SGER: Vegetation Recovery Following the 1993 Wildfires in Southern California

1993年秋天，在不到十天的时间里，南加州爆发了大规模的野火，烧毁了20多万英亩的土地。这一生态事件，同时点燃了15个火，提供了一个无与伦比的机会来回答关于灌木林和海岸鼠尾草灌丛植被再生的几个重要问题。这一事件提供了两个独特的机会：(1)在相似的初始条件下，可以在不同的社区和不同的气候区域调查火灾后的演替事件；(2)除了火灾强度、火灾前历史和火灾后恢复管理工作之外，无数的重复将允许选择在大多数地点特征上相似的地点。在这项研究中，PI将在不同的复制社区中建立一套大量的永久性地块，以解决迄今为止火灾生态学家无法解决的问题。这项研究为研究南加州灌木林和沿海鼠尾草灌丛植被的自然再生过程提供了一个独特的机会。该研究将为南加州人口密集地区的生态系统管理提供良好的科学依据。此外，已经提出了应急管理计划，其中许多计划是基于情感和有限的数据。这项研究将产生广泛适用的管理信息，这将有助于减轻未来这类灾难的影响。＊＊＊

9407709 Keeley Over a period of less than ten days in the autumn of 1993, the southern California landscape exploded in massive wildfires that burned more than 200,000 acres. This ecological event, with 15 fires ignited at the same time, presents an unparralleled opportunity for answering several important questions about the regeneration of chaparral and coastal sage scrub vegetation. Two unique opportunities are presented by this event: (1) postfire successional events can be investigated in different communities and different climatic regions under similar initial conditions, and (2) countless replicates are available which will allow for sites to be selected that are similar in most site characteristics, except for fire intensity, pre-fire history, and post-fire recovery management efforts. In this study, the PI will establish a large set of permanent plots in different replicated communities to address questions that have eluded fire ecologists to date. %%% This study represents a unique opportunity to study natural regeneration processes in southern California chaparral and coastal sage scrub vegetation. This research will provide a sound scientific basis for ecosystem management as applied to the heavily populated southern California region. Also, emergency management plans have been proposed, many of which are based on emotion and limited data. This research will yield broadly applicable management information which will help to mitigate the impacts of this type of catastrophe in the future. ***