Wildfire Effects on Understory Vegetation, Natural Regeneration, and Forest Floor Fuels in a Sierran Mixed Conifer Stand

Wildfire effects on understory shrubs and herbs, regeneration of the seedling and sapling size classes, and downed and dead fuels were assessed in a mixed conifer stand located in the Lake Tahoe Basin in which California white fir (Abies concolor var. lowiana [Gord.] Lemm.) was most abundant but with Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi Grev. & Balf.) also prevalent. In burned and unburned stand portions, prefire measurements served as a basis of comparison for the postfire measurements pertinent to each study component. Fire severely suppressed the understory vegetation, which was dominated by shrubs such as bush chinquapin (Chrysolepis sempervirens [Kellogg] Hjelmqvist) and antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata [Pursh] DC.), while a tepid postfire recovery of most of the preexisting species in the burned stand portion was augmented by new ones, including shrubs such as snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus Douglas ex Hook.) and whitethorn (Ceanothus cordulatus Kellogg) ceanothus and herbs such as Holboell's rockcre...