Instead, quick-colonizing bushes are often first to return, claiming the open real estate as their own. In areas of Southern California, he says, some forests have transitioned to chaparral, and when the chaparral went up in flames, it gave way to grasslands full of invasives.But smarter fire management might avoid that shift in vegetation, Stephens says, if we’re able to encourage more regular, low-level fires to blaze their way through forests. Yosemite National Park has had some success letting natural wildfires burn themselves out. And in some cases, says hydrologist Sally Thompson, burned forests there have transitioned instead to soggy wetland—a sign that smart fire management might also have collateral benefits, like increasing the water budget in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Podcast
Period | 14 Aug 2015 |
---|---|
Held at | Science Friday, United States |
Degree of Recognition | International |
Documents & Links
Related content
-
Research output
-
Freeze–thaw processes degrade post-fire water repellency in wet soils
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Hydrological benefits of restoring wildfire regimes in the Sierra Nevada persist in a warming climate
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Restoring a Natural Fire Regime Alters the Water Balance of a Sierra Nevada Catchment
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Hydrologic responses to restored wildfire regimes revealed by soil moisture-vegetation relationships
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Managed Wildfire Effects on Forest Resilience and Water in the Sierra Nevada
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Fire and climate change: conserving seasonally dry forests is still possible
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Forest Vegetation Change and Its Impacts on Soil Water Following 47 Years of Managed Wildfire
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Vegetation change during 40 years of repeated managed wildfires in the Sierra Nevada, California
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review