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

对于世界各地的许多地中海地区来说，火灾干扰是重要的，并可能产生重要的生态和经济后果。对火灾发生、行为和大小的主要控制之一是植物中存在的水分(称为？活燃料水分？)。当活体燃料水分较低时，火会蔓延得更多。尽管降雨被认为是植物水分含量的主要决定因素，但加州沿海地区在夏末干旱最严重的时候经历了季节性的雾。这一地区的植物可能能够利用雾作为水源，这可能会改变它们的水分含量。这个项目试图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丛植物物种是否使用雾水。这项拟议的研究利用雨和雾之间水同位素的天然差异来确定植物使用的是哪种类型的水，以及何时使用。通过跟踪不同的水分吸收来源，该项目可以在加州沿海生态系统的雾气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高度优先事项。活燃料湿度是国家火灾危险等级系统的关键组成部分，也是众多火灾建模工作的关键组成部分。该项目将有效地向更大的消防科学界通报加州沿海地区对火灾干扰的控制。它还可能展示加州灌木生态系统使用一种新的水源。这对植物生态学领域很重要，因为雾水在植物中的使用是一个相对较新的发现。总体而言，这项研究将是首次尝试将一种很少被研究的气候事件--雾--与当地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各级的出版物和会议报告进入科学话语。研究人员坚定地致力于让本科生参与研究，并在他们的大学生涯中指导他们，特别是代表不足的群体。除了指导本科生，调查人员还将继续与指导年轻科学家的外展项目以及加州大学洛杉矶分校的S项目合作，如CAMP(加州少数群体参与联盟)和研究导师项目，这是一个让高中生接触科学研究的项目。

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.