Relationships between annual plant productivity, nitrogen deposition and fire size in low-elevation California desert scrub
Leela E. Rao A E , John R. Matchett B , Matthew L. Brooks B , Robert F. Johnson A , Richard A. Minnich C and Edith B. Allen A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A University of California, Center for Conservation Biology, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
B US Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Yosemite Field Station, 40298 Junction Drive – Suite A, Oakhurst CA 93644, USA.
C University of California, Department of Earth Sciences, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
D University of California, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
E Corresponding author. Email: lrao@arb.ca.gov
International Journal of Wildland Fire 24(1) 48-58 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF13152
Submitted: 21 December 2012 Accepted: 23 July 2014 Published: 10 November 2014
Journal Compilation © IAWF 2015
Abstract
Although precipitation is correlated with fire size in desert ecosystems and is typically used as an indirect surrogate for fine fuel load, a direct link between fine fuel biomass and fire size has not been established. In addition, nitrogen (N) deposition can affect fire risk through its fertilisation effect on fine fuel production. In this study, we examine the relationships between fire size and precipitation, N deposition and biomass with emphasis on identifying biomass and N deposition thresholds associated with fire spreading across the landscape. We used a 28-year fire record of 582 burns from low-elevation desert scrub to evaluate the relationship of precipitation, N deposition and biomass with the distribution of fire sizes using quantile regression. We found that models using annual biomass have similar predictive ability to those using precipitation and N deposition at the lower to intermediate portions of the fire size distribution. No distinct biomass threshold was found, although within the 99th percentile of the distribution fire size increased with greater than 125 g m–2 of winter fine fuel production. The study did not produce an N deposition threshold, but did validate the value of 125 g m–2 of fine fuel for spread of fires.
Additional keywords: biomass, fine fuel, Mojave, Sonoran.
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