You are here
VEGETATION DYNAMICS AT DIFFERENT SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALES IN FREQUENTLY BURNED MIXED CONIFER FORESTS, NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA RANGE, CALIFORNIA.
| Title: | VEGETATION DYNAMICS AT DIFFERENT SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALES IN FREQUENTLY BURNED MIXED CONIFER FORESTS, NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA RANGE, CALIFORNIA. |
 71 views 30 downloads |
|---|---|---|
| Name(s): |
Paudel, Asha, author Markwith, Scott H., Thesis advisor Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor Department of Geosciences Charles E. Schmidt College of Science |
|
| Type of Resource: | text | |
| Genre: | Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation | |
| Date Created: | 2022 | |
| Date Issued: | 2022 | |
| Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
| Place of Publication: | Boca Raton, Fla. | |
| Physical Form: | application/pdf | |
| Extent: | 123 p. | |
| Language(s): | English | |
| Abstract/Description: | Mixed conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, California, face threats from frequent highseverity fire associated with climate change and fuel accumulation leading to vegetation shifts at local and landscape scales. Under rapid climate change, a clear understanding of how vegetation responds to single and/or repeated wildfires is still lacking and needs to be investigated. Using field and satellite data, the effects of wildfire on vegetation dynamics were explored at the plot and landscape levels in this dissertation project. Results from the field data suggest that management activities may be required in high-severity burned areas to restore dominance of mixed conifer forests and regain historical species composition in areas where live trees persist. Results from satellite data suggested that large shrub patches, created after mixed severity fire, fragment the homogenous mixed conifer dominated forest of the Sierra Nevada to create a more heterogeneous landscape, however the extent of diversity and fragmentation were dependent on fire severity and scales. Natural wildfires may restore landscape heterogeneity to conditions equivalent to the pre-Columbian era, but effects under the projected climate change scenario for 21st century remain uncertain. Mixed conifer dominated forests are predicted to be the dominant component of the Sierra Nevada landscape under historical fire probabilities and excluding higher probability of high-severity fire over the next 100 years. | |
| Identifier: | FA00013966 (IID) | |
| Degree granted: | Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2022. | |
| Collection: | FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection | |
| Note(s): | Includes bibliography. | |
| Subject(s): |
Vegetation dynamics Climate change Fire ecology Wildfires--Management |
|
| Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013966 | |
| Use and Reproduction: | Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder. | |
| Use and Reproduction: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
| Host Institution: | FAU | |
| Is Part of Series: | Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections. |
