Presentation: Fire and Maritime Chaparral in Santa Barbara And

Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

maritime chaparral Fire and the maritime chaparral of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties

Dennis C. Odion and Claudia M. Tyler*

*Research Collaborators: Diana Hickson, Carla D’Antonio, Frank Davis, Mark Borchert and Max Moritz.

Maritime Chaparral in S.B. and SLO. Counties • Evergreen, leathery-leaved shrub vegetation. • Dominated by locally endemic Ceanothus and manzanita. • Eolian sands. • Regionally low precipitation augmented by fog, otherwise coastal sage scrub would occur.

San Antonio Terrace

Santa Burton East Burton Barbara Mesa Mesa County

Source: Odion, Hickson, South and D’Antonio. 1992. TNC. Vandenberg

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 1 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

Burton Mesa

Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) Purisima manzanita (Arctostaphylos purissima) obligate seeder Local endemic

Photo by David Graber

Shagbark manzanita(Arctostaphylos rudis) Buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus var. fascicularis) local endemic obligate-seeder local Endemic

Ceanothus impressus obligate-seeder Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) Local endemic

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 2 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

Post-burn regeneration Immediate post-burn Santa Cruz Island Oak (Quercus parvula var. parvula) late fall 1987

~80 yr. old stand

2-3 years after fire Pacific

Ocean

5-6 years after fire

10 miles

Species Richness 1938-1985 burn chronosequence (D. Hickson)

O = plot under live oak * = plot in shrub vegetation No. of Vascular Plants/ 100m2 plot

Source: Davis, Hickson and Odion. 1988 Madrono Source: Davis, Hickson and Odion. 1988 Madrono.

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 3 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

Stand Dynamics 70 Collecting samples Adenostoma fasciculatum for estimating seed 60 Populations. Percent 50 cover 40 Ceanothus cuneatus

30 Quercus agrifolia

20 Arctostaphylos rudis A. purissima C. impressus 10 Estimate Helianthemum scoparium Seed populations by tallying 10 20 30 40 50 germination Years since fire

Seeds and Seedlings/m2

pre-burn post-burn field 25,000 Shrubs 0-2.5 2.5-7.5 0-2.5 2.5-7.5 Adenostoma fasciculatum 240.1 52.92 53.9 8.8 5.4 Seeds/m2 Arctostaphylos purissima 44.1 141.1 36.8 26.5 10.6 Subshrubs 15,000 Helianthemum scoparium 411.6 582.6 88.2 145.6 47.0 Annual herbs 10,000 Apiastrum angustifolium 245.0 26.5 0 17.6 0.8 Centaurium davyi 1396.5 608.6 558.6 185.2 0 5,000 Crassula connata 6056.4 1525.9 1166.2 493.9 1.6

Cryptantha clevelandii 78.4 17.6 0 0 0.1 Lotus strigosus 83.3 88.2 19.6 79.4 11.0 Navarettia atractyloides 3013.5 299.9 274.4 61.7 29.7

Source: Odion. 2000 Madrono

Iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) Santa Barbara County Maritime Chaparral

Threats

-Exotic species invasion following fire or land clearing.

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 4 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

Iceplant invasion Iceplant invasion

Preburn gaps

Post-burn Expansion and establishment

False iceplant Pampas grass (Cortaderia spp.) (Conicosia pugioniformis)

Eucalyptus Santa Barbara County Maritime Chaparral

Threats

-Exotic species invasion following fire or clearing. -Successive or too frequent burning.

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 5 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

Fires burn through young stands Santa Barbara County Maritime Chaparral

Threats

-Exotic species invasion following fire or clearing. -Successive or too frequent burning. -Fuel management.

Protecting Homes From Wildfires Chaparral Fire -Homes do not ignite from severe fire beyond 100’ (Jack Cohen, USFS).

-Efforts need to focus on home and 100’ zone surrounding it, the home ignition zone.

-Non-combustible roof and 30’ clearance alone eliminates cause of virtually all ignitions, firebrands.

-Focus on wildlands around urban areas directs managers away from the problem, which is home ignitability.

Morro manzanita (Arctostaphylos morroensis) obligate-seeder Santa Barbara County Maritime Chaparral

Threats

-Successive or too frequent burning. -Fuel management. -Exotic species invasion following fire or clearing.

Not Presently Threats

-Absence of fire. -Intensive development leading to further habitat loss and fragmentation.

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 6 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

Morro manzanita chaparral chaparral Morro manzanita (Arctostaphylos morroensis)

Morro Bay

Distribution and Density of Morro Manzanita Morro Bay Species Richness mixed chaparral Avg =14 Streams pure Morro Manzanita Avg = 4 Roads 30 Morro Manzanita density classes 75-100% Morro 25 50-75% Bay 25-50% 5-25% 1-5% 20 < 1% Species/ 100m 2 15 N 10

0 0 20406080100

1000 0 1000 Meters Evergreen Shrub Cover (%)

Source: Tyler and Odion, 1996 CDFG

Prescribed burn Factors Controlling Germination

5 ------estimated % viability 4

percent germination 0 control heat + heat only charate wet, charate only heat+char

40 year old stand

Source: Tyler, Odion, and Meade, 1998 CDFG

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 7 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

top 2.5 cm 400 0-5cm depth lower 2.5 cm Morro Manzanita 300 per square 200 meter

100 5-10 cm depth 0

# viable seeds per 2 m 2 sq seeds per viable # preburn postburn

Source: Tyler et al. 2000, CDFG Source: Odion and Tyler, 2002 Conservation Ecology

Pre burn 3 years after fire 2-3 years after fire mean % mean % shrubs % cover frequency % cover frequency Arctostaphylos morroensis 99.5 100 <1 30 Artemisia californica 0.4 8 7 61 Baccharis pilularis 00438 Ceanothus cuneatus 00<12 subshrubs Ericameria ericoides 00<11 Eriophyllum confertiflorum <1 8 1 1 Lotus scoparius 00523 Mimulus aurantiacus <1 8 2 2 Solanum umbelliferum 00346 herbs and grasses Amsinkia spectabilis 00238 Chorizanthe angustifolia 0012 Claytonia perfoliata 00146 Conocosia pugioniformis* 00<115 Conyza canadensis 0011 Cryptantha spp. 0012 Ehrharta calycina* 00223 Gnaphalium bicolor 00223 Gnaphalium ramosissimum 00323 Source: Odion and Tyler, 2002 Conservation Ecology

False iceplant Morro Bay Manzanita Chaparral Conicosia pugioniformis Threats

-Stands may be too young to regenerate after fire.

-Exotic species invasion following fire or clearing.

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 8 Fire and maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Dennis Odion & Claudia Tyler

Veldt grass (Ehrharta calycina) Morro Bay Manzanita Chaparral

Threats

-Stands may be too young to regenerate after fire.

-Exotic species invasion following fire or clearing.

Not Presently Threats

-Absence of fire.

Conclusions

Management actions in maritime chaparral in Santa Barbara and San LuisObispo Counties need to focus on:

-Preventing fire with non-intrusive suppression.

-Eradicating non-native pest plants.

-Protecting homes by treating the cause of structure ignitions.

Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Progrm Workshop January 17, 2003 9