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Chico State students present early findings: prescribed burns reduce star thistle, native ‘fire followers’ colonize Park Fire burn scar
Summary
A Chico State class presented early field data from Upper Bidwell Park after the July 2024 Park Fire: prescribed burns showed the lowest recorded yellow starthistle cover in sampled transects, and students documented 58 fire-following native species including bird’s-eye gilia, wavy-leaf soap plant and red larkspur.
A Chico State applied-ecology class reported early findings from field sampling in Upper Bidwell Park after the July 2024 Park Fire, telling the Park and Playground Commission that prescribed burns were associated with substantially lower early‑season cover of yellow starthistle and that dozens of native “fire followers” are recolonizing the burn scar.
Dr. Kristen Kosinski and student researchers described two projects: a quantitative transect study of yellow starthistle cover and a crowdsourced inventory of post-fire native plants using iNaturalist. Students sampled three treatment types—areas that had received prescribed burns, unburned areas, and ground…
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