Soil slippage increased by brush conversion

Abstract

After 8 fire burned the San Dimas Experimental Forest, near Glendora Calif., in 1960, about 350 acres of brushland were converted to grass. Six years later, the frequency and extent of soil slips - a form of gravitational mass movement - on this acreage was compared with those on comparable sites where brush cover was recovering naturally after the fire. Both the area affected and the number of soil slips were about five times greater on the grass -covered areas than on the brush areas.

Citation

Corbett, Edward S.; Rice, Raymond M. 1966. Soil slippage increased by brush conversion. Res. Note PSW-RN-128. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 8 p.