A5002479499- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Landslides and related hazards
- Fire dynamics and safety research
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Flood Risk Assessment and Management
- Disaster Management and Resilience
- Tree-ring climate responses
- Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
- Forest ecology and management
- Ecosystem dynamics and resilience
- Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
- Remote Sensing in Agriculture
- Aeolian processes and effects
- Plant Pathogens and Resistance
- Plant Ecology and Soil Science
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
- Forest Management and Policy
- Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes
- Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
University of California, Santa Barbara
2004-2023
University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
2018-2022
University of California, Berkeley
2010-2021
Science and Technology Policy Institute
2020
University of Idaho
2016
Berkeley College
2014
California State University, Dominguez Hills
2010
University of Utah
2009
Pacific Southwest Research Station
2009
The Aerospace Corporation
2009
Fire is a worldwide phenomenon that appears in the geological record soon after appearance of terrestrial plants. influences global ecosystem patterns and processes, including vegetation distribution structure, carbon cycle, climate. Although humans fire have always coexisted, our capacity to manage remains imperfect may become more difficult future as climate change alters regimes. This risk assess, however, because fires are still poorly represented models. Here, we discuss some most...
Abstract We used a database capturing large wildfires (> 405 ha) in the western U.S. to document regional trends fire occurrence, total area, size, and day of year ignition for 1984–2011. Over majority ecoregions, we found significant, increasing number fires and/or area per year. Trends were most significant southern mountain coinciding with toward increased drought severity. For all ecoregions combined, at rate seven year, while 355 km 2 Continuing changes climate, invasive species,...
Humans and their ancestors are unique in being a fire-making species, but 'natural' (i.e. independent of humans) fires have an ancient, geological history on Earth. Natural influenced biological evolution global biogeochemical cycles, making fire integral to the functioning some biomes. Globally, debate rages about impact ecosystems prehistoric human-set fires, with views ranging from catastrophic negligible. Understanding diversity human regimes Earth past, present future remains...
Climate change is expected to alter the geographic distribution of wildfire, a complex abiotic process that responds variety spatial and environmental gradients. How future climate may global wildfire activity, however, still largely unknown. As first step quantifying potential in we present multivariate quantification drivers for observed, current vegetation fires using statistical models relationship between fire activity resources burn, conditions, human influence, lightning flash rates...
Future disruptions to fire activity will threaten ecosystems and human well‐being throughout the world, yet there are few projections at global scales almost none from a broad range of climate models (GCMs). Here we integrate datasets environmental covariates build spatial statistical probability 0.5° resolution examine controls on activity. Fire driven by norms 16 GCMs (A2 emissions scenario) assess magnitude direction change over two time periods, 2010–2039 2070–2099. From ensemble...
Wildfires across western North America have increased in number and size over the past three decades, this trend will continue response to further warming. As a consequence, wildland–urban interface is projected experience substantially higher risk of climate-driven fires coming decades. Although many plants, animals, ecosystem services benefit from fire, it unknown how ecosystems respond burning Policy management focused primarily on specified resilience approaches aimed at resistance...
Abstract Fire is a powerful ecological and evolutionary force that regulates organismal traits, population sizes, species interactions, community composition, carbon nutrient cycling ecosystem function. It also presents rapidly growing societal challenge, due to both increasingly destructive wildfires fire exclusion in fire‐dependent ecosystems. As an process, integrates complex feedbacks among biological, social geophysical processes, requiring coordination across several fields scales of...
We provide an empirical, global test of the varying constraints hypothesis, which predicts systematic heterogeneity in relative importance biomass resources to burn and atmospheric conditions suitable burning (weather/climate) across a spatial gradient long-term resource availability. Analyses were based on relationships between monthly wildfire activity, soil moisture, mid-tropospheric circulation data from 2001 2007, synthesized averages (net primary productivity), annual temperature,...
