Carbon dynamics in Sierra Nevada wildfire use areas
/Actively using wildfires to restore dry, frequent fire adapted forests in the western U.S. is an important management tool to meaningfully increase the scale of forest restoration and fuel reduction treatments. Using lightning-ignited wildfires to meet forest management objectives (also termed managed wildfire, wildfire for resource benefits, or Prescribed Natural Fire) has been particularly successful in Yosemite National Park, which has implemented a wildfire use policy since 1972. In a well-studied, remote basin in the southern part of the Park—Illilouette Creek Basin—reintroducing fire has been overwhelmingly positive (i.e., reduced fuel loads, reduced future fire spread and severity, increased land cover diversity, and increased water yield). Here, we add to this body of knowledge by investigating the impacts of wildfires on carbon stocks in two basins in the Sierra Nevada (Illilouette Creek basin in Yosemite and San Joaquin basin in the Ansel Adams Wilderness), compared to a nearby basin that has remained largely unburned (Badger basin in Yosemite).
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Nesbit, Kristin A., Brandon M. Collins, Zachary L. Steel, John J. Battles, Michael L. Goulden, and Scott L. Stephens. 2025. Multi-scale assessment of wildfire use on carbon stocks in the Sierra Nevada, CA. Fire Ecology 21 (49). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-025-00389-w
