Toward a more ecologically informed view of severe forest fires

Hutto, Richard L.; Keane, Robert E.; Sherriff, Rosemary L.; Rota, Christopher T.; Eby, Lisa A.; Saab, Victoria A.

doi:10.1002/ecs2.1255

Cited by 61 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…These trends have generated concern over the conservation of forest species (Ganey, Wan, Cushman, & Vojta, ; Jones et al., ), but the effect of more severe, more homogeneous fires on fire‐associated species also needs to be considered. Past studies have provided evidence that some severe forest fire has neutral or beneficial effects on wildlife (Hutto et al., ), and black‐backed woodpeckers are frequently considered a specialist on severe fires. Despite this, our results indicate that black‐backed woodpecker habitat preferences vary by life stage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These trends have led to increased focus on fire‐associated species that benefit from fire and play keystone roles in facilitating biodiversity resilience. High‐severity fire creates dense stands of standing dead trees (snags) that may contribute to the regional persistence of deadwood‐associated species including cavity‐nesting birds, saproxylic insects and cavity‐using mammals (DellaSala, Bond, Hanson, Hutto, & Odion, ; Hutto et al., ). The black‐backed woodpecker ( Picoides arcticus ) is a post‐fire specialist that appears closely tied to areas burned at high severity across much of its range (Hutto, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age‐dependent habitat relationships of a burned forest specialist emphasise the role of pyrodiversity in fire management

Stillman

Siegel

Wilkerson

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Variation in fire characteristics, termed pyrodiversity, plays an important role in structuring post‐fire communities, but little is known about the importance of pyrodiversity for individual species. The availability of diverse post‐fire habitats may be key for fire‐associated species if they require different resources at different life‐history stages. We tested for age‐specific habitat relationships in the black‐backed woodpecker, a post‐fire specialist. We used radio‐telemetry to track fledgling and adult woodpeckers in burned forests and built resource selection functions to compare the effect of stand‐, tree‐ and snag‐level covariates between adults and fledglings. Fledgling black‐backed woodpeckers selected habitat with more live trees than adults and used more heterogeneous habitats burned at lower severity, illustrating strong age‐dependent effects on habitat selection. Within selected stands, fledglings were less likely to use snags and more likely to use live trees when compared to adults, but both age classes showed strong positive selection for larger‐diameter trees (live and dead). Over the 60 days after leaving their nests, fledglings showed an increasing propensity to use snags rather than live trees. Our results provide evidence that the predation–starvation hypothesis, which posits a trade‐off between foraging efficiency and the need to minimise predation risk, plays a role in structuring the age‐dependent habitat use of a burned forest specialist. Adult black‐backed woodpeckers selected resources associated with food availability, but these resources occurred in relatively open, exposed habitat. Fledglings selected habitat that provided increased cover, perhaps as a strategy to reduce predation risk. Synthesis and applications. Globally, fires are increasing in severity and extent, leading to increased focus on fire‐associated species that play keystone roles in facilitating biodiversity resilience. Our findings suggest that a diversity of patches burned at different severities may benefit post‐fire specialists like the black‐backed woodpecker at multiple life‐history stages. The increasing prevalence of large, homogeneously high‐severity ‘megafires’ may present an emerging threat even to post‐fire specialists, and we urge land managers to consider opportunities to promote pyrodiversity in the face of novel fire regimes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age‐dependent habitat relationships of a burned forest specialist emphasise the role of pyrodiversity in fire management

Stillman

Siegel

Wilkerson

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Fuels reduction may alter ecological integrity (Hutto et al. ), degrade water quality (Schroder et al. ), or increase a system's vulnerability to future drought despite short‐term reductions to stand‐level water use (McDowell et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Future changes in fire weather, spring droughts, and false springs across U.S. National Forests and Grasslands

