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Sensitivity of Past, Present, and Future Fire Regimes to Climate and Vegetation Variability in Boreal Forest and Tundra Ecosystems

Sensitivity of Past, Present, and Future Fire Regimes to Climate and Vegetation Variability in Boreal Forest and Tundra Ecosystems PDF Author: Adam M. Young
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780438396340
Category : Taiga ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
Wildfire activity in North American boreal forest and tundra ecosystems is strongly controlled by climate, indicating the potential for widespread fire-regime shifts in response to ongoing and future climate change. This dissertation focuses on understanding how fire regimes in boreal forest and tundra ecosystems respond to variability in past, present, and future climate. Chapter 1 addresses how climate, vegetation, and topography control the spatial distribution of fire occurrence in Alaskan boreal forest and tundra ecosystems. Through statistical modeling, I found that climate was the primary control of historical fire activity. Informing these statistical models with 21st-century climate projections suggests tundra and forest-tundra ecosystems will be particularly vulnerable to fire-regime shifts, due to increasing summer temperatures. In some areas, fire may become four times more likely to occur by 2100, relative to the past 6,000-35,000 years. In Chapter 2, I studied the importance of vegetation as a control of fire activity across North American boreal forests, using continental-scale fire and vegetation datasets spanning the past several decades. After climate, fire activity was most strongly linked to landscape tree cover (%). The likelihood of burning was also not independent of past fire, suggesting negative fire-vegetation feedbacks exist across North American boreal forests. These feedbacks are estimated to have reduced total area burned by ≈ 2.7-3.6 x106 ha (4-5%) from 1981-2016, relative to expectations if there were no feedbacks. While these negative fire-vegetation feedbacks may offset climatically driven increases in fire activity for several decades, continued warming and increasing aridity will likely overwhelm the mediating effects of vegetation by the mid- to late-21st century. In Chapter 3, I evaluate the ability of the statistical models from Chapter 1 to project fire regimes outside of the observational period (i.e., 1950-2009 CE). I informed these models with GCM data from 850-1850 CE, and compared these paleo-projections to independent fire histories derived from lake-sediment records. The accuracy of the paleo-projections varied regionally, with uncertainty highest in regions close to an observed temperature threshold to burning. These results highlight how threshold relationships can cause significant uncertainty in anticipating the timing, location, and magnitude of future ecosystem change.

Sensitivity of Past, Present, and Future Fire Regimes to Climate and Vegetation Variability in Boreal Forest and Tundra Ecosystems

Sensitivity of Past, Present, and Future Fire Regimes to Climate and Vegetation Variability in Boreal Forest and Tundra Ecosystems PDF Author: Adam M. Young
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780438396340
Category : Taiga ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
Wildfire activity in North American boreal forest and tundra ecosystems is strongly controlled by climate, indicating the potential for widespread fire-regime shifts in response to ongoing and future climate change. This dissertation focuses on understanding how fire regimes in boreal forest and tundra ecosystems respond to variability in past, present, and future climate. Chapter 1 addresses how climate, vegetation, and topography control the spatial distribution of fire occurrence in Alaskan boreal forest and tundra ecosystems. Through statistical modeling, I found that climate was the primary control of historical fire activity. Informing these statistical models with 21st-century climate projections suggests tundra and forest-tundra ecosystems will be particularly vulnerable to fire-regime shifts, due to increasing summer temperatures. In some areas, fire may become four times more likely to occur by 2100, relative to the past 6,000-35,000 years. In Chapter 2, I studied the importance of vegetation as a control of fire activity across North American boreal forests, using continental-scale fire and vegetation datasets spanning the past several decades. After climate, fire activity was most strongly linked to landscape tree cover (%). The likelihood of burning was also not independent of past fire, suggesting negative fire-vegetation feedbacks exist across North American boreal forests. These feedbacks are estimated to have reduced total area burned by ≈ 2.7-3.6 x106 ha (4-5%) from 1981-2016, relative to expectations if there were no feedbacks. While these negative fire-vegetation feedbacks may offset climatically driven increases in fire activity for several decades, continued warming and increasing aridity will likely overwhelm the mediating effects of vegetation by the mid- to late-21st century. In Chapter 3, I evaluate the ability of the statistical models from Chapter 1 to project fire regimes outside of the observational period (i.e., 1950-2009 CE). I informed these models with GCM data from 850-1850 CE, and compared these paleo-projections to independent fire histories derived from lake-sediment records. The accuracy of the paleo-projections varied regionally, with uncertainty highest in regions close to an observed temperature threshold to burning. These results highlight how threshold relationships can cause significant uncertainty in anticipating the timing, location, and magnitude of future ecosystem change.

Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests

Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests PDF Author: Yves Bergeron
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3038423904
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Book Description
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests" that was published in Forests

Fire Ecology and Management: Past, Present, and Future of US Forested Ecosystems

Fire Ecology and Management: Past, Present, and Future of US Forested Ecosystems PDF Author: Cathryn H. Greenberg
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783030732660
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 508

Book Description
This edited volume presents original scientific research and knowledge synthesis covering the past, present, and potential future fire ecology of major US forest types, with implications for forest management in a changing climate. The editors and authors highlight broad patterns among ecoregions and forest types, as well as detailed information for individual ecoregions, for fire frequencies and severities, fire effects on tree mortality and regeneration, and levels of fire-dependency by plant and animal communities. The foreword addresses emerging ecological and fire management challenges for forests, in relation to sustainable development goals as highlighted in recent government reports. An introductory chapter highlights patterns of variation in frequencies, severities, scales, and spatial patterns of fire across ecoregions and among forested ecosystems across the US in relation to climate, fuels, topography and soils, ignition sources (lightning or anthropogenic), and vegetation. Separate chapters by respected experts delve into the fire ecology of major forest types within US ecoregions, with a focus on the level of plant and animal fire-dependency, and the role of fire in maintaining forest composition and structure. The regional chapters also include discussion of historic natural (lightning-ignited) and anthropogenic (Native American; settlers) fire regimes, current fire regimes as influenced by recent decades of fire suppression and land use history, and fire management in relation to ecosystem integrity and restoration, wildfire threat, and climate change. The summary chapter combines the major points of each chapter, in a synthesis of US-wide fire ecology and forest management into the future. This book provides current, organized, readily accessible information for the conservation community, land managers, scientists, students and educators, and others interested in how fire behavior and effects on structure and composition differ among ecoregions and forest types, and what that means for forest management today and in the future.

Ecological Foundations for Fire Management in North American Forest and Shrubland Ecosystems

Ecological Foundations for Fire Management in North American Forest and Shrubland Ecosystems PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ecosystem management
Languages : en
Pages : 102

Book Description
This synthesis provides an ecological foundation for management of the diverse ecosystems and fire regimes of North America, based on scientific principles of fire interactions with vegetation, fuels, and biophysical processes. Although a large amount of scientific data on fire exists, most of those data have been collected at small spatial and temporal scales. Thus, it is challenging to develop consistent science-based plans for large spatial and temporal scales where most fire management and planning occur. Understanding the regional geographic context of fire regimes is critical for developing appropriate and sustainable management strategies and policy. The degree to which human intervention has modified fire frequency, intensity, and severity varies greatly among different ecosystems, and must be considered when planning to alter fuel loads or implement restorative treatments. Detailed discussion of six ecosystems--ponderosa pine forest (western North America), chaparral (California), boreal forest (Alaska and Canada), Great Basin sagebrush (intermountain West), pine and pine-hardwood forests (Southern Appalachian Mountains), and longleaf pine (Southeastern United States)-- illustrates the complexity of fire regimes and that fire management requires a clear regional focus that recognizes where conflicts might exist between fire hazard reduction and resource needs. In some systems, such as ponderosa pine, treatments are usually compatible with both fuel reduction and resource needs, whereas in others, such as chaparral, the potential exists for conflicts that need to be closely evaluated. Managing fire regimes in a changing climate and social environment requires a strong scientific basis for developing fire management and policy.

Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas

Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas PDF Author: Thomas T. Veblen
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9780387954554
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 446

Book Description
Both fire and climatic variability have monumental impacts on the dynamics of temperate ecosystems. These impacts can sometimes be extreme or devastating as seen in recent El Nino/La Nina cycles and in uncontrolled fire occurrences. This volume brings together research conducted in western North and South America, areas of a great deal of collaborative work on the influence of people and climate change on fire regimes. In order to give perspective to patterns of change over time, it emphasizes the integration of paleoecological studies with studies of modern ecosystems. Data from a range of spatial scales, from individual plants to communities and ecosystems to landscape and regional levels, are included. Contributions come from fire ecology, paleoecology, biogeography, paleoclimatology, landscape and ecosystem ecology, ecological modeling, forest management, plant community ecology and plant morphology. The book gives a synthetic overview of methods, data and simulation models for evaluating fire regime processes in forests, shrublands and woodlands and assembles case studies of fire, climate and land use histories. The unique approach of this book gives researchers the benefits of a north-south comparison as well as the integration of paleoecological histories, current ecosystem dynamics and modeling of future changes.

