Graduation Date

Spring 2024

Document Type

Thesis

Program

Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources, option Forestry, Watershed, & Wildland Sciences

Committee Chair Name

Jeffrey Kane

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Second Committee Member Name

Stephen Sillett

Third Committee Member Name

Alan J. Tepley

Keywords

Fire, Ecology, Forestry, Allometry, Resilience

Abstract

Historically frequent-fire forest ecosystems are now facing increased size, frequency, and severity of fires attributed to climate change, intensive forest management, and fire exclusion. Understanding post-fire resilience in forest ecosystems is critical amidst escalating challenges posed by recent increases in fire activity. This study examined the basal resprouting response of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in a secondary forest two years after the CZU Lightning Complex fire on the central coast of California. Robust allometric equations were developed to quantify redwood resprout biomass and leaf area, revealing strong explanatory power for biomass equations (R² > 0.85). Probability of resprouting was most influenced by fire damage, characterized by bole char to height ratio, and epicormic bole sprouting abundance (P < 0.001). Additionally, total resprout biomass was best characterized by bole char ratio and canopy gap fraction (R² = 0.57), while resprout leaf biomass was influenced by bole char ratio, pre-fire leaf biomass, canopy gap fraction, and post-fire precipitation (R² = 0.54). In all models, fire damage was positively associated with resprouting presence and abundance with no observed declines of resprouting at high levels of fire damage. Findings in this study demonstrate that redwoods are highly resilient to fire through their ability to basally resprout. Despite the resilience demonstrated by redwoods, ongoing investigation into post-fire responses is essential, especially in the face of uncertain future fire regimes and drought driven by climate change and past forest management.

Citation Style

APA 7

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