Long-term effects of the 1992 Rainbow Fire, Devils Postpile National Monument, California
Caprio AC, Keifer M, Webster K. Long-term effects of the 1992 Rainbow Fire, Devils Postpile National Monument, California. Pages 1–6. In Caprio AC, Keifer M, Webster K: The San Diego Declaration on Climate Change and Fire Management. San Diego, California. November 13–17, 2006. AFE 3rd International Fire Ecology Congress
In August 1992 the Rainbow Fire burned much of Devils Postpile National Monument (DEPO). Following many decades of fire exclusion the burn resulted in large high severity patches with complete tree mortality hundreds of hectares in size. Management questions, such as whether the effects of the fire were within the natural range of variability and whether or how fire should be reintroduced, have been raised. However, little or no information exists for the area on pre- EuroAmerican settlement fire regimes or on postfire vegetation responses to such severe burns. Using fire effects plots established postfire and tree regeneration plots, we examined fuel and forest conditions and regeneration patterns at sites burned with varying severity. Additionally, fire history sampling provided information on past fire return intervals and insights on past fire severity.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Caprio, Anthony; Keifer, Marybeth; Webster, Karen
- Units
- DEPO , NRSS
- Keywords
- Devils Postpile National Monument, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Fire History, Fire Management, Middle Fork San Joaquin River, mixed-conifer forest, Rainbow Fire, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Sierra Nevada, Vegetation response