Dissertation Research: Fog and the fire regime in southern California shrublands

对于世界上许多地中海地区来说，火灾干扰是重要的，可以产生重要的生态和经济后果。控制火灾发生、行为和大小的主要因素之一是植物中存在的水量(称为？活燃料湿度？)。当燃料水分较低时，火势会蔓延得更广。虽然降雨被认为是植物含水量的主要决定因素，但加州沿海地区在夏末干旱最严重的时候会经历季节性雾。这个地区的植物可以利用雾作为水源，从而改变它们的水分含量。该项目旨在了解加州沿海地区雾和火灾干扰之间的潜在联系。第一个目标是确定沿海灌木植物物种是否在利用雾水。这项拟议的研究利用雨和雾之间水同位素的自然差异来确定植物使用的是哪种类型的水，以及何时使用。通过追踪不同的水吸收来源，该项目可以在加州沿海生态系统的雾和可燃性之间建立联系。了解南加州的火灾干扰是科学和工业的重中之重。活燃料湿度是国家火灾危险等级系统以及众多火灾建模工作的关键组成部分。这个项目将有效地告知更大的火灾科学界关于加州沿海火灾干扰的控制。它也可能为加州灌木生态系统展示一种新的水源。这对于植物生态学领域是很重要的，因为雾水在植物中的利用是一个相对较新的发现。总的来说，这项研究将是第一次尝试将一个很少被研究的气候事件，雾，与局部和区域尺度的扰动模式联系起来。这项研究的结果将通过地方和国际两级的出版物和会议报告进入科学论述。研究人员有强烈的承诺，让本科生参与研究，并在他们的大学生涯中指导他们，尤其是代表性不足的群体。除了指导本科生之外，研究人员还将继续与指导年轻科学家的外展项目合作，并与加州大学圣巴巴拉分校合作。加州少数民族参与联盟（CAMP）和让高中生参与科学研究的“研究指导计划”（Research mentor Program）等。

For many Mediterranean regions around the world fire disturbance is important and can have important ecological and economic consequences. One of the primary controls on fire occurrence, behavior and size is the amount of water present in plants (called ?live fuel moisture?). When live fuel moisture is low, fires spread more. Although rainfall is thought to be the main determinant for plant water content, coastal California experiences seasonal fog during the late summer when drought is strongest. Plants in this region may be able to use fog as a water source which could alter their water content. This project seeks to understand this potential connection between fog and fire disturbance for coastal California. The first objective is to determine whether or not coastal shrubland plant species are using fog water. The proposed research utilizes natural differences in water isotopes between rain and fog to determine what type of water plants are using, and when. By tracking different sources of water uptake, this project can establish a link between fog and flammability of coastal ecosystems in California.Understanding fire disturbance in Southern California is a high priority for science and industry alike. Live fuel moisture is a critical component of the National Fire Danger Rating System as well as numerous fire modeling efforts. This project will effectively inform the greater fire science community about the controls on fire disturbance in coastal California. It may also demonstrate the use of a novel water source for California shrub ecosystems. This is important for the field of plant ecology as fog water use in plants is a relatively new discovery. Overall, this study will be the first attempt to connect a rarely studied climatic event, fog, to local and regional scale disturbance patterns. The results from this study will enter the scientific discourse through publications and conference presentations at the local and international levels. The researchers have a strong commitment to involving undergraduates in research and mentoring them, especially underrepresented groups, through their college careers. In addition to mentoring undergraduates the investigators will continue to work with outreach programs for mentoring young scientists and with UCSB?s programs such as CAMP (California Alliance for Minority Participation) and the Research Mentorship Program, a program for exposing high school students to scientific research.