The effects of prescribed fires, mastication, and mowing on vegetation regeneration

Lydia Villa, Chris Field (Stanford)

Vegatation monitoring plots are marked with flags in the chaparral-blue oak woodland interface

Summary

This project aims to evaluate how different fuel management strategies affect seed viability in chaparral and oak woodland habitats.

Determining the effects of various fuel reduction treatments on seed viability could inform how plant regeneration may succeed vegetation reduction treatments. This project will leverage ongoing fuel reduction treatments including pile burning (occurred March 2024), mastication, and mowing, to understand the impacts of these practices on vegetation recovery and seed germination. Soil cores were sampled across a transect in each of three treatments and seeds are being germinated in the greenhouse to assess the potential of the seed bank from both chaparral and oak woodland ecoystems. Vegetation regrowth is also being monitored across transects to understand how seeds and resprouting are impacted by each treatment type in both chaparral and oak woodland habitats. By comparing idealized results from the greenhouse with actual vegetation regrowth in the piles, researchers aim to provide insights on future fuel management practices at Jasper Ridge as well as other sites with comparable ecosystems.