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Cited by 242Fire effects on ecosystemsRangeland and Wildlife ManagementForest Management and Policy

Historic Fire Regime in Southern California Shrublands

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Keeley, Jon E., Fotheringham, C. J.·2001·Conservation Biology
DOI 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.00097.x
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Abstract

Abstract: Historical variability in fire regime is a conservative indicator of ecosystem sustainability, and thus understanding the natural role of fire in chaparral ecosystems is necessary for proper fire management. It has been suggested that the “natural” fire regime was one of frequent small fires that fragmented the landscape into a fine‐grained mixture of age classes that precluded large, catastrophic fires. Some researchers claim that this regime was lost because of highly effective fire suppression and conclude that if fire managers could “restore” a regime of frequent fires with widespread prescription burning, they could eliminate the hazard of catastrophic fires. The primary evidence in support of this model is a study that compared contemporary burning patterns in southern California, U.S.A., a region subject to fire suppression, with patterns in northern Baja California, Mexico, where there is less effective fire suppression. We found that differences in fire regime between these two regions are inconclusive and could not be ascribed conclusively to differences in fire suppression. Historical records suggest that the natural fire regime in southern California shrublands was rather coarse‐grained and not substantively different from the contemporary regime. There is no evidence that fire‐management policies have created the contemporary fire regime dominated by massive Santa Ana wind‐driven fires. Increased expenditures on fire suppression and increased loss of property and lives are the result of human demographic patterns that place increasing demand on fire‐suppression forces.

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Authors
Keeley, J. E., & Fotheringham, C. J.
Affiliations
  • United States Geological Survey (US)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
ORCID
Keeley, Jon E.
Venue
Conservation Biology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2001-12-14
Volume
15
Issue
6
Pages
1536-1548
ISSN
  • 0888-8892 (ISSN-L)
  • 1523-1739
DOI
10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.00097.x
OpenAlex
W2067817178
Cited by
242
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 14
FWCI
10.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 29 d)
Locations
Conservation Biology (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • U.S. Forest Service
  • National Institute on Aging
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Forest Management and Policy
Keywords
fire regimes, chaparral, fire suppression, prescribed burning, catastrophic fire, Santa Ana winds, fire policy, historical fire records, northern Baja California, ecosystem sustainability

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