Along with the heat, winds blowing across large swaths of dry vegetation and timber cause the fire to spread in multiple directions, destroying homes and buildings and threatening nearby communities.
In order to clarify the effects of such practices on understory vegetation and timber production, a field trial was installed in a 5-year-old first rotation eucalyptus plantation, in a region with mixed oceanic and Mediterranean climatic influences.
The maps from the State Cooperative Soil-Vegetation Survey of California, which are the first state-wide program to use aerial photography interpretation to produce vegetation and timber maps, have not to our knowledge been digitized, and might add to the understanding of California flora in the post-war period.
http://sonomavegmap.org/blog/2016/10/10/soil-veg-maps-northern-sonoma-county/ Great story map too! Between the years 1949-1979 the Pacific Southwest research station branch of the U.S. Forest service published two series of maps: 1) The Soil-Vegetation Maps, and 2) Timber Stand Vegetation Maps.
Flames spread amid dense vegetation and heavy timber in the remote area, forcing firefighters to initially depend on air tankers and helicopters.
Single-story forest work will be carried out in high productivity forestland and in view of natural conditions such as topography, soils and vegetation mainly for timber production.
The Timber Stand Vegetation Maps use blue or black symbols to show broad vegetation types and the density of woody vegetation, age-size, structure, and density of conifer timber stands and other information about the land and vegetation resources is captured.
Managing forests for multiple objectives requires balancing timber and vegetation management objectives with needs of sensitive species.
Since AD 1880, the pollen record indicates an increase in shrubs and grasses from AD 1895 to 1960 as a result of vegetation changes associated with timber harvesting and livestock grazing.
This project seeks to inform future management of California's natural resources that are influenced by the distribution of forest vegetation; such resources include fresh water from the Sierran snowpack, timber species, and biodiversity.
The accompanying "Legends and Supplemental Information to Accompany Timber Stand-Vegetation Cover Maps of California" allows for interpretation of those symbols.
