A century of fire exclusion in the western United States has altered oak woodland landscapes, resulting in severe compositional and structural changes that influence species diversity and distribution, fuel loading, and fire behavior and effects.
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This review paper describes geographical variation of mixed severity fire regimes in Pacific temperate forests and summarizes known information about fire effects and ecology in relation to the vegetation types characterized by such regimes.
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The National Fire and Fire Surrogates (FFS) study was designed to evaluate differences among alternative fuels reduction treatments in seasonally dry forests throughout the country, and to test the assumption that mechanical treatments might be used to accomplish the same stand structure and ecological goals as prescribed fire.
Read MoreClimate change in California is likely to lead to a decline in alpine/subalpine and conifer forest, woodland, and shrubland extent while promoting grassland dominance.
Read MoreStand-replacing patch size was highly variable in a high elevation mixed conifer forest in the Sierra Nevada with a range of variation dominated by many small patches < 10 acres (4 ha) and few large patches >148 acres (60 ha).
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The authors conducted prescribed burns in two masticated areas in northern California to assess fire effects in treated stands, compare fire behavior and effects with outputs from commonly used models, and evaluate the ability of mastication to increase stand resilience under a range of hypothetical wildfire scenarios.
Read MoreIn this paper, Agee and Skinner reviewed related literature, simulated fire behavior in different treatment types, and considered five real-‐world examples of fuels treatments and wildfire. Using these methods, they distilled a set of basic principles underlying effective treatments that reduce fuels and limit wildfire severity and extent.
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This study assessed the effects of both prescribed burning and stand structure management through thinning on bark beetle activity and associated levels of tree mortality.
Read MoreThis brief summarizes fire ecology and management issues in California mixed-conifer forests for an audience without a background in fire, including the general public and media.
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Extreme fire intervals are one obvious concern for managers of fire dependent species such as the serotinous knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata).
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This guide provides advice to homeowners on fire-safe building materials and home design.
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This bibliography of pivotal fire science papers is specific to Northern California. It is organized by ecosystem type, making it easy for you to look up some of the critical works that apply to your management area. Release date: 2011.
A guide detailing the fire hazards associated with different landscape mulch types and landscaping near homes.
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LiDAR surveys in conjunction with satellite-based remote sensing analysis can help forest managers better understand the changes in forest structure due to fires. Surveys can suggest whether prescribed burns can be used to thin canopy structure in different forest types and restore them to historic patterns.
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The California Fire Science Consortium is divided into 4 geographic regions and 1 wildland-urban interface (WUI) team. Statewide coordination of this program is based at UC Berkeley.
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This regional Fire Science Exchange is one of 15 regional fire science exchanges.
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