The Fires This Time
Last Wednesday, I attended an all day symposium co-sponsored by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel River Watershed Council and the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department called
While all the speakers were very interesting (I felt like I was back in ecology class) the first speaker, Richard Harlsey of the Chaparral Field Institute gave a very informative and charismatic talk on the Chaparral ecosystem dispelling many myths of this ecosystem and it’s relation to fire and fire management. (many of which I believed to be true from my forestry classes back at CU, Boulder.)
“The Fires This Time: Griffith Park and Catalina Island Post fire Recovery”.
The symposium provided an excellent insight into discussions and issues the recovery task force is facing as they develop a reaction plan in response to the recent burnings. It was very informative in terms of discussing common misconceptions of the chaparral ecosystem, general post fire recovery practices, and gave insight into what we can expect in the future in terms of wildlife comeback , degrees of erosion, and types of initial vegetation cover.
The symposium provided an excellent insight into discussions and issues the recovery task force is facing as they develop a reaction plan in response to the recent burnings. It was very informative in terms of discussing common misconceptions of the chaparral ecosystem, general post fire recovery practices, and gave insight into what we can expect in the future in terms of wildlife comeback , degrees of erosion, and types of initial vegetation cover.
While all the speakers were very interesting (I felt like I was back in ecology class) the first speaker, Richard Harlsey of the Chaparral Field Institute gave a very informative and charismatic talk on the Chaparral ecosystem dispelling many myths of this ecosystem and it’s relation to fire and fire management. (many of which I believed to be true from my forestry classes back at CU, Boulder.)
Some main points he brought up.
MYTH 1: Controlled burns help control the degree of fuel loading, and could ultimately reduce the intensity and damage of the fire.
MYTH 1: Controlled burns help control the degree of fuel loading, and could ultimately reduce the intensity and damage of the fire.
There are two basic classifications of forest fires:
A Surface Fire, which spreads primarily along the ground consuming surface litter and ground covers, and is usually considered less intense.
And A Crown Fire, which is often started by a surface fire. In this situation everything burns, the crown of trees, the shrubs, and the surface litter. It is considerably more intense and destructive.
PHOTO: Trail exposed on ridge- everything here burned!!
Due to the inherent composition of chaparral ecosystem, a fire will always be a crown fire.
Due to the inherent composition of chaparral ecosystem, a fire will always be a crown fire.
The intensity of a fire is dependant not only on fuel loading but also climate conditions such as wind patterns and moisture levels.
In the case of the Griffith Park fire, the climate conditions, and geographical location of ignition (at the base of a valley) played a larger role in the burn severity and course of the fire than fuel loading did.
Click the following link to see a really cool animated map of how the fire spread and its cover extent. http://cartifact.com/interactive/griffithfire/
MYTH 2: The Chaparral Ecosystem is adapted to fire and needs fire to survive and rejuvenate.
The Chaparral environment is not fire adapted but actually very sensitive to fire, particularly the frequency of burnings.
Click the following link to see a really cool animated map of how the fire spread and its cover extent. http://cartifact.com/interactive/griffithfire/
MYTH 2: The Chaparral Ecosystem is adapted to fire and needs fire to survive and rejuvenate.
The Chaparral environment is not fire adapted but actually very sensitive to fire, particularly the frequency of burnings.
Fire intervals greater than 1 every 25 years or so are very destructive to the chaparral ecology. Frequent burnings cause many chaparral species to be eliminated by competing invasive, non native species junk species like mustard.
Old growth chaparral is also a very healthy system and one of California's great treasures- despite it becoming increasingly scarce. The attitude that “old” chaparral is unhealthy or unproductive is false according to recent studies. It is however extraordinarily resilient to very long periods without fire and continues to maintain productive growth throughout pre-fire conditions. Many seeds from chaparral plants also require 30 years or more worth of accumulated leaf litter before they will successfully germinate- frequent fires eliminate that potential.
Other speakers included Dan Cooper who spoke about wildlife, John Keeley on management issues and John Knapp about Catalina's ongoing effort to eradicate all non native invasive species on the island. Fire plays a key role in this by identifying areas of new invasive species growth post fire. His work is pretty interesting. Here's a link. http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/ecology/research/knapp.cfm
I also learned a new term called DRY RAVEL: sediment transport and accumulation on a steep slope in a semi arid environment. Fires escalates the degree of sediment accumulation. At the first major storm event the ravel will travel down slope and into the water system.
All and all it was a very educational day and thanks ah'be for letting me attend.
Some finishing thoughts:
Just after the fires occurred I asked the studio what it meant to work within an area that is so prone and so fragile to fires? Can we help mitigate the impact of fires by making smart design decisions? Is this an opportunity or a constraint? What design insight is gained through an understanding of the ecological systems? and diasaster management?
Thoughts? Comments.....