Andrew Scholl, PhD student
Identifying Reference Conditions for Prescribed Fire Management of Mixed Conifer Forests in Yosemite national Park, CA
The goal of the project is to identify natural reference conditions for mixed conifer forests from which prescribed fire managers can develop process and structural goals for restoration of forests to more natural conditions. The project is designed to fill critical gaps in knowledge needed to develop and implement Yosemite National Parks fire management plan. The specific objectives of this project are to: 1) quantitatively describe pre-settlement, settlement, and fire suppression period regimes; 2) identify how fire regimes vary along major environmental and forest compositional gradients; and 3) identify pre-fire suppressions forest characteristics (basal area, density, size structure) at plot and landscape scale. Technology transfer will occur with a combination of written materials, presentations to agency staff and interagency organizations, and a worldwide web site.
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