Martinuzzi

Allstadt

Pidgeon

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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Public lands provide many ecosystem services and support diverse plant and animal communities. In order to provide these benefits in the future, land managers and policy makers need information about future climate change and its potential effects. In particular, weather extremes are key drivers of wildfires, droughts, and false springs, which in turn can have large impacts on ecosystems. However, information on future changes in weather extremes on public lands is lacking. Our goal was to compare historical (1950–2005) and projected mid‐century (2041–2070) changes in weather extremes (fire weather, spring droughts, and false springs) on public lands. This case study looked at the lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service across the conterminous United States including 501 ranger district units. We analyzed downscaled projections of daily records from 19 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 General Circulation Models for two climate scenarios, with either medium‐low or high CO2− equivalent concentration (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5). For each ranger district, we estimated: (1) fire potential, using the Keetch‐Byram Drought Index; (2) frequency of spring droughts, using the Standardized Precipitation Index; and (3) frequency of false springs, using the extended Spring Indices. We found that future climates could substantially alter weather conditions across Forest Service lands. Under the two climate scenarios, increases in wildfire potential, spring droughts, and false springs were projected in 32–72%, 28–29%, and 13–16% of all ranger districts, respectively. Moreover, a substantial number of ranger districts (17–30%), especially in the Southwestern, Pacific Southwest, and Rocky Mountain regions, were projected to see increases in more than one type of weather extreme, which may require special management attention. We suggest that future changes in weather extremes could threaten the ability of public lands to provide ecosystem services and ecological benefits to society. Overall, our results highlight the value of spatially‐explicit weather projections to assess future changes in key weather extremes for land managers and policy makers.

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“…In contrast, cold/wet forests, such as high-elevation subalpine forests, are adapted to high-severity fire that historically recurred at relatively long (∼100-300 y) intervals (19,82,83) and have not experienced unprecedented fuels build-up in recent decades. Severe wildfires have occurred for millennia across a broad range of forests and shrublands, and in many ecosystems species are adapted to severe fire (17,19,84,85), although postfire regeneration may be comprised by drier, warmer conditions (86).…”

Section: Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Adapt to more wildfire in western North American forests as climate changes

Schoennagel

Balch

Brenkert–Smith

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

614

416

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Wildfires across western North America have increased in number and size over the past three decades, and this trend will continue in response to further warming. As a consequence, the wildland-urban interface is projected to experience substantially higher risk of climate-driven fires in the coming decades. Although many plants, animals, and ecosystem services benefit from fire, it is unknown how ecosystems will respond to increased burning and warming. Policy and management have focused primarily on specified resilience approaches aimed at resistance to wildfire and restoration of areas burned by wildfire through fire suppression and fuels management. These strategies are inadequate to address a new era of western wildfires. In contrast, policies that promote adaptive resilience to wildfire, by which people and ecosystems adjust and reorganize in response to changing fire regimes to reduce future vulnerability, are needed. Key aspects of an adaptive resilience approach are (i) recognizing that fuels reduction cannot alter regional wildfire trends; (ii) targeting fuels reduction to increase adaptation by some ecosystems and residential communities to more frequent fire; (iii) actively managing more wild and prescribed fires with a range of severities; and (iv) incentivizing and planning residential development to withstand inevitable wildfire. These strategies represent a shift in policy and management from restoring ecosystems based on historical baselines to adapting to changing fire regimes and from unsustainable defense of the wildlandurban interface to developing fire-adapted communities. We propose an approach that accepts wildfire as an inevitable catalyst of change and that promotes adaptive responses by ecosystems and residential communities to more warming and wildfire.wildfire | resilience | forests | wildland-urban interface | policy

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Toward a more ecologically informed view of severe forest fires

Cited by 61 publications

References 97 publications

Age‐dependent habitat relationships of a burned forest specialist emphasise the role of pyrodiversity in fire management

Age‐dependent habitat relationships of a burned forest specialist emphasise the role of pyrodiversity in fire management

Future changes in fire weather, spring droughts, and false springs across U.S. National Forests and Grasslands

Adapt to more wildfire in western North American forests as climate changes

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