Fire increases the vulnerability of a California salt marsh

Southwest CASC PI Dr. Glen MacDonald is a co-author on a new paper about the "resiliency of ecosystems not adapted to fire." The authors followed the Salicornia-dominated salt marsh at Point Mugu, CA for two years after the 2013 Camarillo Springs Fire. During the observed recovery period, burned areas had less vegetation, a shift in dominant vegetation, and a lower normalized vegetation difference index (vegetation quantified by measuring the difference between near-infrared which is strongly reflected by vegetation and red light which is absorbed by vegetation) than pre-fire conditions. Read the full study here.