Like much of the western United States, California’s forest has been severely altered by a century of fire suppression. The Sierra Nevada’s largest forest type, mixed conifer, which is primary habitat for more vertebrate species than any other Californian forest community, historically burned every 12–17 years. In 1894, John Muir...
Even after 140 years without a fire, mixed-conifer forest such as Teakettle’s Experimental Forest has a
distinct patch pattern and complex structure. Researcher Malcolm North and colleagues examined the
structure and function of these ecosystems and their response to widely used restoration treatments.
Collectively the studies found fire was essential...
Mechanical thinning and prescribed fire are widely used to restore western forests after a century of fire suppression, yet we know little about
how these treatments affect understory communities where plant diversity is highest. We followed understory plants and environmental factors in
old-growth, Sierran mixed conifer for two pre-treatment and...
Mechanical thinning and prescribed fire are widely used to restore western forests after a century of fire suppression, yet we know little about how these treatments affect understory communities where plant diversity is highest. We followed understory plants and environmental factors in old-growth, Sierran mixed conifer for two pre-treatment and...
Mechanical thinning and prescribed fire are widely used to restore western forests after a century of fire suppression, yet we know little about
how these treatments affect understory communities where plant diversity is highest. We followed understory plants and environmental factors in
old-growth, Sierran mixed conifer for two pre-treatment and...
We compared the abundance, diversity, and composition of truffles in riparian and upland areas within a
mixed-conifer forest of the Sierra Nevada of California. We sampled for truffles in a single watershed over two seasons
(spring and summer) and 4 years to determine whether truffles were more abundant and diverse...
In Sierra Nevada forests, shrubs are considered strong soil moisture competitors with regenerating trees, reducing seedling establishment, and
slowing growth. Recent studies, however, suggest that in some circumstances shrubs can facilitate tree establishment and growth by modifying
harsh microclimate conditions; increasing acquisition of water, carbon, and/or nutrients via shared mycorrhizal...
Nitrogen is a limiting resource in many temperate forests and nitrogen-fixing plants are usually limited to the early
stages of post-disturbance succession. In fire-dependent Sierra Nevada forests, however, Ceanothus cordulatus is
relatively abundant even in old-growth forest conditions which are at least partly maintained by fire.We conducted
a field experiment...
Forest managers have little information of the effects of common restoration treatments, thinning and burning, on dead woody material (DWM) dynamics in fire-suppressed forests. Fine woody debris (FWD; 0.6–29.9 cm), coarse woody debris (CWD; ≥30.0 cm), and snags (≥5 cm) were inventoried and mapped in eighteen 4 ha plots before...
Sierra Nevada forests have high understory species richness yet we do not know which site factors influence
herb and shrub distribution or abundance. We examined the understory of an old-growth mixed-conifer
Sierran forest and its distribution in relation to microsite conditions. The forest has high species richness
(98 species sampled),...