First of all, it is incorrect to say that chapparal is fire dependent. Secondly, while the historical fire regime for a forest is 10-30 years, shrubland has a much longer regime (30-130). When it is burned more frequently, a cyclic effect occurs where more exotic grasses take over and thus the land is more susceptible to fire, thereby increasing fire frequency. For anyone wanting to get the story straight, check out the work of Richard W. Halsey, Director of the California Chaparral Institute. He has produced two great book on this subject: Fire, Chaparral and Survival in Southern California and just recently Fire, Chaparral and Survival in Southern California.
Previous Month
Posted on January 18 at 11:50 p.m.
First of all, it is incorrect to say that chapparal is fire dependent. Secondly, while the historical fire regime for a forest is 10-30 years, shrubland has a much longer regime (30-130). When it is burned more frequently, a cyclic effect occurs where more exotic grasses take over and thus the land is more susceptible to fire, thereby increasing fire frequency. For anyone wanting to get the story straight, check out the work of Richard W. Halsey, Director of the California Chaparral Institute. He has produced two great book on this subject: Fire, Chaparral and Survival in Southern California and just recently Fire, Chaparral and Survival in Southern California.
On A Closer Look at the Wildfire Problem