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Interactions Among Wildland Fires in a Long-Established Sierra Nevada Natural Fire Area

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Abstract

We investigate interactions between successive naturally occurring fires, and assess to what extent the environments in which fires burn influence these interactions. Using mapped fire perimeters and satellite-based estimates of post-fire effects (referred to hereafter as fire severity) for 19 fires burning relatively freely over a 31-year period, we demonstrate that fire as a landscape process can exhibit self-limiting characteristics in an upper elevation Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest. We use the term ‘self-limiting’ to refer to recurring fire as a process over time (that is, fire regime) consuming fuel and ultimately constraining the spatial extent and lessening fire-induced effects of subsequent fires. When the amount of time between successive adjacent fires is under 9 years, and when fire weather is not extreme (burning index <34.9), the probability of the latter fire burning into the previous fire area is extremely low. Analysis of fire severity data by 10-year periods revealed a fair degree of stability in the proportion of area burned among fire severity classes (unchanged, low, moderate, high). This is in contrast to a recent study demonstrating increasing high-severity burning throughout the Sierra Nevada from 1984 to 2006, which suggests freely burning fires over time in upper elevation Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests can regulate fire-induced effects across the landscape. This information can help managers better anticipate short- and long-term effects of allowing naturally ignited fires to burn, and ultimately, improve their ability to implement Wildland Fire Use programs in similar forest types.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Tadashi Moody for his hard work in starting this project. We also thank Andy Amacher for the helpful discussions on our data analysis. This project was funded by the USDA/USDI Joint Fire Sciences Program. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecosystem Sciences Division, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, 137 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114, USA

    Brandon M. Collins, Maggi Kelly & Scott L. Stephens

  2. US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, 3237 Peacekeeper Way, McClellan, California, 95652, USA

    Jay D. Miller

  3. School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 15018, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA

    Andrea E. Thode

  4. US Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Yosemite Field Station, 5083 Foresta Road, El Portal, California, 94318, USA

    Jan W. van Wagtendonk

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  1. Brandon M. Collins
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  2. Jay D. Miller
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  4. Maggi Kelly
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  5. Jan W. van Wagtendonk
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Correspondence to Brandon M. Collins.

Additional information

BC wrote paper, performed analysis; JM gathered/processed data, performed analysis, contributed to writing; AT gathered/processed data, conducted field research; MK contributed new methods for analysis; JvW performed analysis, conceived the study; SS designed study, contributed to writing.

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Collins, B.M., Miller, J.D., Thode, A.E. et al. Interactions Among Wildland Fires in a Long-Established Sierra Nevada Natural Fire Area. Ecosystems 12, 114–128 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-008-9211-7

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