Post-Fire Plant Recovery in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of Western North America

摘要: Abstract Increasing wildfire activity is one of the most pressing management concerns in arid lands American West. To examine post-fire recovery perennial vegetation Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, I analyzed data systematically synthesized from literature. Post-fire sprouting by desert perennials generally limited but varies among species. For example, only 3–37% Larrea tridentata sprouted compared to 64–86% Yucca schidigera . Four five studies measuring cover reported close relationships ( r 2  = 0.67–0.99) between time since fire (TSF) cover. In fact, three longest TSF (≥37 years) found that had returned within 10% unburned areas approximately 40 years. Conversely, species composition exhibited little convergence with six even 47 years after fire. Sphaeralcea ambigua , Gutierrezia spp., Achnatherum speciosum Encelia Hymenoclea salsola Baileya multiradiata highest burned:unburned abundance ratios, although overall community differed Deserts. Analyzing literature as a whole suggested some generalities (e.g., reestablishes faster than composition), more work required for improving specific knowledge about plant fires, sites, species, climates.