Burn Recovery and Rehabilitation of Diegan Coastal Sage Scrub on the Cleveland National Forest
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Authors
Johnson, David J.
Issue Date
1994
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This study documents shrub recovery of coastal sage scrub one year after
a May 1993 burn, the Eagle Fire in the Cleveland National Forest, San Diego Co.,
CA. Natural recovery of the two dominant shrubs, Artemisia californica and
Eriogonum fasciculatum, on the site was compared with areas seeded by the
Forest Service to assess the efficacy of the seeding treatment. In addition, sites
were sampled on the Ortega Fire site, an area which burned in November 1993 in
Orange Co., CA. in the Cleveland National Forest. This was done to characterize
seasonal and inland/coastal differences in coastal sage scrub burn recovery.
Surviving shrub resprouts and shrub foliar cover were negligible on all sites
sampled. Unburned coastal sage scrub on the Eagle Fire site was sampled to give
a minimum recovery goal for seedling counts. From this, it was shown that
natural seeding counts on three out of four burned sites sampled exceeded the
minimum recovery goal and the balance of shrub species was more similar to
that of an unburned coastal sage scrub site than to the seeded sites. Further
monitoring is necessary to discover if these early trends will continue.
Comparison of the May Eagle fire and the November Ortega fire unexpectedly
revealed that recovery of Artemisia was higher on the May burn than on the
November burn. It is postulated that substantial on-site seed germination of
Artemisia on the Eagle Fire was enhanced by the low fire intensity due to the
season of the fire.
Description
vi, 24 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.