Register      Login
International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
COMMENT AND RESPONSE

Sierra Nevada fire severity conclusions are robust to further analysis: a reply to Safford et al.

Chad T. Hanson A D and Dennis C. Odion B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Earth Island Institute, 2150 Allston Way, Suite no. 460, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA.

B Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

C Environmental Studies Department, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR 97520, USA.

D Corresponding author. Email: cthanson1@gmail.com

International Journal of Wildland Fire 24(2) 294-295 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF14219
Submitted: 12 December 2014  Accepted: 29 January 2015   Published: 10 March 2015

Abstract

Safford et al. (this issue) question our earlier findings that fire severity has not increased in Sierra Nevada conifer forests 1984–2010, hypothesising that an increasing trend might have appeared had we restricted our analysis to wildland fire in frequent-fire forest types on US Forest Service lands. Here, we tested that hypothesis and again found no trend of increasing severity.


References

Baker WL (2014) Historical structure and fire in Sierran mixed-conifer forests reconstructed from General Land Office survey data. Ecosphere 5, Article 79
Historical structure and fire in Sierran mixed-conifer forests reconstructed from General Land Office survey data.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

DellaSala DA, Bond ML, Hanson CT, Hutto RL, Odion DC (2014) Complex early seral forests of the Sierra Nevada: what are they and how can they be managed for ecological integrity? Natural Areas Journal 34, 310–324.
Complex early seral forests of the Sierra Nevada: what are they and how can they be managed for ecological integrity?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Goodchild MF, Davis FW, Painho M, Storns DM (1991) ‘The use of vegetation maps and geographic systems for assessing conifer lands in California.’ (National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, University of California at Santa Barbara, Technical Report 91–23: Santa Barbara, CA).

Hanson CT (2014) Conservation concerns for Sierra Nevada birds associated with high-severity fire. Western Birds 45, 204–212.

Hanson CT, Odion DC (2014) Is fire severity increasing in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA? International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, 1–8.
Is fire severity increasing in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hanson CT, Odion DC Historical forest conditions within the range of the Pacific fisher and spotted owl in the central and southern Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Natural Areas Journal , in press.

Hanson CT, Odion DC, DellaSala DA, Baker WL (2010) More-comprehensive recovery actions for northern spotted owls in dry forests: reply to Spies et al. Conservation Biology 24, 334–337.
More-comprehensive recovery actions for northern spotted owls in dry forests: reply to Spies et al.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Helsel DR, Hirsch RM (2002) Statistical methods in water resources. In ‘Hydrologic analysis and interpretation. Techniques of water-resources investigations of the United States Geological Survey’. Book 4, Section 12.2.3, p. 328. (US Geological Survey: Washington, DC)

Mallek C, Safford H, Viers J, Miller J (2013) Modern departures in fire severity and area vary by forest type, Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascades, USA. Ecosphere 4, Article 153
Modern departures in fire severity and area vary by forest type, Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascades, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Miller JD, Safford HD (2012) Trends in wildfire severity: 1984 to 2010 in the Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau, and Southern Cascades, California, USA. Fire Ecology 8, 41–57.
Trends in wildfire severity: 1984 to 2010 in the Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau, and Southern Cascades, California, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Miller JD, Safford HD, Crimmins M, Thode AE (2009) Quantitative evidence for increasing forest fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade Mountains, California and Nevada, USA. Ecosystems 12, 16–32.
Quantitative evidence for increasing forest fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade Mountains, California and Nevada, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Odion DC, Hanson CT (2013) Projecting impacts of fire management on a biodiversity indicator in the Sierra Nevada and Cascades, USA: the black-backed woodpecker. Open Forest Science Journal 6, 14–23.

Odion DC, Hanson CT, Arsenault A, Baker WL, DellaSala DA, Hutto RL, Klenner W, Moritz MA, Sherriff RL, Veblen TT, Williams MA (2014) Examining historical and current mixed-severity fire regimes in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America. PLoS ONE 9, e87852
Examining historical and current mixed-severity fire regimes in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 24498383PubMed |

Önöz B, Bayazit M (2003) The power of statistical tests for trend detection. Turkish Journal of Engineering and Environmental Science 27, 247–251.

Safford HD, Miller JD, Collins BM (2015) Differences in land ownership, fire management objectives and source data matter: a reply to Hanson and Odion (2014). International Journal of Wildland Fire

Wiedemeier TH, Barden MJ, Haas PE, Dickson WZ (2005) Designing monitoring programs to effectively evaluate the performance of natural attenuation. In ‘Practical handbook of environmental site characterization and ground-water monitoring’. (Ed. DM Nielsen) Ch. 9, pp. 573–638. (CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group: Boca Raton, FL)

Yue S, Pilon P, Cavadias G (2002) Power of Mann–Kendall and Spearman’s rho tests for detecting monotonic trends in hydrological series. Journal of Hydrology 259, 254–271.
Power of Mann–Kendall and Spearman’s rho tests for detecting monotonic trends in hydrological series.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |