Abstract
AbstractFire plays a central role in determining structure, composition, and recruitment in many forest types. In coast redwood forests, the role of fire is not well understood and scant literature exists on post-fire response, particularly in the southern part of the range. In order to better understand patterns of survival and recruitment following fire for coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [lamb. ex D. Don] Endl.) and associated tree species, three sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, were sampled following wildfire. Randomly selected 10 m diameter plots were used to collect data on survivorship and post fire regeneration in order to analyze short-term responses including mortality, crown retention, basal sprouting, canopy regeneration, and seedling production. Results indicated that coast redwood had the lowest percent mortality (11.98 %) and highest mean canopy retention (43.10 %) of all species sampled, followed by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) (25.54 %), tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus [Hook. & Arn.] Manos) (23.27 %), combined oak species (Quercus sp.) (6.67 %), and Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii Pursh) (4.13 %). In addition, associated species experienced higher survival rates when proximate to coast redwoods. Coast redwood trees also exhibited the highest canopy regeneration (53 %), the highest average density of basal sprouts (3.54 × 104 ha), and the greatest average number of seedlings, ranging from zero to 2.09 × 105 seedlings ha−1. Overall, coast redwood appeared to have a balance of fire adaptive features, exceeding all associated species, which allow individual trees to withstand fire, while at the same time promoting recruitment following fire.
Highlights
Disturbance events are important in determining the composition and structure of biotic communities
Bole char height varied substantially from site to site, with the highest levels found on the Lockheed Fire site and the lowest on the Whithurst Fire site (Figure 2)
Coast redwood exhibited the lowest levels of post-fire mortality and canopy loss, in addition to the highest levels of post-fire regeneration and recruitment of all tree species sampled
Summary
Disturbance events are important in determining the composition and structure of biotic communities. Don] Endl.) forests are generally considered not to be disturbance dependent (Olson Jr. et al 1990, Arno and Allison-Bunnell 2002). As a result of individual tree mortality, is considered the primary successional driver, rather than largescale disturbance caused by fire or flood (Busing and Fujimori 2002). Large stand-replacing events are exceedingly rare in this forest type due to a suite of adaptive features that allow coast redwood to survive and regenerate prolifically following fire events. Play an important role in shaping the coast redwood community by increasing the relative dominance of coast redwood over other less fire-adapted species
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