Eastern Mojave Vegetation Tom Schweich
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Eastern Mojave Vegetation | Effects of the Hackberry Complex Fire in Mojave National Preserve, June 22-25, 2005. |
| Tom Schweich |
Topics in this Article: Effects Plants Literature Cited | This page is a
work-in-progress as I put together the information I can assemble about this devastating fire.
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| Literature Cited: The Hackberry Complex
fires began on the Mojave National Preserve on June 22, 2005 at approximately 12:00 Noon as a dry lightning storm rolled through the Preserve. Three separate fires on Hackberry Mountain were reported by a San Bernardino County Road Department that eventually burned together to become the Hackberry Fire. At approximately 5:00 PM hours a second storm rolled through the Preserve and two additional fires were reported near the Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor Center. These fires became the Narrow and Wild Horse fires. The Brant Fire was reported at 6:00 PM and the Ranch Fire was reported by residents at 7:00 PM. At the peak of the incident there were 1,133 personnel on the fire including 5 helicopters, four air tankers, two single-engine air tankers (SEAT), and 15 engine crews. A total of 70,736 acres were burned. The cost to date to suppress the Hackberry Complex fires is approximately 3.1 million dollars.
| | Literature Cited: Vegetation resources
were impacted to varying degrees as fire intensities varied across the landscape. Combinations of wind, fuel, slope and plume-driven fire behavior contributed to difficult suppression conditions. Thunderstorms moving through the area caused downburst winds with little to no precipitation over the fire area. Suppression resources were pulled back to safety zones several times during the incident. The Mojave Desert was lush with vegetation following a record-setting winter and therefore rates of spread were extreme.
| | Literature Cited: Hackberry Complex
fire suppression actions included construction of 2.3 miles of hand line. Fire suppression forces impacted 47 miles of roads. In addition, associated suppression actions included 2 fire camps, and multiple helispots. Approximately 19,129 gallons of retardant, 30,000 gallons of foam, and 96,010 gallons of wet water was delivered by aircraft.
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The Park Service has posted a map showing the spread of the fire at http://www.nps.gov/moja/hackberry.pdf
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| Effects
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| Wild Horse Mesa
|  The
north face of Wild Horse Mesa after the Hackberry Complex Fire, June 22-25, 2005.
Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 40010 Locations: Wild Horse Mesa.
By the fire map, the entire top of Wild Horse Mesa burned, as well as the entire north face of the mesa. However, as you can see in the left middle of this photo, the area underlain by the white soil (Winkler Formation, lacustrine limestone) did not burn.
| |  North face of Wild Horse Mesa after the Hackberry Complex Fire
Some areas on the
slopes of the mesa did not burn, presumably because of the sparse vegetation. My plots in Swertia albomarginata are found in this area, and may not have burned.
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| Wild Horse Canyon |
| Lower Wild Horse Canyon
|  Patchy burned areas in lower Wild Horse Canyon.
Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 74800 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
The fire came down this face of Wild Horse Mesa in the lower canyon, leaving patchy areas unburned. Photograph taken June 27, 2005 by Phil Woodall.
| |  Patchy areas burned on the slopes of Wild Horse Mesa.
Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 59000 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
| |  Burned slopes in mid-Wild Horse Canyon. Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 57000 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
There is a rock outcrop in the mid-section of Wild Horse Canyon. This is an identified archeological site and, supposedley, site of some rock rings, although I have never found them. At this location the fire burned right down to the wash and Wild Horse Canyon Road.
| |  Near the top of lower Wild Horse Canyon Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 55500 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
The upper section of lower Wild Horse Canyon was completely burned by the Hackberry Complex Fire, June 22-25, 2005, except for some small patches on the other side of the wash and up near the rim of the mesa.
| |  Looking south into Wild Horse Canyon. Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 43000 Locations: Wild Horse Canyon.
The upper Wild Horse Canyon has several areas with well-developed pediments. This one burned completely in the Hackberry Complex Fire.
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| Upper Wild Horse Canyon
|  Looking east across upper Wild Horse Canyon from the hill above Winkler's Cabin.
The entire upper Wild
Horse Canyon burned except for small patches here and there. From this photograph, it also looks like my experimental plot in Salvia dorrii has burned as well.
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| Winklers Cabin
|  Winkler's Cabin. Locations: Winklers Cabin.
Winklers Cabin is a miner's cabin in the upper reaches of Wild Horse Canyon. Often visited by those "in the know," it had a sign over the door saying, "Leave what you can, take what you need," and a log book inside with writings from many year's visitors.
| |  Winklers Cabin burned to the ground.