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest PDF Author: Eric S. Kasischke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387216294
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490

Book Description
A discussion of the direct and indirect mechanisms by which fire and climate interact to influence carbon cycling in North American boreal forests. The first section summarizes the information needed to understand and manage fires' effects on the ecology of boreal forests and its influence on global climate change issues. Following chapters discuss in detail the role of fire in the ecology of boreal forests, present data sets on fire and the distribution of carbon, and treat the use of satellite imagery in monitoring these regions as well as approaches to modeling the relevant processes.

Ecology of Fire-Dependent Ecosystems

Ecology of Fire-Dependent Ecosystems PDF Author: Devan Allen McGranahan
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0429944942
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Book Description
Ecology of Fire-Dependent Ecosystems is brimming with intriguing ecological stories of how life has evolved with and diversified within the varied fire regimes that are experienced on earth. Moreover, the book places itself as a communication between students, fire scientists, and fire fighters, and each of these groups will find some familiar ground, and some challenging aspects in this text: something which ultimately will help to bring us closer together and enrich our different approaches to understanding and managing our changing planet. -- Sally Archibald, Professor, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Most textbooks are as dry as kindling and about as much fun to sink your teeth into. This is not that kind of textbook. Devan Allen McGranahan and Carissa L. Wonkka have taken a complex topic and somehow managed to synthesize it into a comprehensive, yet digestible form. This is a book you can read cover to cover – I know, I did it. As a result, I took an enlightening journey through the history and fundamentals of fire and its role in the natural and human world, ending with a thoughtful review of the evolving relationship between humans and wildland fire. -- Chris Helzer, Nebraska Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy, and author of The Prairie Ecologist blog Ecology of Fire-Dependent Ecosystems: Wildland Fire Science, Policy, and Management is intended for use in upper-level courses in fire ecology and wildland fire management and as a reference for researchers, managers, and other professionals involved with wildland fire science, practice, and policy. The book helps guide students and scientists to design and conduct robust wildland fire research projects and critically interpret and apply fire science in any management, education, or policy situation. It emphasizes variability in wildland fire as an ecological regime and provides tools for students, researchers, and managers to assess and connect fire environment and fire behaviour to fire effects. Fire has not only shaped social and ecological communities but pushed ecosystems beyond previous boundaries, yet understanding the nature and effects of fire as an ecological disturbance has been slow, hampered by the complexity of the dynamic interactions between vegetation and climate and the fear of the destruction fire can bring. This book will help those who study, manage, and use wildland fire to develop new answers and novel solutions, based on an understanding of how fire functions in natural and social environments. It reviews literature, synthesizes concepts, and identifies research gaps and policy needs. The text also explores the interaction of fire and human culture, demonstrating how fire policy can be made adaptable to cultural and socio-ecological objectives.

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Animal ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Book Description


Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia

Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia PDF Author: Johann Georg Goldammer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 940158737X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 543

Book Description
One of the first priority areas among joint East/West research programs is the rational use of natural resources and sustainable development of regions. In the boreal zone of North America and Eurasia forests are economically very important and, at the same time highly vulnerable to disturbances. Because of its size and ecological functions the boreal forest zone and its most dynamic disturbance factor - fire - play an important role in ecosystem processes on global scale. Interest within the global change research community in Northern Eurasia (Fennoscandia, European Russia, Siberia, and the Far East of Russia) has grown dramatically in the last few years. It is a vast area about which very little is known. It is a region where temperature rise due to anthropogenic climate forcing is predicted to be the greatest, and where the consequent feedbacks to the atmosphere are potentially large. In addition, it is poised to undergo rapid economic development, which may lead to large and significant changes to its land cover. Much of this interest in Northern Eurasia, as in the high latitude regions in general, is centerd on its role in the global carbon cycle, which is likely to be significantly affected under global change. New research initiatives between Western and Eastern countries have been designed to address a series of phenomena, problems and management solutions.

Fire and Vegetation Dynamics

Fire and Vegetation Dynamics PDF Author: Edward A. Johnson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521349437
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
A technical introduction to the behaviour of fire and its ecological consequences, using examples from the North American boreal forest.