SGER: Cerro Grande/Viveash Fire Research Project

New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas NM

Investigators

Abstract

0104202 Tierney The recent Cerro Grande and Viveash wildfires in New Mexico provide a unique opportunity to study the early effects of intensive regeneration efforts on two distinct forest types. Over 720,000 poinds of seed, most of which was non-native grasses, was applied to the Cerro Grande burn site over this summer. Similarly, 230,000 pounds of seed were also applied to the Viveash site. Review of the literature suggests that ecological studies evaluating the effects of reseeding, particularly with non-native species, have not been conducted in such southwestern forest ecosystems. This project will monitor the establishment and distribution of introduced, seeded and post-fire native emergent species in the first two growing seasons following the wildfires. Data collected in this exploratory study will be used to test spatially explicit models that predict patterns of distribution and persistence among introduced and native plant species in seeded and unseeded burned areas. These models are useful in examining the long-term effectiveness of reseeding and the effects of introducing non-ntaive species on patterns of recovery and succession in mid-elevation Ponderosa pine and high-elevation spruce/fir forest systems.