Table 1 Mean ground cover characteristics of the field plots on the Simi and Old fires by burn severity class based on dNBR class values—standard error of the mean is in parentheses. Organic ground cover refers to green and non-photosynthetic vegetation, while inorganic refers to soil, rock and ash. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) F-value statistic is significant at p < 0.05.
Ground cover category | Burn severity class | F-value | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low | Moderate-low | Moderate-high | High | |||
dNBR values | ||||||
100–269 | 270–439 | 440–659 | 660–1300 | |||
Simi fire plots | n = 19 | n = 22 | n = 13 | n = 0 | ||
Organic-uncharred (%) | 22(3.2) | 8(1.8) | 5(2.0) | 13.5 | <0.0001 | |
Organic-charred (%) | 15(2.2) | 12(2.3) | 7(1.6) | 2.3 | 0.11 | |
Inorganic-uncharred (%) | 40(3.2) | 50(4.6) | 43(6.3) | 1.5 | 0.24 | |
Inorganic-charred (%) | 21(4.4) | 28(4.6) | 44(6.4) | 4.8 | 0.01 | |
Old fire plots | n = 3 | n = 8 | n = 19 | n = 24 | ||
Organic-uncharred (%) | 27(5.0) | 15(6.0) | 5(1.9) | 1(0.2) | 12.8 | <0.0001 |
Organic-charred (%) | 4(2.3) | 14(4.7) | 8(1.1) | 6(1.1) | 3.3 | 0.03 |
Inorganic-uncharred (%) | 38(9.0) | 32(7.0) | 37(4.5) | 16(2.4) | 6.6 | 0.0007 |
Inorganic-charred (%) | 7(3.1) | 38(9.4) | 49(4.3) | 77(2.4) | 24.3 | <0.0001 |