Locations: Winklers Cabin. Unfortunately,
Winklers Cabin was burned to the ground by the Wild Horse fire of the Hackberry Complex. Phil Woodall, a frequent visitor to the cabin, visited on June 27, 2005, and took this photo.
| |  Entrance to the Blue Jay Mine, caved following the Hackberry Fire Complex.
It appears that the
shoring around the entrance to the Blue Jay Mine at Winkler's Cabin burned substantially, allowing additional collapse.
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| Between Wild Horse Canyon and Lobo Point -- My Plot in Salvia dorrii |  My
plot at LoboPoint Other Articles: Transect 5: Introduction
In April, 1996, I established a plot along the access road to Lobo Point. This plot was 5 m wide by 50 m long. I identified and measured every plant in the plot.
| |  White 40 in April 1998 
Population of S. albomarginata and Salvia dorrii by observation date.
In April, 1997, I
went back and individually staked every Salvia dorrii in the plot. The El Niņo year of 1998 saw the establishment of many seedlings. Many of the seedlings survived until the drought years of 2002-2003, when every seedling perished. I thought this was a significant finding that a population of about 50 plants could generate about 70 seedlings, none of which survived to bloom and set seed.
| |  Salvia dorriiWhite 38 on May 28, 2005.
In 2004, being a good year, the few
surviving Salvia dorrii bloomed, raising the prospect of seedlings in 2005.
| |  Before and after photo (warning, large image: 1.8 MB) 
Before and after photo.
Unfortunately, though, the plot burned completely in the Hackberry Complex fire.
| |  My
plot in Swertia albomarginata after the Hackberry Complex Fire
The Hackberry Complex Fire burned quite close to my plot.
My plots in
Swertia albomarginata on the north face of Wild Horse Mesa and the south face of Pinto Mountain were not burned, even though the fire came quite close.
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 Former plot in Salvia dorrii
The above ground parts of every plant were destroyed by the fire.
| |  Lobo Point plot 1 year after fire. Other Articles: Field Notes: 8-Jun-08 at Transect 5
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This effectively terminates my study of population dynamics in this population of S. dorrii.
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The fire in my previously measured plot does, however, raise some new possibilities. Here are some new questions that I may try to answer by continuing to work in this plot:
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So I think my plan will be, assuming agreeement by the Park Service, to study fire response in a desert scrub population.
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| Lobo Point
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| Mid Hills Campground |
 Campground entrance after Hackberry Fire Complex
Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 13090 Locations: Mid Hills Campground.
| |  Entrance koisk burned by the Hackberry Complex Fire
Locations: Mid Hills Campground. The
information kiosk at the Mid Hills Campground burned to the ground.
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 Camp site in the Mid Hills Campground after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 14010 Locations: Mid Hills Campground.
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 Camp site in the Mid Hills Campground after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: 14020 Locations: Mid Hills Campground.
| |  Camp site #25 in Mid Hills Campground 1 year after the Hackberry Complex Fire
Other Articles: Field Notes: 8-Jun-08 in Mid Hills Campground Locations: Mid Hills Campground. |
|  Intersection of Wild Horse Canyon and Black Canyon Roads after Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Black Canyon Road: Near Wild Horse Canyon Road Wild Horse Canyon Road: Near Black Canyon Rd. Locations: Round Valley. This panorama, taken
June 27, 2005, after the Hackberry Complex Fire of June 22-25, 2005, shows that much of Round Valley burned as well as a good portion of Pinto Mountain.
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| Plants
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| Rare Plants
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Mojave National Preserve is a refuge for 103 species of rare plants as described by the State of california in conjunction with the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). Approximately 38 may have been burned over by the Hackberry Complex. There is limited information regarding the potential effects of the fire to these species. The Burn Area Emergency Response Team has prioritized ten species for focused monitoring with the potential for future treatments based upon assessment information.
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| Response to Fire
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Plants that definitely resprout from roots |
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Yucca baccata Torrey |
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Symphoricarpos longiflorus A. Gray. |
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Chamaesyce albomarginata (Torrey & A. Gray) Small. |
|  Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis Liebm.) 1 year after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis Liebm.) resprouting after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 20060607220
Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis Liebm.)
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Dalea searlsiae (A. Gray) Barneby. |
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Salazaria mexicana Torrey. |
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Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray. |
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Mirabilis multiflora (Torrey) A. Gray. |
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Fraxinus anomala S. Watson. |
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Prunus fasciculata (Torrey) A. Gray. |
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Keckiella antirrhinoides (Benth.) Straw ssp. microphylla,/i> (A. Gray) N. Holmgren.
| |  Verbena gooddingi 1 year after the fire.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 7-Jun-06 near Cedar Canyon Verbena gooddingii Briq.
