Postfire Vegetation Recovery in the Santa Monica Mountains Under Two Alternative Management Programs

Abstract

n the autumn of 1993, two large wildfires were ignited within a week <br /><br />of each other at opposite ends of the Santa Monica Mountains. This study com- <br /><br />pared postfire plant recovery on the Green Meadow burn, which was managed <br /><br />passively by relying solely on natural regeneration, with recovery on the Old <br /><br />Topanga burn, which was actively managed by aerial seeding of mostly non-native <br /><br />annual grasses and forbs. Establishment of both exotic and native seeded species <br /><br />was very poor and largely insignificant, relative to the natural regeneration. Com- <br /><br />paring recovery on the Old Topanga burn and Green Meadow burn, there was no <br /><br />significant difference in plant cover on the two burns. Aerial seeding did contrib- <br /><br />ute to a significantly greater number of non-native species on the Old Topanga <br /><br />burn, but it is unknown whether or not seeding contributed to the reduced species <br /><br />richness observed on the Old Topanga sites.