FIRE EFFECTS ON A MONTANE SIERRA-NEVADA MEADOW

The effects of a late fall burn on a mountain meadow at Grover Hot Springs State Park, California, were evaluated. Both wet (Carex sp. dominated) and dry (Poa sp. dominated) meadow plots were burned by a low to moderate intensity fire in mid-November 1987. Fire resulted in few detectable changes in species composition 10.5 months later. Postfire decreases in Poa sp. and Juncus sp., and increases in Carex sp. and Muhlenbergia sp. were observed. Burning increased bare ground area by more than three fold in both wet and dry plots, but there was no significant invasion of burned areas by exotic species after the fire. Under high soil moisture conditions, burning resulted in relatively little change in meadow vegetation.