Modeling the impacts of wildfire on runoff and pollutant transport from coastal watersheds to the nearshore environment

Morrison, Katherine D.; Kolden, Crystal A.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.12.025

Cited by 20 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…However, recent studies have provided solutions, such as fire-adapted algorithms (Nunes et al, 2016c;Vieira et al, 2014) or methods to parameterize postfire vegetation and soil properties in existing models (Fernández & Vega, 2016;van Eck et al, 2016). Models can now be used to evaluate the specific impacts of wildfires, separating them from postfire weather or catchment physiographic characteristics (Morrison & Kolden, 2015;Moussoulis et al, 2015) and can therefore establish the long-term impacts of fires on soils and streams in different environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Afforestation, Subsequent Forest Fires and Provision of Hydrological Services: A Model‐Based Analysis for a Mediterranean Mountainous Catchment

et al. 2017

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Mediterranean landscapes have experienced extensive abandonment and reforestation in recent decades, which should have improved the provision of hydrological services such as flood mitigation, soil erosion protection and water quality regulation. However, these forests are fire‐prone, and the postfire increase in runoff, erosion and sediment exports could negatively affect service provision. This issue was assessed by using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model for the Macieira de Alcôba mountain catchment in northwestern Portugal, covered by agriculture and forest plantations, monitored in 2010–2014 and partially burnt in 2011. The model was validated for streamflow, sediment yield and erosion in agricultural fields and burnt hillslopes, showing that it can be adapted for postfire simulation. Model results for a decadal assessment (2004–2014) show that the fire increased erosion in the burnt slopes from 0.1 to 46.5 Mg ha−1 y−1 and catchment sediment yield from 0.14 to 2.1 Mg ha−1 y−1. Erosion in the burnt forest during this decade was 1 order of magnitude above that in agricultural fields. Model results for different fire and land‐use scenarios indicate that postfire erosion and sediment yield were lower without postfire soil management for reforestation and when the fire occurred in pine forests (land use before the 1990s) or in shrublands (land‐use before afforestation in the 1930s). These impacts were robust to changes in postfire weather and to a longer (20 years) unburnt period. The results suggest that, in the long term, Mediterranean fire‐prone forests might not provide the anticipated soil protection and water quality regulation services. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Afforestation, Subsequent Forest Fires and Provision of Hydrological Services: A Model‐Based Analysis for a Mediterranean Mountainous Catchment

et al. 2017

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies applying continuous models to Mediterranean burnt areas have pointed to the importance, for adequate runoff simulations, of representing vegetation destruction and recovery (Soto & Díaz-Fierros, 1998;Morrison & Kolden, 2015;Moussoulis et al, 2015) and soil water repellency (Esteves et al, 2012;Vieira et al, 2014). For predictions during individual large storms, Chen et al (2013) have shown the importance of simulating the transition between saturation-excess to infiltration-excess runoff generation, which could also reflect repellency conditions; few studies have focused on vegetation recovery at this scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…NDVI has been found to correlate well with Leaf Area Index (LAI; Lillesand et al, 2008), which is commonly used in process-based rainfallrunoff models to represent land cover (Jonckheere et al, 2004). The use of remote sensing images for vegetation monitoring and its integration in post-fire runoff modelling has also been proposed to facilitate and enhance post-fire runoff response prediction (Drake & Vafeidis, 2004;Vafeidis et al, 2007;Morrison & Kolden, 2015). On the other hand, there are still few applications incorporating soil water repellency in post-fire models (Nunes et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physically‐Based Modelling of the Post‐Fire Runoff Response of a Forest Catchment in Central Portugal: Using Field versus Remote Sensing Based Estimates of Vegetation Recovery

et al. 2016

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Forest fires are a recurrent phenomenon in Mediterranean forests, with impacts for human landscapes and communities, which must be understood before they can be managed. This study used the physically based Limburg Soil Erosion Model (LISEM) to simulate rainfall-runoff response, under soil water repellent (SWR) conditions and different stages of vegetation recovery. Five rainfall-runoff events were selected, representing wet and dry conditions, spread over two years after a wildfire which burned eucalypt and maritime pine plantations in the Colmeal experimental micro-catchment, central Portugal. Each event was simulated using three Leaf Area Index (LAI) estimates: indirect field-based measurements (TC-LAI), NDVI-based estimates derived from Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery (NDVI-LAI), and the LAI of a fully restored canopy to test model sensitivity to interception parameters. LISEM was able to simulate events in relative terms but underestimated peak runoff (r 2 = 0·36, mean error = À31%, and NSE = À0·15) and total runoff (r 2 = 0·52, mean error = À15% and NSE = 0·09), which could be related to the presence of SWR or saturated areas, according to pre-rainfall soil moisture conditions. The model performed better for individual hydrographs, especially under wet conditions. Modelling the full-cover scenario showed minor sensitivity of LISEM to the observed changes in LAI. NDVI-LAI data gave a close to equal model performance with TC-LAI and therefore can be considered a suitable substitute for ground-based measurements in post-fire runoff predictions. However, more attention should be given to representing pre-rainfall soil moisture conditions and especially the presence of SWR.

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“…However, there has been considerable recent effort to identify mechanistic linkages between MTBS-equivalent products and specific ecophysiological and landscape metrics that are relevant to ecosystem services for individual fires (or small groups of fires), including forest structure, canopy cover, refugial patches, biomass, tree mortality, and soil hydrophobicity [60][61][62][63]. Additionally, a few initial efforts have been made to quantify the relationship of ecosystem goods and services to fire effects utilizing burn severity atlas data (e.g., [63][64][65]). …”

Section: Measuring Sensitivity Through Range Of Variability Of Fire Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Landscape Vulnerability to Wildfire in the USA

2016

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Wildfire is an ever present, natural process shaping landscapes. Having the ability to accurately measure and predict wildfire occurrence and impacts to ecosystem goods and services, both retrospectively and prospectively, is critical for adaptive management of landscapes. Landscape vulnerability is a concept widely utilized in the ecosystem management literature that has not been explicitly defined, particularly with regard to wildfire. Vulnerability more broadly is defined by three primary components: exposure to the stressor, sensitivity to a range of stressor variability, and resilience following exposure. In this synthesis, we define vulnerability in the context of wildfire. We first identify the components of a guiding framework for a vulnerability assessment with respect to wildfire. We then address retrospective assessments of wildfire vulnerability and the data that have been developed and utilized to complete these assessments. Finally, we review the modeling efforts that allow for predictive and probabilistic assessment of future vulnerability. Throughout the synthesis, we highlight gaps in the research, data availability, and models used to complete vulnerability assessments.

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Modeling the impacts of wildfire on runoff and pollutant transport from coastal watersheds to the nearshore environment

Cited by 20 publications

References 61 publications

Afforestation, Subsequent Forest Fires and Provision of Hydrological Services: A Model‐Based Analysis for a Mediterranean Mountainous Catchment

Afforestation, Subsequent Forest Fires and Provision of Hydrological Services: A Model‐Based Analysis for a Mediterranean Mountainous Catchment

Physically‐Based Modelling of the Post‐Fire Runoff Response of a Forest Catchment in Central Portugal: Using Field versus Remote Sensing Based Estimates of Vegetation Recovery

Assessing Landscape Vulnerability to Wildfire in the USA

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