Wildfire Regime in the Boreal Forest and the Idea of Suppression and Fuel Buildup

Johnson, Edward A.; Miyanishi, Kiyoko; Bridge, S. R. J.

doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.01005.x

Cited by 138 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This allows making important general predictions, for example: a larger sparking rate leads to smaller fires on average if all other factors are held constant. This suggests the existence of a buffer mechanism which might lie behind the debated ineffectiveness of fire suppression efforts [31]. It is in this spirit in which we believe this model can be applied to wildfire systems with benefit.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

More Realistic than Anticipated: A Classical Forest-Fire Model from Statistical Physics Captures Real Fire Shapes

Zinck¹,

Grimm²

2008

TOECOLJ

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Abstract:The quantitative study of wildfire data world wide revealed that wildfires exhibit power-law like frequencyarea distributions. Although models exist to predict the spread of a specific fire, there is as yet no agreement on the mechanism which drives wildfire systems on the landscape scale. A classical model in this context is the Drossel-Schwabl cellular automaton (DS-FFM) which robustly produces a power-law like frequency-area statistic for fire sizes. This model originated in statistical physics where it was used to illustrate the concept of self-organized criticality. A conjecture has been made in the literature that this model is not able to produce the spatial patterns of actual wildfires and hence is of no ecological significance. We test this conjecture by comparing the shape of simulated fires in the DS-FFM to those of 68 fires in the boreal forests of Alberta, Canada. Our results suggest that, contrary to the conjecture, the Drossel-Schwabl model performs well in producing realistic fire shapes. It can hence not be excluded as a candidate mechanism behind wildfire systems. We do show, however, that the performance depends on the size of the fire. Best results are obtained for fires of 400-2,000 ha. Very large fires of 2,000-20,000 ha and smaller fires of 20-200 ha differ from the simulated burn scars in the distribution and median size of islands of unburnt vegetation. Nevertheless, the overall fit remains good even for these size classes.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

More Realistic than Anticipated: A Classical Forest-Fire Model from Statistical Physics Captures Real Fire Shapes

Zinck¹,

Grimm²

2008

TOECOLJ

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“…They explained that the short fire cycle of the early period coincided with the Little Ice Age, the longer cycle of the early 1900s with the end of the Little Ice Age and a change of climate and the more recent longer fire cycle to be likely due to fire suppression. Extending fire intervals beyond long-term norms is detrimental in the boreal forest because fire is a natural disturbance and essential to maintaining lichen rich coniferous stands (Klein, 1992;Johnson et al, 2001). The National Park recently initiated controlled burns along the Park boundaries in order to create a fire break, enabling them to let wildfires burn in the Park and reestablishing a natural fire frequency (Prince Albert National Park, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fire is a natural disturbance and has long-term ecological benefits (Bergeron, 1991;Klein, 1992;Johnson et al, 2001). In the boreal mixedwood for-est of North America, the fire return interval ranges from 30 to 150 years (Johnson, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical changes in caribou distribution and land cover in and around Prince Albert National Park: land management implications

Arlt¹,

Manseau²

2011

Ran

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Abstract:In central Saskatchewan, boreal woodland caribou population declines have been documented in the 1940s and again in the 1980s. Although both declines led to a ban in sport hunting, a recovery was only seen in the 1950s and was attributed to wolf control and hunting closure. Recent studies suggest that this time, the population may not be increasing. In order to contribute to the conservation efforts, historical changes in caribou distribution and land cover types in the Prince Albert Greater Ecosystem (PAGE), Saskatchewan, were documented for the period of 1960s to the present. To examine changes in caribou distribution, survey observations, incidental sightings and telemetry data were collated. To quantify landscape changes, land cover maps were created for 1966 and 2006 using current and historic forest resources inventories, fire, logging, and roads data. Results indicate that woodland caribou are still found throughout the study area although their distribution has changed and their use of the National Park is greatly limited. Results of transition prob¬ abilities and landscape composition analyses on the 1966 and 2006 land cover maps revealed an aging landscape for both the National Park and provincial crown land portions of the PAGE. In addition, increased logging and the development of extensive road and trail networks on provincial crown land produced significant landscape fragmentation for woodland caribou and reduced functional attributes of habitat patches. Understanding historical landscape changes will assist with ongoing provincial and federal recovery efforts for boreal caribou, forest management planning activities, and landscape restoration efforts within and beyond the Park boundaries.

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“…Further, there is some evidence suggesting that fire suppression activities, though critically important in reducing damages and deaths in wildfires, might not dramatically alter the actual amount of area burned per fire (Moritz 1997, Keeley et al 1999, Johnson et al 2001, Keeley 2002. There is substantial need for empirical validation of the BI, especially since it is an adaptation not only from a predictor of flame length to an indicator of wildfire activity but also from measurements in wellcontrolled laboratory experiments to actual wildland fires.…”

Section: Comparison Using Simple Point Process Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A critical assessment of the Burning Index in Los Angeles County, California

Schoenberg

Chang

Keeley

et al. 2007

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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The Burning Index (BI) is commonly used as a predictor of wildfire activity. An examination of data on the BI and wildfires in Los Angeles County, California from January 1976 to December 2000 reveals that although the BI is positively associated with wildfire occurrence, its predictive value is quite limited. Wind speed alone has a higher correlation with burn area than BI, for instance, and a simple alternative point process model using wind speed, relative humidity, precipitation and temperature well outperforms the BI in terms of predictive power. The BI is generally far too high in Winter and too low in Fall, and may exaggerate the impact of individual variables such as wind speed or temperature during times when other variables, such as precipitation or relative humidity, render the environment ill-suited for wildfires.

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Wildfire Regime in the Boreal Forest and the Idea of Suppression and Fuel Buildup

Cited by 138 publications

References 33 publications

More Realistic than Anticipated: A Classical Forest-Fire Model from Statistical Physics Captures Real Fire Shapes

More Realistic than Anticipated: A Classical Forest-Fire Model from Statistical Physics Captures Real Fire Shapes

Historical changes in caribou distribution and land cover in and around Prince Albert National Park: land management implications

A critical assessment of the Burning Index in Los Angeles County, California

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