| Summary: | Climate driven increases in fire frequency and severity are predicted for Mediterranean climatic zones, including the Pacific coast of California. A recent high severity wildfire that burned in the Santa Cruz Mountains affected a variety of vegetation types, including ancient coast redwood (<i>Sequoia sempervirens</i> (D. Don) Endl.) stands. The purpose of this study was to characterize the survival and initial recovery of vegetation approximately six months after the fire. We sampled thirty randomly selected points in an old-growth coast redwood forest to examine and compare survival, crown retention, and post fire regeneration of trees by species, and the recovery of associated understory plant species. <i>Sequoia sempervirens</i> exhibited the highest post-fire survival (95%), with lower survival rates for subcanopy hardwood associates including tanoak (<i>Notholithocarpus densiflorus</i> (Hook. & Arn.) Manos) (88%), coast live oak (<i>Quercus agrifolia</i> Nee.) (93%), Pacific wax myrtle (<i>Myrica californica</i> (Cham. & Schltdl.) Wilbur) (75%), Pacific madrone (<i>Arbutus menziesii</i> Pursh) (71%), and the lowest survival recorded for the canopy codominant Douglas-fir (<i>Pseudotsuga menziesii</i> (Mirb.) Franco) (15%). Canopy retention and post fire regeneration were also highest for <i>S. sempervirens</i> and lowest for <i>P. menziesii</i>, indicating that <i>S. sempervirens</i> had a competitive advantage over <i>P. menziesii</i> following high severity crown fire. Both canopy survival and regeneration were greater for larger height and diameter trees; and basal sprouting was positively associated with tree height and diameter for <i>S. sempervirens</i> and <i>N. densiflorus</i>. Observed recovery of understory species was modest but included the reemergence of coast redwood associated herbaceous species. The robust nature of survival and recovery of <i>S. sempervirens</i> following this extreme fire event suggest that the removal of scorched, and the seeding or planting of trees, following this type of fire is contraindicated. The decline of <i>P. menziesii</i> is of concern, however, and suggests that repeated high severity fires driven by climate change could eventually lead to vegetation type conversion.
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