Fire Relations — Abstract of Paper


Post-fire Monitoring of Coast Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia) Burned in the 1993 Old Topanga Fire
Rosi Dagit¹


The intensity of the 1993 Old Topanga Fire raised many concerns about the recovery and response of the Coast Live Oak trees (Quercus agrifolia) and their understory vegetation. Preliminary information on the status of the trees six months post-fire was reported in Keeley and Scott (1995). This report provides follow up assessment of the condition of the 90 trees in the original study, and assesses the recovery of their understory vegetation over the eight years since the burn. This long-term study documenting the recovery of coast live oak communities in 3 different locations (open riparian, ridgeline and valley riparian) illustrates the recovery potential under various conditions and burn frequency histories.