Using Terrestrial Lidar to Determine the Role of Fire on Soil Mounds and Surface Roughness in the Mojave Desert

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A fundamental question in arid land management focuses on understanding the long-term effects of fire on desert ecosystems. To assess the effects of fire on surface topography, soil roughness, and vegetation, terrestrial (ground-based) lidar was used to quantify the differences between burned and unburned surfaces by creating a series of high-resolution vegetation structure and bare-earth surface models for six sample plots in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona. Eleven years after prescribed burns, mound volumes, plant heights, and soil-surface roughness were substantially lower on burned plots than on unburned plots. Results also suggest a link between vegetation and soil mounds, either through accretion or erosion mechanisms such as wind and/or water erosion. The biogeomorphic implications of fire-induced changes are important. Reduced plant cover and altered soil surfaces from fire likely influence seed residence times, inhibit seed germination and plant establishment, and affect other ecohydrological processes.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3264/abstract

Optech terrestrial lidar scanner overlooking a fenced study plot in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona.

Optech terrestrial lidar scanner overlooking a fenced study plot in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona.

Author Name
Christopher Soulard
Author Email
csoulard@usgs.gov