Fire regimes of sparsely vegetated communities
Innes, Robin J. 2014. Fire regimes of sparsely vegetated 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/sparsely-vegetated
Sparsely vegetated sand dunes at Mussel Rock Beach, California.
This Fire Regime Synthesis brings together information from 2 sources: the scientific literature as of 2014, and the Biophysical Settings (BpS) models and associated Fire Regime Data Products developed by LANDFIRE, which are based on literature, local data, and/or expert estimates. These syntheses are intended to:
- provide up-to-date information to the management community on historical fire regimes and contemporary changes in fuels and fire regimes,
- supplement information on individual species' adaptations and responses to fire provided by FEIS Species Reviews, and
- enable LANDFIRE to incorporate the latest science on historical fire regimes into data revisions and identify regions and plant community types lacking fire history data.
Sparsely vegetated communities occur throughout the United States and range from sandy beaches on shorelines and riverbanks to rocky outcrops and talus slopes in subalpine and alpine areas. They typically have much exposed mineral soil and bedrock and little vegetation throughout succession.
LANDFIRE did not map the BpSs for this group.
Willow (Salix spp.) establishment on a new sandbar on the Tenana River, Alaska.
Alpine talus slope in Colorado with Rocky Mountain Jacob's-ladder (Polemonium confertum) in the foreground.
Historically, fires were unlikely in sparsely vegetated communities because of scarce and poorly distributed fuels [3,9]. There is no published research on historical fires in these communities, and LANDFIRE did not model their fire regime characteristics (fire regime group="NA") because modelers did not consider fire an important disturbance in them. Because sparsely vegetated communities generally do not burn, they may act as natural firebreaks [2,3,4,8,10,11]. The LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings section lists the Biophysical Settings (BpSs) covering sparsely vegetated communities; table A1 lists common and scientific names of species found in these communties.
| Code | Region | Formation | FRG | MFI | % Low | % Mixed | % Replace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 10010 - Inter-Mountain Basins Sparsely Vegetated Systems | |||||||
| 2810010 | Southwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 2710010 | Southwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 2410010 | Southwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 2310010 | Southwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0910010 | Pacific Northwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0810010 | Pacific Northwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0710010 | Pacific Northwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0110010 | Pacific Northwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 2210010 | Northern and Central Rockies | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1910010 | Northern and Central Rockies | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1010010 | Northern and Central Rockies | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1810010 | Great Basin | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1610010 | Great Basin | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1310010 | Great Basin | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1210010 | Great Basin | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0610010 | California | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0510010 | California | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 10020 - Mediterranean California Sparsely Vegetated Systems | |||||||
| 0710020 | Pacific Northwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0510020 | California | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 10030 - North Pacific Sparsely Vegetated Systems | |||||||
| 0710030 | Pacific Northwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0110030 | Pacific Northwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 10040 - North American Warm Desert Sparsely Vegetated Systems | |||||||
| 2310040 | Southwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1510040 | Southwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 2610040 | South-Central US | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 1210040 | Great Basin | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 0410040 | California | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 10070 - Western Great Plains Sparsely Vegetated Systems | |||||||
| 2710070 | Southwest | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 3410070 | South-Central US | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 3110070 | Northern Great Plains | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 14980 - Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Sparsely Vegetated Systems | |||||||
| 9914980 | Southeast | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 6014980 | Northeast | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 16320 - Western North American Boreal Alpine Talus and Bedrock | |||||||
| 7416320 | Alaska | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 7316320 | Alaska | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 7016320 | Alaska | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| 7516320 | Alaska | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 17320 - Aleutian Volcanic Rock and Talus | |||||||
| 7617320 | Alaska | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Series 17340 - North Pacific alpine and subalpine bedrock and scree | |||||||
| 7517340 | Alaska | Sparsely Vegetated | NA | ||||
| Summary | |||||||
| Minimum | |||||||
| Maximum | |||||||
| Mean | |||||||
| Median | |||||||
| FRG = Fire Regime Group; MFI = Mean Fire Interval | |||||||
Table A1: Common and scientific plant names
| Common name | Scientific name |
|---|---|
| Lichens | |
| jelly lichen | Collema tenax |
| reindeer lichens | Cladonia spp. |
| Cacti | |
| brittle pricklypear | Opuntia fragilis |
| eastern pricklypear | Opuntia humifusa |
| plains pricklypear | Opuntia polyacantha |
| Forbs | |
| coltsfoot | Tussilago farfara |
| rough cocklebur | Xanthium strumarium |
| common St Johnswort | Hypericum perforatum |
| flixweed tansymustard | Descurainia sophia |
| pinnate tansymustard | Descurainia pinnata |
| tumble mustard | Sisymbrium altissimum |
| Graminoids | |
| big bluestem | Andropogon gerardii |
| blue grama | Bouteloua gracilis |
| broomsedge bluestem | Andropogon virginicus |
| Canada wildrye | Elymus canadensis |
| cheatgrass | Bromus tectorum |
| little bluestem | Schizachyrium scoparium |
| prairie sandreed | Calamovilfa longifolia |
| purple threeawn | Aristida purpurea |
| saltgrass | Distichlis spicata |
| sand dropseed | Sporobolus cryptandrus |
| thickspike wheatgrass | Elymus lanceolatus |
| threadleaf sedge | Carex filifolia |
| western wheatgrass | Pascopyrum smithii |
| Shrubs | |
| Alaska willow | Salix alaxensis |
| black greasewood | Sarcobatus vermiculatus |
| blueberry willow | Salix myrtillifolia |
| broom snakeweed | Gutierrezia sarothrae |
| Drummond willow | Salix drummondiana |
| Halberd willow | Salix hastata |
| littletree willow | Salix arbusculoides |
| narrowleaf willow | Salix exigua |
| mountain willow | Salix monticola |
| pussy willow | Salix discolor |
| Richardson willow | Salix richardsonii |
| silver sagebrush | Artemisia cana |
| Trees | |
| black willow | Salix nigra |
| eastern cottonwood | Populus deltoides |
| eastern redcedar | Juniperus virginiana |
| foxtail pine | Pinus balfouriana |
| Goodding's black willow | Salix gooddingii |
| grayleaf willow | Salix glauca |
| limber pine | Pinus flexilis |
| Pacific willow | Salix lasiandra |
| peachleaf willow | Salix amygdaloides |
| Rocky Mountain juniper | Juniperus scopulorum |
| whitebark pine | Pinus albicaulis |
| yellow willow | Salix lutea |
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