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Plants that may resprout depending upon possible damage |
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Echinocereus triglochidiatus Engelm. |
|  Ephedra viridis resprouting one year after the fire.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 7-Jun-07 near Wild Horse Mesa | |  Lycium andersonii 1 year after being burned.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 20060607170
| |  Lycium cooperi approximately 1 year after a fire.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 7-Jun-06 near Pinto Mountain Lycium cooperi A. Gray. | I'm pretty sure that this is L. cooperi, but the leaves are very large, much larger than I usually see on this plant. Perhaps the size of the leaves is related to the plant having been burned. |  Beavertail (Opunita basilaris) sprouting after a fire.
Opuntia
basilaris Engelm. & J. Bigelow. |
|  Pancake Cactus (Opuntia chlorotica resprouting after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Article: "16000" not found in tblArticles Opuntia chlorotica Engelm. &
J. Bigelow. | |  Desert Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata glandulosa) resprouting after the Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 7-Jun-06 in Mid Hills Campground, Purshia tridentata (Pursh) DC var. glandulosa (Curran) M. E. Jones.
| |  Yucca brevifolia resprouting 1 year after the Hackberry Complex fire.
Other Articles: Field Notes: 7-Jun-06 near Cedar Canyon Yucca brevifolia Engelm.
| |  Yucca schidigera resprouting one year after Hackberry Complex Fire
Other Articles: Field Notes: 20060608030
Yucca schidigera K. E. Ortgies. |
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Plants that were not observed resprouting: |
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Opuntia acanthocarpa Engelm. & J. Bigelow var. coloradensis L. Benson.
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Juniperus osteosperma (Torrey) Little. |
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Salvia dorrii (Kellogg) Abrams. |
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Pinus monophylla Torrey & Fremont. |
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Coleogyne ramosissima Torrey. |
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| Recovery From Fire | Other Articles: Transect 5: 20100
On April 29-30, 1996, I measured a transect near Lobo Point. The purpose was to develop a quantitative understanding of the plant species growing on the bajada north of Lobo Point. Since I measured every perennial plant, it was possible to prepare absolute measures of density and coverage by species. The results are shown in my page: Transect 5 in Blackbrush Scrub Near Lobo Point, Mojave National Preserve, California.
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The transect was burned completely by the Hackberry Complex Fire.
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On June 7-8, 2006, I measured the same transect again. Once again, I measured every perennial plant, skipping over the dried annuals. The resulting statistics are shown below.
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| Summary Statistics |
| Column | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Data | Absolute Density | Absolute Coverage | Absolute Frequency | Relative Density | Relative Coverage | Relative Frequency | Importance Value Species
| D
| C
| F
| RD
| RC
| RF
| IV
| Verbena gooddingii Briq.
| 139
| 13.993
| 6
| 0.641
| 0.795
| 0.231
| 0.555
| Yucca baccata Torrey
| 19
| 1.431
| 5
| 0.088
| 0.081
| 0.192
| 0.120
| Salazaria mexicana Torrey
| 38
| 0.802
| 2
| 0.175
| 0.046
| 0.077
| 0.099
| Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray
| 11
| 0.228
| 5
| 0.051
| 0.013
| 0.192
| 0.085
| Mirabilis multiflora (Torrey) A. Gray
| 2
| 0.629
| 2
| 0.009
| 0.036
| 0.077
| 0.041
| Yucca schidigera K. E. Ortgies.
| 3
| 0.209
| 1
| 0.014
| 0.012
| 0.038
| 0.021
| Mirabilis bigelovii A. Gray
| 1
| 0.173
| 1
| 0.005
| 0.010
| 0.038
| 0.018
| Prunus fasciculata (Torrey) A. Gray
| 1
| 0.095
| 1
| 0.005
| 0.005
| 0.038
| 0.016
| Eriogonum sp.
| 1
| 0.027
| 1
| 0.005
| 0.002
| 0.038
| 0.015
| Physalis sp.
| 1
| 0.009
| 1
| 0.005
| 0.001
| 0.038
| 0.015
| Ephedra viridis S. Watson
| 1
| 0.006
| 1
| 0.005
| 0.000
| 0.038
| 0.014
| Totals
| 217
| 17.602
| 26
| 1.000
| 1.000
| 1.000
| 1.000
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Literature CitedA list of all literature cited by this web site can be found in the Bibliography.
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| Burn Area Emergency Response Team. 2005. Burned Area Emergency Stabilization Plan: Hackberry Complex. Primm, Nevada: National-Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response Team, July 5, 2005. Location records referred to by this literature:
If you have a
question or a comment you may write to me at: tas4@schweich.com I sometimes post
interesting questions in my FAQ, but I never disclose your full name or address.
| | Date and time this article was prepared: 5/8/2008 9:41:10 AM |