Burn Severity and Non-Native Species in Yosemite National Park, California, USA

We examined non-native species density three years after the Tuolumne Fire, which burned 1540 ha in upper montane forest in California, USA. We sampled 60 plots, stratified by burn severity (low, moderate, or high severity) and landscape position (lowland or upland). We detected non-native species i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fire ecology 2011-01, Vol.7 (2), p.145-149
Main Authors: Kaczynski, Kristen M, Beatty, Susan W, Wagtendonk, Jan W. van, Marshall, Kristin N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cirsium vulgare
Ecology
forests
Herbivores
Indigenous species
Introduced species
landscape position
Life Sciences
monitoring
Montane environments
Mountain forests
National parks
Native species
Nonnative species
Population density
Short Communication
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Summary:We examined non-native species density three years after the Tuolumne Fire, which burned 1540 ha in upper montane forest in California, USA. We sampled 60 plots, stratified by burn severity (low, moderate, or high severity) and landscape position (lowland or upland). We detected non-native species in 8 of 11 (73 %) of high severity lowland sites and in 5 of 10 (50 %) of moderate severity lowland sites but, overall, richness and abundance was low. We detected only five non-native species, of which bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare [Savi] Ten.) was the most common. Although non-native abundance is currently low, we recommend continued low intensity monitoring, especially on high severity burned lowland sites.
ISSN:1933-9747
1933-9747
DOI:10.4996/fireecology.0702145