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Fire Ecology of the North American Mediterranean-Climate Zone

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Fire Ecology and Management: Past, Present, and Future of US Forested Ecosystems

Part of the book series: Managing Forest Ecosystems ((MAFE,volume 39))

Abstract

North America’s Mediterranean climate zone (NAMCZ) includes most of California, southwestern Oregon, a slice of western Nevada, and northwestern Baja California, Mexico. Climatically, the world’s Mediterranean climate regions are unique because the wet season is concurrent with the cold season, and the warm, dry season is akin to an annual drought of 3–7 months. Most of the NAMCZ receives sufficient precipitation in the winter and early spring to produce a crop of fuel just in time for the hot, dry summer. Vegetation in the NAMCZ is among the most fire-prone and fire-shaped on the continent. The NAMCZ supports all of the major fire regime types represented in North America, but most of the modern landscape supports either the chaparral type (moderate frequency, high-severity), or the moderate frequency/“mixed” severity type including the extensive yellow pine and mixed conifer forest type, which before logging, reduced human ignitions and fire suppression supported a high frequency, low-severity fire regime. We compare historical (pre-Euro-American settlement) and modern fire regimes in the NAMCZ and discuss current pyrological and ecological trends, ecosystem management, conservation and restoration, and the future of fire and fuels management in a time of rapid global change.

Ecoregions 4, South Cascades; 5, Sierra Nevada; 6, Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains; 7, Central California Valley; 8, Southern California Mountains; 9, Eastern Cascade Slopes and Foothills; 78, Klamath Mountains and California High North Coast Range; 85, Southern California/Northern Baja Coast

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Vallejo, CA, USA

    Hugh D. Safford

  2. Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Hugh D. Safford

  3. USDA Forest Service, Six Rivers National Forest, Eureka, CA, USA

    Ramona J. Butz

  4. Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, USA

    Ramona J. Butz

  5. USDA Forest Service, Klamath National Forest, Yreka, CA, USA

    Gabrielle N. Bohlman

  6. USDA Forest Service, Plumas National Forest, Quincy, CA, USA

    Michelle Coppoletta & Kyle E. Merriam

  7. USDA Forest Service, Eldorado National Forest, Placerville, CA, USA

    Becky L. Estes

  8. USDA Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, South Lake Tahoe, CA, USA

    Shana E. Gross

  9. USDA Forest Service, Inyo National Forest, Bishop, CA, USA

    Marc D. Meyer

  10. USDA Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest, Goleta, CA, USA

    Nicole A. Molinari

  11. USDA Forest Service, Sierra National Forest, Clovis, CA, USA

    Amarina Wuenschel

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Correspondence to Hugh D. Safford .

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  1. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management Research Work Unit, Asheville, NC, USA

    Cathryn H. Greenberg

  2. Department of Biology, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, USA

    Beverly Collins

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Safford, H.D. et al. (2021). Fire Ecology of the North American Mediterranean-Climate Zone. In: Greenberg, C.H., Collins, B. (eds) Fire Ecology and Management: Past, Present, and Future of US Forested Ecosystems. Managing Forest Ecosystems, vol 39. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73267-7_9

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