The fire that consumed a good deal of the Torrey-Charlton RNA in August of 1996 provided a unique opportunity to observe natural, post-fire vegetation dynamics in high elevation forest. We were able to take advantage of permanent plots in the RNA, established in 1976. The plots encompass a range of fire severity from unburned to complete tree mortality with crowns consumed. Our objectives in this work were: 1) to quantify the severity of the fire at the scale of 0.1 ha plots and individual trees; 2) to describe characteristics of the post-fire seedbed; 3) to track the fate of snags created by the wildfire; 4) to document regeneration of trees and understory vegetation after the fire; 5) to continue the measurements of treee growth and mortality that pre-date the fire.
Jane A. Kertis, Kari B. O'Connell, Mark E. Harmon, Robert J. Pabst, S. D. Miller, Steven A. Acker
The fire that consumed a good deal of the Torrey-Charlton RNA in August of 1996 provided a unique opportunity to observe natural, post-fire vegetation dynamics in high elevation forest. We were able to take advantage of permanent plots in the RNA, established in 1976. The plots encompass a range of fire severity from unburned to complete tree mortality with crowns consumed. Our objectives in this work were: 1) to quantify the severity of the fire at the scale of 0.1 ha plots and individual trees; 2) to describe characteristics of the post-fire seedbed; 3) to track the fate of snags created by the wildfire; 4) to document regeneration of trees and understory vegetation after the fire; 5) to continue the measurements of tree growth and mortality that pre-date the fire.