Modeling the Effects of Fire Management Alternatives on Sierra Nevada Mixed-Conifer Forests
Miller C and Urban DL. 2000. Modeling the Effects of Fire Management Alternatives on Sierra Nevada Mixed-Conifer Forests. Ecological Applications. 10(1):85-94
The authors used a forest gap model, developed for forests in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA, that integrates climate, fire, and forest dynamics to investigate forest response to changes in forest condition, making it well suited for examining alternative management approaches for restoring Sierra Nevada forests after a century of fire exclusion. Presuppression forest basal area, species composition, and spatial autocorrelation structure were restored quickly, if simulated disturbances that caused substantial tree mortality were reintroduced. Simulations of harvest induced the highest levels of mortality and, thus, most effectively restored forest structure and composition. However, prescribed fires were just as effective in restoring forest structure and composition if they were sufficiently severe.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Miller, Carol; Urban, Dean
- Units
- SEKI
- Keywords
- fire exclusion, fire reintroduction, Fire Suppression, forest gap model, fuel treatment, mixed-conifer forest, prescribed fires and forest restoration, Sierra Nevada California (USA), Spatial autocorrelation, structure vs. process debate