WERC Highlights -- December 2006

Timely Research on Salton Sea Birds: At a time when the fate of the Salton Sea is being decided by stakeholders, USGS scientists Mark Mendelsohn, William Boarman, Robert Fisher, and Stacie Hathaway of the Western Ecological Research Center have contributed information to the large body of scientific research supporting the ecological value of the unique ecosystem. Their study, just published online in the Journal of Arid Environments, describes an apparent preference of terrestrial birds for the land area nearest the shoreline of the vast, hypersaline lake in southeastern California. Although a reduction in the Sea's surface level is inevitable, given the future management options, this research may help decision-makers select a management alternative that safeguards habitat not only for waterbirds, but for landbirds as well. For more: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/mendelsohnpbdec2006.html. (Mark Mendelsohn, San Diego, CA, 619-225-6428, mmendelsohn@usgs.gov) Citation: Mendelsohn, M.B., W. I. Boarman, R. N. Fisher, and S. A. Hathaway. 2007. Diversity of terrestrial avifauna in response to distance from the shoreline of the Salton Sea. Journal of Arid Environments 68:574–587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.07.012.

Desert Tortoises: USGS scientist Kristin Berry of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed for a December 12, 2006, story by the Desert Dispatch (Barstow, CA) about behavioral and physiological adaptations of desert tortoises: http://www.desertdispatch.com/2006/116593450671224.html. (Kristin Berry, Moreno Valley, CA, 951-697-5361, kristin_berry@usgs.gov)

Desert Tortoises: On December 7, 2006, USGS scientist emeritus William I. Boarman was interviewed by the San Bernardino Sun about a recent USGS report that found too few studies evaluated the effectiveness of management actions taken for the recovery of the federally threatened desert tortoise (story may appear this weekend). (William I. Boarman, Spring Valley, CA, 619-861-9450, conservation-science@cox.net)

Simulating the Effects of Frequent Fire on Southern California Shrublands: Fire frequency has been steadily increasing in coastal regions of California due to ignitions at the growing wildland-urban interface. Although chaparral and sage scrub are resilient to a range of fire frequencies, successively short intervals between fires can threaten the persistence of some species, and the effects differ according to plant functional type. USGS scientist Jon Keeley and colleagues Alexandra Syphard and Janet Franklin at San Diego State University have modified the forest succession model known as LANDIS to predict fire effects on 60,000 hectares of shrubland landscapes within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Model simulations predicted broad-scale differential impacts of repeated fire similar in nature to those that have been observed in localized field studies, strongly suggesting that there may be serious ecological consequences from altered fire regimes in southern California. In particular, increasing fire frequency could result in substantial declines in obligate and facultative seeding native shrubs and replacement by nonnative grass. Their study was published in a recent issue of Ecological Applications. For more: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/keeleypbnov2006.html. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov) Citation: Syphard, A. D., J. Franklin, and J. E. Keeley. 2006. Simulating the effects of frequent fire on southern California coastal shrublands. Ecological Applications 16:1744–1756.

Wildfire Management on a Human-Dominated Landscape: Since 1970, 12 of the nation’s 15 most destructive wildfires have occurred in California, costing the insurance industry $4.8 billion, the most destructive being the southern California firestorms of October 2003. USGS scientist Jon Keeley and colleague C.J. Fotheringham from UCLA discussed this topic in their chapter in the new Island Press book Wildfire — A Century of Failed Forest Policy. According to the authors, California’s fire regime is now dominated by human ignitions, which coupled with rapid population growth, results in many people at risk to natural high-intensity wildfires. These chaparral fires have characterized this landscape long before human occupation, twentieth-century fire management practices have been ineffective in preventing them, and the fires need to be viewed as other uncontrollable natural disasters, with a focus on developing human infrastructure capable of minimizing their damage. For more: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/keeleypbnov2006b.html. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov) Citation: Keeley, J. E. and C. J. Fotheringham. 2006. Wildfire management on a human-dominated landscape: California chaparral wildfires, pp. 69–75. In G. Wuerthner, Editor, Wildfire — A Century of Failed Forest Policy. Island Press, Covelo, CA.