© 2017 American Meteorological Society. For information regarding reuse of this content and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).* These authors contributed equallyCORRESPONDING AUTHORS: Shelley D. Crausbay, shelley@csp-inc.org; Aaron R. Ramirez, ramireza@reed.edu
Despite its widespread occurrence globally, wildfire preferentially occupies an environmental middle ground and is significantly less prevalent in biomes characterized by extremes (e.g., tundra, rain forests, deserts). We evaluated the biophysical “environmental space” of from regional to subcontinental extents, with methods widely used for modeling habitat distributions. This approach particularly suitable biogeographic study wildfire, because it simultaneously considers patterns multiple...
Losses to life and property from unplanned fires (wildfires) are forecast increase because of population growth in peri-urban areas climate change. In response, there have been moves fuel reduction—clearing, prescribed burning, biomass removal grazing—to afford greater protection communities fire-prone regions. But how effective these measures? Severe wildfires southern Australia 2009 presented a rare opportunity address this question empirically. We predicted that modifying several fuels...
Wildland fire management has reached a crossroads. Current perspectives are not capable of answering interdisciplinary adaptation and mitigation challenges posed by increases in wildfire risk to human populations the need reintegrate as vital landscape process. Fire science been, continues be, performed isolated "silos," including institutions (e.g., agencies versus universities), organizational structures federal agency mandates local state procedures for responding fire), research foci...
Annual forest area burned (AFAB) in the western United States (US) has increased as a positive exponential function of rising aridity recent decades. This non-linear response important implications for AFAB changing climate, yet cause AFAB-aridity relationship not been given rigorous attention. We investigated US forests using new 1984-2019 database fire events and 2001-2020 satellite-based records daily growth. While forest-fire frequency duration grow linearly with aridity, results from...
Recent, large fires in the western United States have rekindled debates about fire management and role of natural regimes resilience terrestrial ecosystems. This real-world experience parallels involving abstract models forest fires, a central metaphor complex systems theory. Both real modeled fire-prone landscapes exhibit roughly power law statistics size versus frequency. Here, we examine historical catalogs detailed simulation model; both are agreement with highly optimized tolerance...
Large fires in chaparral-dominated shrublands of southern and central California are widely attributed to decades fire suppression. Prehistoric shrubland landscapes hypothesized have exhibited fine-grained age-patch mosaics which spread was limited by the age spatial pattern fuels. In contrast, I hypothesize that during extreme weather conditions been capable burning through all classes vegetation mosaic. Using mapped history (1911–1995) Los Padres National Forest, analyzed patterns for...
Summary 1. The earliest examples of alternative community states in the literature appear to be descriptions natural vegetation said both depend on and promote fire. Nonetheless, determined by fire have rarely been documented at landscape scales vegetation. This is because spatial autocorrelation may confound analyses, experimental manipulations are difficult a long‐term perspective needed demonstrate that can persist for multiple generations. 2. We hypothesized occur largely forested...
Abstract The 2007 wildfire season in southern California burned over 1,000,000 ac (∼400,000 ha) and included several megafires. We use the fires as a case study to draw three major lessons about wildfires complexity California. First, great majority of large occur autumn under influence Santa Ana windstorms. These also cost most contain cause damage life property, October were no exception because thousands homes lost seven people killed. Being pushed by wind gusts 100 kph, young fuels...
Abstract: The Klamath‐Siskiyou region of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon supports globally outstanding temperate biodiversity. Fire has been important in the evolutionary history that shaped this diversity, but recent human influences have altered fire environment. We tested for modern impacts on regime by analyzing temporal patterns extent spatial severity relation to vegetation structure, past occurrence, roads, timber management a 98,814‐ha area burned 1987. was mapped...
There is widespread concern that fire exclusion has led to an unprecedented threat of uncharacteristically severe fires in ponderosa pine (Pinus Dougl. ex. Laws) and mixed-conifer forests western North America. These extensive montane are considered be adapted a low/moderate-severity regime maintained stands relatively old trees. However, there increasing recognition from landscape-scale assessments that, prior any significant effects exclusion, forest structure were more variable these...
Despite growing knowledge of fire–environment linkages in the western USA, obtaining reliable estimates relative wildfire likelihood remains a work progress. The purpose this study is to use updated fire observations during 25-year period and wide array environmental variables statistical framework produce high-resolution probability. Using MaxEnt modelling technique, point-source that were sampled from area burned 1984–2008 time related explanatory representing ignitions, flammable...