Height and canopy measurements of native shrubs in southern California

The drivers of shrubland biomass in the Mediterranean-Climate Region of
southern California are not well understood. This is an issue for resource
managers of shrub-dominated landscapes who need to estimate shrub recovery
post-fire; track and monitor carbon storage and sequestration; and
determine the tradeoff in restoration goals between prioritizing carbon
storage and species richness. We collected field data from 143 field plots
located in 11 fire scars (ranging from 1 to 12 years old) and used Linear
Mixed Models to assess the contribution of temporal and environmental
variables, along with post-fire regeneration strategies of shrub species
to explain patterns of aboveground shrub biomass. We identified four key
findings: (1) shrub biomass increased with time since last fire and the
proportion of resprouting species, and decreased with distance to coast
and solar radiation; (2) species with the ability to resprout (obligate
resprouter and facultative seeders) contributed greater biomass at all
post-fire time periods and locations when compared with obligate seeders;
(3) we found higher average biomass contributed by both obligate seeder
and obligate resprouter species in plots closer to the coast than interior
plots; and (4) fourth, we found a significant positive relationship
between woody shrub richness and biomass. The findings of this study can
help support natural resource management decision making for
shrub-dominated landscapes – including estimating biomass recovery
post-fire, quantifying carbon storage, and setting goals for shrubland
restoration. This Dryad submission provides the shrubland biomass field
data.