UCSB lagoon fire burns off non-native grasses

GOLETA, Calif. -  A specialized burn at UC Santa Barbara removed non-native grasses by the lagoon as part of an on going restoration project.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department has been involved in this effort for several years along with the university to clear pieces of the lagoon surroundings that will eventually be replanted with native seeds.

The burn site was grassland, Coastal Sage and Bluff Scrub. 

Chris Berry with the UCSB Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration  said the area has several sites with, "predominantly non native  annual grassland that have very low biodiversity and don't support as much wild life it doesn't have as much ecosystem value and function."

This burn was coordinated with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and Air Pollution Control District, as soon as the weather conditions were perfect for the burn. That allowed the smoke to disperse effectively.

It had to be a hot burn, and some additional woody fuel was added.   Berry said, "it heats the soil to the point where it actually cooks and kills the  seed bank so the seeds that can become grasses in the future become sterilized and die and this gives us blank slate."
For ecology students, this is a working project, conducted every two years, that produces results they see first hand.

Student Jackson Mills said, "after  coming here and working, it strengthen my interest in the field and getting to know our plants here is really cool."

After this fire some native seeds gathered by the university will be spread out here and after the seasonal rains there will be some new growth here including spring flowers

 Berry said, "we get this amazing explosion of native wildflower habitat that will gradually fill in with our native  shrub land and eventually become a nice coastal sage scrubs."
The area burned was a half acre.

The Santa Barbara County fire department was on scene to make sure the hot spots were all out,  and they let the fire burn out without spraying water on it.

The were also looking for random sparks.   "it is pretty cool they actually face away from the fire and keep an eye out for anything spotting up or coming up in the surrounding vegetation," said Berry.

Several areas around the fire zone were part of past burns and have had a healthy recovery.

The site has many trails and is often used by students, staff and the public enjoying the outdoors.

The Air Pollution Control District is coordinating with the fire officials on the burn and amount of smoke in the air.
These fires typically burn less intensely than wildfires.
 

Prescribed burns can help prevent the spread of wildfires and can reduce impacts to watersheds that can result in soil loss.