Post-fire Plant Recovery in the Mojave and Sonoran Desert of Western North America
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Publication Title
Journal of Arid Environments
Volume
73
Issue
8
First page number:
699
Last page number:
707
Abstract
Increasing wildfire activity is one of the most pressing management concerns in arid lands of the American West. To examine post-fire recovery of perennial vegetation in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, I analyzed data systematically synthesized from the literature. Post-fire sprouting by desert perennials is generally limited but varies among species. For example, only 3–37% of Larrea tridentata sprouted compared to 64–86% of Yucca schidigera. Four of five studies measuring recovery of perennial cover reported close relationships (r2 ¼ 0.67–0.99) between time since fire (TSF) and cover. In fact, three studies measuring the longest TSF (37 years) found that cover had returned to within 10% cover of unburned areas within approximately 40 years. Conversely, post-fire species composition exhibited little convergence with unburned composition in five of six studies even 47 years after fire. Sphaeralcea ambigua, Gutierrezia spp., Achnatherum speciosum, Encelia spp., Hymenoclea salsola, and Baileya multiradiata had the highest burned:unburned abundance ratios, although overall post-fire community composition differed between the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Analyzing the literature as a whole suggested some generalities (e.g., that perennial cover reestablishes faster than composition), but more work is required for improving specific knowledge about plant recovery among fires, sites, species, and climates.
Keywords
Burn; California – Mojave Desert; Community; Contingency effects; Disturbance; Desert plants – Effect of fires on; Fire ecology; North America – Sonoran Desert; Plant communities; Plant succession; Wildfires – Environmental aspects
Disciplines
Desert Ecology | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Environmental Sciences | Plant Sciences
Language
English
Publisher Citation
S.R. Abella Post-fire plant recovery in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of western North America Journal of Arid Environments, Volume 73, Issue 8, August 2009, Pages 699–707 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.03.003
Repository Citation
Abella, S. R.
(2009).
Post-fire Plant Recovery in the Mojave and Sonoran Desert of Western North America.
Journal of Arid Environments, 73(8),
699-707.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.03.003