SGER: Vegetation Recovery Following the 1993 Wildfires in Southern California

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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. ***