Prescribed fire effects on California foothills plant communities
Working with Dr. Don Hankins (Chico State Geography) and Eli Goodsell (CSU Chico Ecological Reserves director) we are investigating prescribed fire effects on biodiversity at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve. We will be building on the long legacy of prescribed fire at the Reserve. We began this work in Spring 2023 and over the next 5 years we will be establishing and surveying long term monitoring plots across different vegetation community types.
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Assessing vegetation recovery in dozerlines
Across Northern California: Carr Fire (2018), Helena Fire (2016), August Complex (2020), McFarland (2021), Monument (2021), Stoney Fire (2018), 32 Fire (2019)
While dozer lines play a key role in the rapid suppression of a wildfire, they also create long lasting impacts to vegetation and soils (Backer et al., 2004). In addition to the removal of vegetation and the most fertile layers of top soil, the remaining soil is compacted from the weight of the heavy machinery and devoid of vegetation holding it in place which makes it more likely to erode. Fire suppression repair can begin even before the wildfire is 100% contained. This involves activities focusing on minimizing impacts to water quality, including erosion control through moving soil and vegetation back onto the dozer lines and installing water bars to minimize channelized flow over disturbed areas. In addition, seeding with native grasses has been done to assist in vegetation recovery. The immediate impacts of the dozer lines may be reduced by these actions, but what is the long term trajectory of these heavily disturbed sites? How does the vegetation recover over time? Working with the Bureau of Land Management, our research will investigate vegetation recovery in dozer line impacted areas across northern California. |
Evaluating restoration success at wet meadows in the Southern Cascades
Drakesbad Meadow, Lassen National Park
Restoration potential of Drakesbad Meadow was assessed between 2002-2004 (Peterson and Cooper, 2007) and some ditches identified as "high priority" were filled in 2012. During summers of 2017 & 2019 we investigated the effects of the restoration on groundwater depths and resulting plant community of the meadow, as well as changes in soil carbon. In summer 2021, the Dixie Fire burned the surrounding forested area. We investigated any changes that occurred due to the wildfire in summer 2022.
Restoration potential of Drakesbad Meadow was assessed between 2002-2004 (Peterson and Cooper, 2007) and some ditches identified as "high priority" were filled in 2012. During summers of 2017 & 2019 we investigated the effects of the restoration on groundwater depths and resulting plant community of the meadow, as well as changes in soil carbon. In summer 2021, the Dixie Fire burned the surrounding forested area. We investigated any changes that occurred due to the wildfire in summer 2022.
Papoose Meadow, Lassen National Forest
In summer 2016 we started collaborating with Jeremy Shaw at Colorado State to continue work on assessing the restoration at Papoose Meadow after a large ditch was filled. We collected soils to examine the seedbank potential of the wet meadow. In addition, we are investigating the changes in depth to groundwater and the plant community. |
ORIDE project
The Oregon International Drought Experiment (ORIDE) research project is a collaboration between myself and Dr. Kerry Byrne (Cal Poly Humboldt). Research began in Summer 2016 with the construction of rainout shelters. For 4 years (2016-2020) we examined the effect of drought on changes in plant community composition, above and belowground productivity and physiological responses of the two dominant species of sagebrush (Artemesia cana and A. arbuscula). The field site is located in Southeastern Oregon near the Gerber Reservoir.
Willow Dieback and Restoration in Rocky Mountain National Park
Between 2010 and 2017 I worked on three different projects examining willow dieback and restoration across Rocky Mountain National Park.
After the Fern Lake fire, we planted over 8,000 willow stakes throughout the exclosures in Moraine Park. Planting was done in Summer 2015 and monitoring of the stakes has occurred in Fall 2015, and Spring & Fall 2016. We are assessing the survival, number of shoots, heights and presence/absence of Cytospora fungal infection on approximately 750 randomly selected individual stems.
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Due to high ungulate browsing in the riparian areas, Rocky Mountain National Park resource managers have established exclosures to protect riparian vegetation from over-browsing. Exclosures have demonstated higher willow seed production, however, suitable habitats for seedling establishment are limited. We utilized naturally bare sediment resulting from the Fern Lake fire of 2012 for a willow seeding experiment. In addition, we studied the fire's effects on the dominant riparian vegetation ( Betula fontinalis, Alnus incana, Salix spp.). Here's a link to a video podcast of our work.
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I studied the interactions of ungulate browsing, sapsuckers [woodpeckers] and Cytospora chrysosperma in the decline of riparian willows throughout Rocky Mountain National Park. We found that sapsuckers create sapwells on willow stems, which subsequently can become infected with fungi. The tall stems dieback to a height that is easily accessible by browsing elk, thus potentially converting a tall willow community to a short willow community. Because this issue is not confined to Rocky Mountain National Park, I completed research examining this complex relationship throughout the Colorado Rockies and in the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming.
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We took an experimental approach to investigate the role of climate change and fungal infection on the willow dieback. We examined drought/well watered, warming/ambient temperatures, and fungal infection/no fungal infection on willow photosynthetic capacity and above and belowground annual net primary production.
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Relationship Between Burn Severity and Invasive Plants
My master's work involved examining the relationship of invasive species and burn severity in Wilderness of Yosemite National Park. We used a three year old burn in a mixed conifer forest north of the Tioga Road. We examined non-native species density three years after the Tuolumne Fire, which burned 1540 ha in upper montane forest in California, USA. We sampled 60 plots, stratified by burn severity (low, moderate, or high severity) and landscape position (lowland or upland). We detected non-native species in 8 of 11 (73 %) of high severity lowland sites and in 5 of 10 (50 %) of moderate severity lowland sites but, overall, richness and abundance was low. We detected only five non-native species, of which bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) was the most common.