Fire regimes of California chaparral communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2018. Fire regimes of California chaparral communities. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/fire-regimes/california-chaparral
A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for California chaparral communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, The Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides a review and synthesis of the historical range of variability for three chaparral community types common in California: Adenostoma chaparral dominated by chamise and/or redshank; mixed chaparral; and montane chaparral (Estes 2016 [1]).
Chamise-redshank chaparral occurs on low foothills; buckbrush often codominates in chamise chaparral. Mixed chaparral occurs on foothills and is typically codominated by ceanothus, manzanita, and/or scrub oak species. Montane chaparral occurs at midelevations and is typically codominated by ceanothus and manzanita species (review by [1]). See table 1 for common and scientific names of plants common to these communities.
Chamise chaparral in San Benito County, CA.
Redshank chaparral in Riverside County, CA.
Mixed chaparral (sticky whiteleaf manzanita-canyon live oak-toyon-gray pine) in Columbia, CA.
Montane chaparral (greenleaf manzanita-prostrate ceanothus, in center foreground) surrounded by montane mixed-conifer forest (background) in Tuolumne County, CA.
LANDFIRE succession modeling of California chaparral Biophysical Settings (BpS) also provides estimates of fire regime characteristics (see LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings section). The map in figure 1 shows where these BpSs occur and was updated in 2026 to show the most recent (2020) LANDFIRE BpS data layer.
Figure 1—Land cover distribution of California chaparral Biophysical Settings (BpS).
| Common name | Scientific name |
|---|---|
| buckbrush | Ceanothus cuneatus |
| canyon live oak | Quercus chrysolepis |
| ceanothus | Ceanothus spp. |
| chamise | Adenostoma fasciculatum |
| greenleaf manzanita | Arctostaphylos patula |
| gray pine | Pinus sabiniana |
| manzanita | Arctostaphylos spp. |
| prostrate ceanothus | Ceanothus prostratus |
| redshank | Adenostoma sparsifolium |
| scrub oak | Quercus spp. |
| sticky whiteleaf manzanita | Arctostaphylos viscida |
| toyon | Heteromeles arbutifolia |
The fire regime of these chaparral communities is that of mostly stand-replacement crown fire at moderate intervals. Estimated historical (1880s-1940s) fire-return intervals for chamise-redshank and mixed chaparral range from 30 to 90 years, with a MFRI (mean fire-return interval) of 55 years. Estimated range for montane chaparral is 15 to 50 years, with a MFRI of 27 years. Determining fire-return intervals difficult for chaparral because little evidence of past stand age and stand conditions remain after stand-replacement fire. Estimates of historical fire-return intervals in chaparral are based on fire scars on remnant trees adjacent to chaparral, historical written accounts, cover type maps, and photographs. (review by [1]).
Two patterns of departure from the natural range of variation are evident for fire in California chaparral. Where chaparral is interspersed within or adjacent to coniferous forest, decades of fire exclusion has resulted in successional replacement of chaparral vegetation with conifers on some sites. However, succession after large, stand-replacement fires in coniferous forests has increased the extent of chaparral vegetation on other sites (review by [1]).
| Biophysical Setting | Mean Fire Interval (years) | Fire Severity Percent (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Fire Regime Group | Low | Mixed | Replacement | All | Low | Mixed | Replacement |
| Series 11050 - Northern and Central California Dry-Mesic Chaparral | ||||||||
| 11050_3_6_7 | IV-A | 74 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| 11050_4_5 | IV-A | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 10980 - California Montane Woodland and Chaparral | ||||||||
| 10980_7 | II-C | 234 | 197 | 49 | 34 | 15 | 17 | 68 |
| 10980_6 | I-C | 54 | 92 | 34 | 0 | 63 | 37 | |
| 10980_4 | III-A | 121 | 58 | 39 | 0 | 32 | 68 | |
| 10980_3 | I-C | 54 | 94 | 34 | 0 | 63 | 37 | |
| Series 10970 - California Mesic Chaparral | ||||||||
| 10970_3_6_7 | IV-A | 54 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| 10970_4_5 | IV-A | 79 | 79 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 11100 - Southern California Dry-Mesic Chaparral | ||||||||
| 11100_4 | IV-A | 51 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 11080 - Sonora-Mojave Semi-Desert Chaparral | ||||||||
| 11080_4_5_13_14_15_24_25 | IV-A | 81 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 11030 - Great Basin Semi-Desert Chaparral | ||||||||
| 11030_6_7_12_13_16_17_23 | IV-A | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 10990 - California Xeric Serpentine Chaparral | ||||||||
| 10990_4 | IV-A | 81 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| 10990_3 | IV-A | 80 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 10960 - California Maritime Chaparral | ||||||||
| 10960_4 | IV-B | 124 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| 10960_3 | IV-B | 108 | 108 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Summary | ||||||||
| Minimum | 234 | 54 | 49 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 37 | |
| Maximum | 234 | 197 | 124 | 124 | 15 | 63 | 100 | |
| Mean | 234 | 107 | 75 | 65 | 1 | 12 | 87 | |
| Median | 234 | 88 | 79 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 100 | |
| Percentage of fires in 3 fire severity classes, derived from LANDFIRE succession modeling. Replacement-severity fires cause >75% kill or top-kill of the upper canopy layer; mixed-severity fires cause 26%-75%; low-severity fires cause <26%. | ||||||||
| LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: https://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [96496] | ||||||||
1. Estes, Becky. 2016. Historic range of variability for chaparral in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascades, [Online]. In: Pacific Region, Ecology program documents, reports and publications, Natural range of variation of Sierra Nevada habitats. Vallejo, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/plants-animals/?cid=stelprdb5434436 [2016, October 5]. 44 p. [90946]
2. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings layer, CONUS (LANDFIRE 2.2.0). In: LANDFIRE download data mosaic products, [Online]. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey; U.S. Department of Agriculture (Producer). Available: https://www.landfire.gov/version_download.php [2023, June 20]. [98050]
3. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: http://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [2022, February 2]. [96496]