for about 95 percent of shrub volume before the fire, but the average maple was more than 7 

 feet high and willow averaged nearly 16 feet. Most of the annual growth was well out of reach 

 of big-game animals. After the fire, maple and willow were still dominant, but maple averaged 

 less than 4 feet in height and willow less than 7 feet. All of the annual growth was available, 

 and most of it was succulent and presumably highly nutritious. In addition, shrub dominance 

 was dramatically shifted from maple, which has only medium palatability, to the more palatable 

 and productive willow. This postfire combination of greater availability and improved composi- 

 tion has vastly improved big- game habitat in Neal Canyon. 



For the future, sudden regrowth of large shrubs may not be desirable. At present incre- 

 ment rates , willow will grow out of reach in a few years and maple could follow in a short 

 period. Continuation of wildlife values will eventually devolve on plant species currently 

 subdominant in the stand. 



Unless there is an unforeseen deviation in vegetal development, snowbrush will become 

 the most important forage shrubs on this study site. Already present in more than 90 percent 

 of the frequency quadrats , snowbrush seedlings are large and vigorous throughout the burned 

 area (fig. 10). On a nearby similar site burned by wildfire in 1950, snowbrush has increased 

 in the plant community to the virtual exclusion of other species (fig. 11). Since snowbrush is 

 usually rated a desirable forage plant, the big- game habitat potential of the prescribed fire 

 area promises to remain high even after the tall shrubs have grown out of reach. 



It is doubtful that the study site will be as totally smothered by snowbrush as the older 

 wildfire area. Serviceberry , snowberry, and Ribes viscosissimum have all increased in 

 density since the prescribed fire, and their crown volumes should considerably exceed prefire 

 volumes before snowbrush reaches maturity. Thus the habitat will probably have a desirable 

 diversity of forage as well as a high production potential. The mixture of species also demon- 

 strates one way in which the Neal Canyon shrub community may be atypical. Of the dozen 

 woody shrubs recorded, none is totally worthless as big-game forage, and the beneficial 

 changes reported here are simply shifts in dominance from less palatable or productive species 

 to more valuable shrubs. It is notable, however, that the immediate improvement in forage 

 production and the potential for continuing production were both determined by plant responses 

 to fire. 



Figure 10. -- Snowbrush 

 (Ceanothus velutinus) 

 seedlings 2 years old, 

 Neal Canyon study 

 area, 1965. 



