Fire Response Effects, Biocrust, and Vascular Plant Abundance Following Wildfire near Boise, Idaho (October 2021)

Twenty quadrats within the burn perimeter of a September 2021 wildfire outside of Boise, Idaho were surveyed for the abundance of fire effects, biocrusts and vascular plants immediately post-fire. The fire was too small to be named. Char was measured as a proxy for fire intensity. Biocrusts were surveyed by morphogroup (crustose lichens, cup lichens, fruticose lichens, gelatinous lichens, short moss, tall moss) and vascular plants were surveyed by functional group (annual forbs, perennial grasses). Char was measured ocularly and biocrust/plant abundance was measured via point-vertex intercept at 40 points per quadrat. These data support the following publication: Condon, L.A., Shinneman, D.J., Rosentreter, R. and Coates, P.S., 2023. Could biological soil crusts act as natural fire fuel breaks in the sagebrush steppe?. Ecology, p.e3971. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3971.