Fire regimes of California low-elevation grasslands
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of California low-elevation grassland 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-low-elevation-grasslands
A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for California low-elevation grassland communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of California low-elevation grassland Biophysical Settings (BpS) provides estimates of fire regime characteristics (see LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings section). Figure 1 shows where these BpSs occur.
Figure 1—Land cover distribution of California low-elevation grassland Biophysical Settings (BpS).
| Biophysical Setting | Mean Fire Interval (years) | Fire Severity Percent (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Fire Regime Group | Low | Mixed | Replacement | All | Low | Mixed | Replacement |
| Series 11290 - California Central Valley and Southern Coastal Grassland | ||||||||
| 11290_4_5 | II-A | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 11300 - California Mesic Serpentine Grassland | ||||||||
| 11300_3_4 | II-B | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 11310 - California Northern Coastal Grassland | ||||||||
| 11310_2_3_4 | II-A | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Summary | ||||||||
| Minimum | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100 | |||
| Maximum | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 100 | |||
| Mean | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100 | |||
| Median | 4 | 4 | 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. 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]
2. 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]