FIRE HISTORY ON A DESERT MOUNTAIN-RANGE - RINCON MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS, ARIZONA, USA

Modern fire records and fire-scarred remnant material collected from logs, snags, and stumps were used to reconstruct and analyze fire history in the mixed-conifer and pine forest above 2300 m within the Rincon Mountain Wilderness of Saguaro National Monument. The fire regime was dominated by large scale (>200 ha), early-season (May-July) surface fires. Mean fire interval over the Mica Mountain study area for 1657-1893 was 6.1 yr with a range of 1-13 yr for larger fires. Mean fire interval for the mixed-conifer forest type (1748-1886) was 9.9 yr with a range of 3-19 yr. Thirty-five major fire years between 1700-1900 were compared with a tree-ring reconstruction of the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI). Mean July PDSI for 2 yr prior to fires was higher (wetter) than average, while mean fire year PDSI was near average. -from Authors