Impacts of erosion control treatments on native vegetation recovery after severe wildfire in the Eastern Cascades, USA
Erich K. Dodson A C , David W. Peterson A and Richy J. Harrod BA US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 1133 North Western Avenue, Wenatchee, WA 98801, USA.
B US Forest Service, Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, WA 98801, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: edodson@fs.fed.us
International Journal of Wildland Fire 19(4) 490-499 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF08194
Submitted: 26 November 2008 Accepted: 12 October 2009 Published: 24 June 2010
Abstract
Slope stabilisation treatments like mulching and seeding are used to increase soil cover and reduce runoff and erosion following severe wildfires, but may also retard native vegetation recovery. We evaluated the effects of seeding and fertilisation on the cover and richness of native and exotic plants and on individual plant species following the 2004 Pot Peak wildfire in Washington State, USA. We applied four seeding and three fertilisation treatments to experimental plots at eight burned sites in spring 2005 and surveyed vegetation during the first two growing seasons after fire. Seeding significantly reduced native non-seeded species richness and cover by the second year. Fertilisation increased native plant cover in both years, but did not affect plant species richness. Seeding and fertilisation significantly increased exotic cover, especially when applied in combination. However, exotic cover and richness were low and treatment effects were greatest in the first year. Seeding suppressed several native plant species, especially disturbance-adapted forbs. Fertilisation, in contrast, favoured several native understorey plant species but reduced tree regeneration. Seeding, even with native species, appears to interfere with the natural recovery of native vegetation whereas fertilisation increases total plant cover, primarily by facilitating native vegetation recovery.
Additional keywords: BAER, burned area emergency response, diversity, exotic invasion, native species, post-fire rehabilitation, species richness.
Acknowledgements
We thank the many people who contributed their time and talents to field data collection for this project. We thank Tim Max and Pat Cunningham for their assistance with the statistical analysis. The comments of two anonymous reviewers greatly improved this manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge funding for this project from the US Joint Fire Sciences Program (project no. 05-1-2-02) and the US National Fire Plan.
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