Tamm Review: Shifting global fire regimes: Lessons from reburns and research needs

Prichard, Susan J.; Stevens‐Rumann, Camille S.; Hessburg, Paul F.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2017.03.035

Cited by 202 publications

(164 citation statements)

References 149 publications

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“…At the highest fire treatment (10X burn period, 11.5X area burned), the study area burned with a fire rotation interval of 23 years, versus 250 years under the simulated contemporary rate of burning. https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss4/art12/ Averaged over the different vegetation types, area burned more than 10 years prior did not significantly affect the area burned in a given simulation, a result that is within the range of longevity (2 to 23 years) reported in a recent review (Prichard et al 2017). Negative fire feedbacks were slightly moderated by longer-term positive feedbacks, in which the effect of prior area burned diminished during the simulation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Despite these and other studies of fire on fire feedbacks (reviewed in Prichard et al 2017), a mechanistic typology to disentangle underlying processes that generate both positive and negative feedbacks could help organize existing knowledge and the design of future studies. For instance, Pritchard et al (2017) tabulated four metrics that describe potential outcomes from fire-on-fire interactions that could be further expanded by considering spatial mechanisms by which these effects are manifested.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy

Ager¹,

Barros²,

Preisler³

et al. 2017

E&S

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. 2017. Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy. Ecology and Society 22 (4) ABSTRACT. Wildland fire suppression practices in the western United States are being widely scrutinized by policymakers and scientists as costs escalate and large fires increasingly affect social and ecological values. One potential solution is to change current fire suppression tactics to intentionally increase the area burned under conditions when risks are acceptable to managers and fires can be used to achieve long-term restoration goals in fire adapted forests. We conducted experiments with the Envision landscape model to simulate increased levels of wildfire over a 50-year period on a 1.2 million ha landscape in the eastern Cascades of Oregon, USA. We hypothesized that at some level of burned area fuels would limit the growth of new fires, and fire effects on the composition and structure of forests would eventually reduce future fire intensity and severity. We found that doubling current rates of wildfire resulted in detectable feedbacks in area burned and fire intensity. Area burned in a given simulation year was reduced about 18% per unit area burned in the prior five years averaged across all scenarios. The reduction in area burned was accompanied by substantially lower fire severity, and vegetation shifted to open forest and grass-shrub conditions at the expense of old growth habitat. Negative fire feedbacks were slightly moderated by longer-term positive feedbacks, in which the effect of prior area burned diminished during the simulation. We discuss trade-offs between managing fuels with wildfire versus prescribed fire and mechanical fuel treatments from a social and policy standpoint. The study provides a useful modeling framework to consider the potential value of fire feedbacks as part of overall land management strategies to build fire resilient landscapes and reduce wildfire risk to communities in the western U.S. The results are also relevant to prior climate-wildfire studies that did not consider fire feedbacks in projections of future wildfire activity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy

Ager¹,

Barros²,

Preisler³

et al. 2017

E&S

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show abstract

“…Holsinger et al 2016, Prichard et al 2017, likely an outcome of top-down climatic controls on productivity, vegetation, and fire regime characteristics Moritz 2011, Pausas andRibeiro 2013). Holsinger et al 2016, Prichard et al 2017, likely an outcome of top-down climatic controls on productivity, vegetation, and fire regime characteristics Moritz 2011, Pausas andRibeiro 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine‐scale spatial climate variation and drought mediate the likelihood of reburning

Parks

Parisien

Miller

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

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In many forested ecosystems, it is increasingly recognized that the probability of burning is substantially reduced within the footprint of previously burned areas. This self-limiting effect of wildland fire is considered a fundamental emergent property of ecosystems and is partly responsible for structuring landscape heterogeneity (i.e., mosaics of different age classes), thereby reducing the likelihood of uncharacteristically large fires in regions with active fire regimes. However, the strength and longevity of this self-limiting phenomenon is not well understood in most fire-prone ecosystems. In this study, we quantify the self-limiting effect in terms of its strength and longevity for five fire-prone study areas in western North America and investigate how each measure varies along a spatial climatic gradient and according to temporal (i.e., annual) climatic variation. Results indicate that the longevity (i.e., number of years) of the self-limiting effect ranges between 15 yr in the warm and dry study area in the southwestern United States to 33 yr in the cold, northern study areas in located in northwestern Montana and the boreal forest of Canada. We also found that spatial climatic variation has a strong influence on wildland fire's self-limiting capacity. Specifically, the self-limiting effect within each study area was stronger and lasted longer in areas with low mean moisture deficit (i.e., wetter and cooler settings) compared to areas with high mean moisture deficit (warmer and drier settings). Last, our findings show that annual climatic variation influences wildland fire's self-limiting effect: drought conditions weakened the strength and longevity of the self-limiting effect in all study areas, albeit at varying magnitudes. Overall, our study provides support for the idea that wildland fire contributes to spatial heterogeneity in fuel ages that subsequently mediate future fire sizes and effects. However, our findings show that the strength and longevity of the self-limiting effect varies considerably according to spatial and temporal climatic variation, providing land and fire managers relevant information for effective planning and management of fire and highlighting that fire itself is an important factor contributing to fire-free intervals.

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“…Recent studies have highlighted the lack of knowledge of long term ecosystem responses to wildfire, and especially in semi-arid ecosystems (Prichard et al, 2017;Miller et al, 2013). Long term studies on wildfire responses are difficult due to their complexity, and because companion sites and control groups are challenging to designate (Ellsworth & Kauffman, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some long-term (>5 year) studies are possible at the plot scale, studies at the landscape scale are difficult due to their size, and heterogeneity (Reed-Dustin et al, 2016). Studies of post-fire vegetation regrowth, including fuel succession and the effects of precipitation and temperature on the regrowth at regional to landscape scales are lacking (Prichard et al, 2017). Understanding long term and large scale dynamics helps us to interpret fire responses, and where and when mitigation is most efficient and effective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilizing Satellite Fusion Methods to Assess Vegetation Phenology in a Semi-Arid Ecosystem

Gallagher¹

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leading to desertification, habitat loss, and the spread of invasive species. Modern public satellite imagery is unable to detect fine temporal and spatial changes that occur in drylands. These ecosystems can have rapid phenological changes, and the heterogeneity of the ground cover is unable to be identified at course pixel sizes (e.g. 250 m). We develop a system that uses data from multiple satellites to model finer data to detect phenology in a semi-arid ecosystem, a dryland ecosystem type.

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Tamm Review: Shifting global fire regimes: Lessons from reburns and research needs

Cited by 202 publications

References 149 publications

Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy

Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy

Fine‐scale spatial climate variation and drought mediate the likelihood of reburning

Utilizing Satellite Fusion Methods to Assess Vegetation Phenology in a Semi-Arid Ecosystem

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