Prescription Burning Reduces Alien Grasses in Native Grassland Restoration

Prescription Burning Reduces Alien Grasses in Native Grassland Restoration

In Southern California, native bunchgrass communities dominated by Stipa pulchra are widely distributed in the state but often share dominance with non-native annual grasses. Restoration of these grasslands is focused on altering the balance of native to non-native grasses to favor the native perennial grasses. This study investigated the impact of burning on vegetation recovery.

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Fitting Solutions to the Problems of California Wildfires Research Brief

Fitting Solutions to the Problems of California Wildfires Research Brief

To demonstrate where resources might be better allocated across the state, these authors examined the distribution of area burned and structures lost across five different California vegetation types and how the distribution of fire has changed in these landscapes through time.

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Weather Impacts on Fire Thresholds: A Recipe for Big Fire: Research Brief

Weather Impacts on Fire Thresholds: A Recipe for Big Fire: Research Brief

In this important concept paper, Pausas and Keeley (2021) outline the mechanistic flow of complex drivers of wildfire for fire prone ecosystems. In brief, with ignitions, fuel continuity, and drought saturation points simultaneously lowered by the right weather, wildfire will be triggered.

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Linking diverse terminology to vegetation type-conversion, a complex emergent property: Research Synthesis

Linking diverse terminology to vegetation type-conversion, a complex emergent property: Research Synthesis

A variety of terms are applied to changes in ecosystems around the world to describe some aspect of long-lasting changes in plant communities. Here we evaluate a representative list of analogous terms for processes and patterns involved in vegetation type-conversion, highlighting similarities and differences.

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The Mixed Impressions of Hikers in Post-fire Chaparral: Research Brief

The Mixed Impressions of Hikers in Post-fire Chaparral: Research Brief

Two years after the 2015 Wragg Fire burned the Reserve, a restored public trail was reopened for use. The authors used surveys to determine public perceptions of fire in this chaparral ecosystem.

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Use Cross-scale Metrics to Help Manage for Resilience: Research Brief

Use Cross-scale Metrics to Help Manage for Resilience: Research Brief

In our changing world, community change may be a resilience response indicating a process of adaptation rather than of failure. Falk and colleagues (2019) argue that resilience goals should be updated to better apply to 21st century ecosystems.

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How to Manage for Resilience During Climate Change? Research Brief

How to Manage for Resilience During Climate Change? Research Brief

This research suggests that collaborative learning among stakeholders (aka knowledge coproduction) would be a good way to develop context specific resiliency metrics and goals, making the term more useful by operationalizing it.

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How to Reduce House Exposure & Sensitivity to California Wildfire: Research Brief

How to Reduce House Exposure & Sensitivity to California Wildfire: Research Brief

Although the causes of the fires vary by ecoregion and require location- and driver-specific management tools, there are effective ways to reduce both structure exposure and structure sensitivity to fire across all of California.

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Focusing on Structure Details to Help Homes Survive Wildfire: Research Brief

Focusing on Structure Details to Help Homes Survive Wildfire: Research Brief

Hardening homes was strongly correlated with structure survival in the Wildland Urban Interface. The best ways to “harden homes” are to: enclose eaves and use multiple pane windows; use fire-resistant exterior siding, composite deck materials, and fine-mesh vent screens.

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Distinguishing Disturbance from Perturbations in Fire Regimes: Research Brief

Distinguishing Disturbance from Perturbations in Fire Regimes: Research Brief

If the fire has characteristics that do not fit the historical fire regime with which the fire-adapted ecosystem has developed, then it may impact resilience and cause a shift in ecosystem characteristics.

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