Reproduction of a Serotinous Conifer, the Giant Sequoia, in a Large High-Severity Fire Area

Giant sequoia groves, located on the western slope of the central and southern Sierra Nevada mountains in California, USA, have been experiencing regeneration failure for more than a century due to the exclusion of wildfires. Giant sequoias are serotinous conifers and have evolved a strong relations...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fire (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2024-01, Vol.7 (2), p.44
Main Authors: Hanson, Chad T., Chi, Tonja Y., Khosla, Maya, Baker, Bryant C., Swolgaard, Craig
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canyons
Coniferous trees
Conifers
Environmental aspects
Fire prevention
Fireplaces
Forest reproduction
Giant sequoia
high severity
Hypotheses
Mountains
National parks
Parks & recreation areas
Planting density
Prescribed fire
Reproduction
Seedlings
Seeds
Sequoiadendron
serotinous
Tree planting
wildfire
Wildfires
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Summary:Giant sequoia groves, located on the western slope of the central and southern Sierra Nevada mountains in California, USA, have been experiencing regeneration failure for more than a century due to the exclusion of wildfires. Giant sequoias are serotinous conifers and have evolved a strong relationship between high-severity fire and reproduction. While this relationship is widely recognized, only one previous peer-reviewed study has directly investigated giant sequoia reproduction and fire severity, and that study used different fires for each severity class. We conducted a study of giant sequoia reproduction and fire severity in a single fire, the KNP Complex fire of 2021, within the Redwood Mountain Grove in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. We found that giant sequoia seedlings are more dominant relative to other conifer species and are growing faster in a large high-severity fire area than in adjacent low/moderate-severity areas. Distance to the nearest live sequoia seed source was not a significant factor in sequoia seedling density. Our results call into question the basis for widespread plans and projects designed to prevent high-severity fires and should reevaluate moving forward with proposed tree planting activities in high-severity fire areas within giant sequoia groves.
ISSN:2571-6255
2571-6255
DOI:10.3390/fire7020044