Table 1 Characteristics of salvage and control survey locations in the Chips and Rim fires in the Sierra Nevada, CA, USA. Burn severity is expressed as the relativized difference in normal burn ratio (RdNBR), and elevation is expressed in meters; mean ± standard deviation with the range in parentheses is shown. All other metrics are percentages
| Â | Â | Chips Fire | Rim Fire | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Salvage (N = 87) | Control (N = 87) | Salvage (N = 106) | Control (N = 109) | ||
Pre-fire habitat type (%) | Sierra mixed conifer | 91 | 80 | 65 | 68 |
Ponderosa pine | 0 | 1 | 15 | 27 | |
Montane hardwood conifer | 0 | 3 | 17 | 5 | |
White fir | 9 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
Lodgepole pine | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
Pre-fire tree size class (%) | Class 3 (15–28 cm dbh) | 10 | 18 | 4 | 14 |
Class 4 (29–61 cm dbh) | 45 | 37 | 77 | 71 | |
Class 5 (>62 cm dbh) | 45 | 45 | 19 | 15 | |
Pre-fire tree density class (%) | Sparse (10–24%) | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Open (25–39%) | 27 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
Moderate (40–59%) | 51 | 46 | 11 | 12 | |
Dense (60–100%) | 20 | 32 | 89 | 88 | |
Burn severity (RdNBR) (range) | 764 ± 193 (299–1068) | 632 ± 243 (301–1061) | 887 ± 204 (382–1227) | 811 ± 210 (424–1169) | |
Average elevation (m) (range) | 1550 ± 130 (1277–1845) | 1504 ± 172 (1224–1903) | 1380 ± 130 (1146–1620) | 1475 ± 186 (1151–1952) | |