December 2022
Nikki Evans
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| In November, Sedgwick Reserve hosted a Prescribed Burning Training Exchange (TREX). TREX programs provide hands-on training in fire management through involvement in fire preparedness projects that achieve community objectives. First arriving in Northern California in 2013, this was the first of its kind in Southern California. In addition to hands-on training, participants were engaged in lectures and discussions on topics related to local fire ecology, tribal burning, and burn planning. The program culminated in prescribed burns at Sedgwick Reserve and The Nature Conservancy’s Dangermond Preserve. The 20 acres burned at Sedgwick Reserve included oak woodlands, annual grasslands, and coastal sage scrub, a community of aromatic shrubs that are often dominated by California sagebrush (Artemisia californica) and sages (Salvia). Locations within the nearly 6,000-acre reserve were chosen to achieve the community objective of managing vegetation closest to neighboring properties that have also conducted prescribed burns, to be representative of the vegetation at the reserve, and because they are readily accessible, and encompass whole small watersheds. Participants came from all around California, other states, and Canada. Involvement included members of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, The Nature Conservancy, the University of California Natural Reserve System, the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, researchers, land managers, and other partners interested in learning about fire management that incorporates the use of “good fire” for the reduction of wildfire risk. Sedgwick Reserve’s Director of Operations, Lyza Johnsen, participated in the TREX program as part of her training to become a Prescribed Fire Burn Boss. As many around the state, country, and world learn to co-exist with fire, the bottom-up model of TREX is an example of how to increase local knowledge and give communities the tools needed to adapt to our changing environment. Prescribed Burning: A Unique Opportunity to Study Fire While TREX participants became adept at fire management and the Reserve achieved organizational and community objectives, researchers maximized on the opportunity to advance understanding of the impact of prescribed fire on the local ecology. Read on to learn about some of the research being conducted on the prescribed burn areas at Sedgwick. |
 Image 2: Fire severity during the prescribed burns at Sedgwick were assessed using data loggers and pyrometers, which in this case are metal tags painted with temperature-sensitive paints that melt at different temperatures Understanding Effects of Prescribed Burns in Oak Woodlands Kaili Brande, PhD candidate in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California Santa Barbara, is working to understand the effects of prescribed burns in oak woodlands. She has been collecting pre and post-burn data that includes recording which species make up her plots (generally known in the sciences as composition) and how her plots’ vegetation is arranged in space (generally known in the sciences as structure), along with measures of fire behavior and fire severity. Fire severity in this case is assessed using data loggers and pyrometers, metal tags painted with temperature-sensitive paints that melt at different maximum temperature thresholds. Using these data points, Kaili will be able to better understand the relationships between vegetation composition and structure and fire behavior and severity. Her work has implications on the long-term health, management, and recovery of California’s oak woodlands as we learn to live with “good fire.” |
 Image 3: Visiting scholar from Australia, Hannah Etchells, and her research assistants, Emily Chen and Shaghig Terzian, preparing sites for research Understanding Fire Intervals for Coastal Sage Scrub and Chaparral Dr. Hannah Etchells, a Fulbright Scholar from the University of Western Australia, is looking across Australia and the United States to better understand ideal minimum and maximum fire intervals for chaparral and coastal sage scrub. Fire intervals are the amount of time between two fire events in a given area. It is well known that different natural communities need different fire intervals to maintain their structure and composition. Burn too frequently, or too infrequently, and the entire natural community may shift. The ideal fire intervals for coastal sage scrub and chaparral are not fully understood, but Hannah suspects that fire intensity plays a role in the answer. Prescribed fires tend to be lower heat and flame height compared to wildfires which can become so hot that they literally scorch the soil, affecting the seedbank, the chemical makeup of the soil, and ultimately vegetation regrowth. Dr. Etchells’ results will have implications for how prescribed fire is applied to chaparral and coastal sage scrub in the US and Australia. |
 Image 4: While prescribed burns, like all fires, generate smoke, they are carefully regulated and public health and safety are taken into consideration as part of deciding when and where to burn. Understanding Air Quality During Prescribed Burns Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Michael Morrison and Nancy Merino, looked at the microbial composition of prescribed fire smoke, collecting air samples through a dry air sampler, a device that uses filters to capture microbes. They share that “a largely ignored air pollutant in wildfire smoke are bioaerosols, such as fungi and bacteria, which are present in both ambient and air-smoke mixtures. In particular, smoke plumes contain higher microbial cell concentrations and viable microbes, but the microbial composition and its functions remains understudied and largely unknown.” This work will help increase knowledge of smoke-related health issues. |
 Image 5: Frank Davis, Kristen Zumdahl, and Kaili Brande collect data on vegetation structure and composition using a simple grid placed over their study plots. La Kretz Research Center at Sedgwick ReserveIn addition to supporting these projects in the field, affiliates with the La Kretz Research Center at Sedgwick Reserve, Frank Davis and Kristen Zumdahl, are looking at effects on local wildlife, with trail cameras strategically placed around the burn area. They are also working to link pre- and post-burn vegetation structure, composition and condition to fire behavior and severity. |
 Image 6: Three coyotes captured on a trail camera during pre-burn monitoring. Researchers and the public have long wondered how burning affects local wildlife. Other Projects Sedgwick Reserve also hosted individuals from BurnBot, a company that uses drone technology to safely and precisely apply prescribed burn, and the Burn Cycle Project a nonprofit that uses fireproof boxes to capture footage of fire for educational installations. |
 Image 7: Preparing the BurnBot to take to the air to assist in the careful application of fire |
| A Community of “Good Fire” stewards, scientists, and supporters No one really knows when and where wildfire will strike. This means most field research conducted on fire ecology contains measures taken only after an area has burned. Prescribed fire presents the opportunity for researchers to collect data before, during, and after a burn, expanding the questions that can be asked and answered. Taken together, these projects represent significant advancements in our understanding of fire and the application of “good fire” on the landscape. We are proud to be at the forefront of using a holistic approach to fire management that incorporates science, community, and wise stewardship of the land. The future looks bright. |
 Image 8: TREX participants during a prescribed burn at Sedgwick |