A review of fire effects on vegetation and soils in the Great Basin region: response and ecological site characteristics

This review synthesizes the state of knowledge on fire effects
on vegetation and soils in semi-arid ecosystems in the Great
Basin Region, including the central and northern Great
Basin and Range, Columbia River Basin, and the Snake
River Plain. We summarize available literature related to:
(1) the effects of environmental gradients, ecological site,
and vegetation characteristics on resilience to disturbance
and resistance to invasive species; (2) the effects of fire
on individual plant species and communities, biological
soil crusts, seed banks, soil nutrients, and hydrology; and
(3) the role of fire severity, fire versus fire surrogate
treatments, and post-fire grazing in determining ecosystem
response. From this, we identify knowledge gaps and present
a framework for predicting plant successional trajectories
following wild and prescribed fires and fire surrogate
treatments. Possibly the three most important ecological
site characteristics that influence a site’s resilience (ability
of the ecological site to recover from disturbance) and
resistance to invasive species are soil temperature/moisture
regimes and the composition and structure of vegetation on
the ecological site just prior to the disturbance event.