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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Wind Tunnel Experiments to Study Chaparral Crown Fires
Published on: November 14, 2017
N saturation symptoms in chaparral catchments are not reversed by prescribed fire
T Meixner1, M E Fenn, P Wohlgemuth
1Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA. tmeixner@hwr.arizona.edu
Abstract:
Fire is a critical ecosystem process in many landscapes and is particularly dominant in the chaparral shrublands of southern California which are also exposed to high levels of atmospheric N deposition. Few studies have addressed the combined effects of these two disturbance factors. In this study we evaluate the hydrologic and biogeochemical response of a control and a prescribed burn catchment over a 15-year period. Streamwater nitrate concentrations and export in the burned catchment were higher than those in the unburned catchment for 7-10 years after the burn and concentrations remained high in both catchments during the entire study. Therefore, fire is not an effective mitigation tool for N deposition in these semi-arid systems. Additionally, the extended N export in this system indicates that chaparral ecosystems do not recovertheir N retention capabilities as rapidly as humid systems do when subjected to disturbance.
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