The 1967 Handbook for Type-converting Chaparral: Research Brief
/This 1967 handbook recommends a standardized type-conversion process for Chaparral in five steps.
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The 1957-1970’s Fuelbreak Program Summarized: Research Brief
/The Fuel Break Program was a historic, systematic effort to type convert mosaics linked by firelines with the goal of containing and/or controlling southern California chaparral wildfire.
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The 1836-1929 Fire History in Angeles National Forest: Research Brief
/These historic Angeles National Forest fires were almost all caused by people. At first, these ignitions were tolerated, but as people witnessed more flooding & erosion, they clamored for government intervention.
Read MoreStructure, fuels and fire behavior in Sierran riparian and upland forest: past and present: Research Brief
/Authors of this paper present quantitative information on the differences in stand structure, fuel loading, and fire behavior in current and reconstructed riparian and upland areas in the Sierra Nevada.
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Spanish Goats Harm Type-converted Land in Arizona: Research Brief
/With four different goat-grazing treatments at different stocking rates, the authors explored the effects of goat-grazing on type-converted shrub systems in Arizona.
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Southern California Wildfires Can Alter Ant Species Assemblages in Coastal Sage Scrub Habitats: USGS Research Brief
/A USGS study reports that after the 2003 fires, burned coastal sage scrub (CSS) plots displayed a significant shift in the overall community structure of ground foraging ant species.
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Source of Sediment Hazards on Steep Slopes: Research Brief
/ In southern California, the slopes are famous for producing high sediment yields following fires. The authors showed that large volumes of sediment are released when the “dams” are burned in wildfires in these ecosystems.
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Social dynamics of wildfire management: Research Brief
/This paper summarized the results of 200 social science studies primarily from western North America to identify key lessons. They present 25 key research needs.
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Small Mammal Impacts on Ceanothus Seedlings: Research Brief
/Using a simple caging experiment, the researchers investigated impacts of herbivory on seedling establishment of two chaparral species after a prescribed fire.
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Simulating the Effects of Frequent Fire on Southern California Shrublands: USGS Research Brief
/The forest succession model LANDIS was modified to provide reasonable simulations of fire effects in chaparral shrublands.
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Shrubs That Recruit in the Understory of Chaparral: Research Brief
/This paper shows that unburned chaparral stands greater than 50 years old are healthy, relatively stable plant communities, not the stagnant, unnatural stands once historically thought.
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Sensitivity of Fire Successional Models to Fuels and Climate June 2012: Research Brief
/Five fire simulation models used from all over the world were compared: EMBYR, FIRESCAPE, LANDSUM, SEM-‐LAND, and LA-‐MOS(DS).
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Seasonal variations in fuel moisture from thinning: Research Brief
/The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of thinning treatments on fuel moisture and determine whether or not moisture patterns differ by treatment in mixed conifer stands in northern California.
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San Francisco East Bay Fire History, Landscape Changes: USGS Research Brief
/This paper examined the 20th century fire history of the San Francisco East Bay landscape to understand to what extent fire management activities could account for changes in landscape patterns.
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San Diego Wildfires of 2003 and 2007 Offer Lessons: USGS Research Brief
/The 2003 and the 2007 wildfires in San Diego County were remarkably similar in their causes, impacts and the human responses they elicited.
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Responses of animal abundance and diversity to forest thinning in North America: Research Brief
/In a 2011 paper, researchers examined the short-term consequences of mechanical thinning for forest animal abundance and diversity by summarizing the results of 33 studies from throughout the continent.
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Responses in Bird Communities to Wildfires in Southern California: USGS Research Brief
/This paper investigates the effects of large-scale wildfires on entire bird communities across multiple vegetation types.
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Resource Impacts Due to Frequent Fires in Shrublands: Research Brief
/This 1993 paper followed an earlier study that showed repeated fire a short intervals in chaparral could kill fire-dependent native shrubs, alter pre-fire community structure, and favor alien annual grasses and forbs.
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Resistance to invasives and altered fire regimes differs between cold and hot desert shrublands: USGS Research Brief
/An article provides an overview of key factors, concepts and tools to understand the ecological resistance to biological invasion and resilience to fire of desert shrublands of North America.
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Raking surface fuels can lower sugar pine mortality: Research Brief
/In a study of three prescribed fires in a mixed-‐ conifer forest at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, researchers found that the predicted probability of sugar pine survival was 60% for raked trees compared to 7% for un-‐raked trees when the total fuel depth was greater than 30cm.
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