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Fire management around the world is now undergoing extensive review, with a move toward fire management plans that maintain biodiversity and other ecosystems services, while at the same time mitigating the negative impacts to people and property.…
Author(s): Lindsey Gillson, Cathy L. Whitlock, Glynis Humphrey
Year Published:

The Mill Fire, which burned in north-western California during the summer of 2012, provided a unique research opportunity when firefighters implemented a backfiring operation to limit wildfire growth. This backfire was ignited and burned through…
Author(s): Jainwei Zhang, Kaelyn A. Finley, Eric E. Knapp
Year Published:

Fire, including prescribed burning, is common on peatlands globally and can affect vegetation, including peat-forming Sphagnum mosses, and affect ecosystem services. We monitored vegetation in different burn-age categories at three UK peatland sites…
Author(s): Alice Noble, Sheila M. Palmer, David J. Glaves, Alistair Crowle, Joseph Holden
Year Published:

Plant invasions can affect fuel characteristics, fire behavior, and fire regimes resulting in invasive plant-fire cycles and alternative, self-perpetuating states that can be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. Concepts related to general…
Author(s): Jeanne C. Chambers, Matthew L. Brooks, Matthew J. Germino, Jeremy D. Maestas, David Board, Matthew O. Jones, Brady W. Allred
Year Published:

Record-breaking fire seasons are becoming increasingly common worldwide, and large wildfires are having extraordinary impacts on people and property, despite years of investments to support social–ecological resilience to wildfires. This has…
Author(s): Dave McWethy, Tania L. Schoennagel, Philip E. Higuera, Meg A. Krawchuk, Brian J. Harvey, Elizabeth C. Metcalf, Courtney Schultz, Carol Miller, Alexander L. Metcalf, Brian Buma, Arika Virapongse, Judith C. Kulig, Richard C. Stedman, Zakary Ratajczak, Cara R. Nelson, Crystal A. Kolden
Year Published:

In this paper, we develop a systems dynamics model of a coupled human and natural fire-prone system to evaluate changes in wildfire response policy. A primary motivation is exploring the implications of expanding the pace and scale of using…
Author(s): Matthew P. Thompson, Yu Wei, Christopher J. Dunn, Christopher D. O'Connor
Year Published:

Before the advent of intensive forest management and fire suppression, western North American forests exhibited a naturally occurring resistance and resilience to wildfires and other disturbances. Resilience, which encompasses resistance, reflects…
Author(s): Paul F. Hessburg, Carol Miller, Sean A. Parks, Nicholas A. Povak, Alan H. Taylor, Philip E. Higuera, Susan J. Prichard, Malcolm P. North, Brandon M. Collins, Matthew D. Hurteau, Andrew J. Larson, Craig D. Allen, Scott L. Stephens, Hiram Rivera-Huerta, Camille Stevens-Rumann, Lori D. Daniels, Ze'ev Gedalof, Robert W. Gray, Van R. Kane, Derek J. Churchill, R. Keala Hagmann, Thomas A. Spies, C. Alina Cansler, R. Travis Belote, Thomas T. Veblen, Michael A. Battaglia, Chad M. Hoffman, Carl N. Skinner, Hugh Safford, R. Brion Salter
Year Published:

Wildfire is a dominant disturbance in many ecosystems, and fire frequency and intensity are being altered as climates change. Through effects on mortality and regeneration, fire affects plant community composition, species richness, and carbon…
Author(s): Adam D. Miller, Jonathan R. Thompson, Alan J. Tepley, Kristina J. Anderson‐Teixeira
Year Published:

Woody‐plant encroachment represents a global threat to grasslands. Although the causes and consequences of this regime shift have received substantial attention, the processes that constrain reassembly of the grassland state remain poorly understood…
Author(s): Charles B. Halpern, Joseph A. Antos, Shan Kothari, Annette M. Olson
Year Published:

Fuels reduction treatments are common in ponderosa pine ecosystems of the interior western United States, but the long-term effects on many key ecosystem attributes remain poorly understood, including: tree growth and mortality; forest fuel loads;…
Author(s): Christopher R. Keyes, Sharon M. Hood, Anna Sala, Duncan C. Lutes
Year Published:

High severity stand-replacing wildfires can deeply affect forest ecosystems whose composition includes plant species lacking fire-related traits and specific adaptations. Land managers and policymakers need to be aware of the importance of properly…
Author(s): Enrico Marcolin, Raffaella Marzano, Alessandro Vitali, Matteo Garbarino, Emanuele Lingua
Year Published:

The destructive nature of debris flows makes it difficult to quantify flow dynamics with direct instrumentation. For this reason, seismic sensors placed safely away from the flow path are often used to identify the timing and speed of debris flows.…
Author(s): A. Michel, Jason W. Kean, Joel B. Smith, Kate E. Allstadt, Jeffrey A. Coe
Year Published:

Montane regions throughout western North America have experienced increases in forest canopy closure and forest encroachment into grasslands over the past century; this has been attributed to climate change and fire suppression/exclusion. These…
Author(s): Christopher A. Stockdale, Neal McLoughlin, Michael D. Flannigan, Ellen Macdonald
Year Published:

In sagebrush-dominated shrublands of western North America, warmer temperatures coupled with annual grass invasions are increasing the frequency and extent of wildfires. Postfire sagebrush recovery rates are unpredictable and many recent fires have…
Author(s): Alexandra K. Urza, Peter J. Weisberg, Jeanne C. Chambers, Stanley G. Kitchen, Bruce A. Roundy
Year Published:

Climate and land use changes have led to recent increases in fire size, severity, and/or frequency in many different geographic regions and ecozones. Most post‐wildfire geomorphology studies focus on the impact of a single wildfire but changing…
Author(s): Luke A. McGuire, Ann M. Youberg
Year Published:

In the western United States, fire has become a significant concern in the management of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) ecosystems. This is due to large‐scale increases in cover of the fire‐prone invasive annual cheatgrass (Bromus…
Author(s): Corinna Riginos, Thomas A. Monaco, Kari E. Veblen, Kevin L. Gunnell, Eric Thacker, David K. Dahlgren, Terry A. Messmer
Year Published:

Context: Lack of quantitative observations of extent, frequency, and severity of large historical fires constrains awareness of departure of contemporary conditions from those that demonstrated resistance and resilience to frequent fire and…
Author(s): R. Keala Hagmann, Andrew G. Merschel, Matthew J. Reilly
Year Published:

Soil heating resulting from prescribed burning in the southern US has potential immediate and long-term impacts. Where fire is being restored to long-unburned sites, the duration and depth of soil heating may be substantial, affecting seed banks,…
Author(s): Leda N. Kobziar, J. Morgan Varner, Jesse K. Kreye, Michael G. Andreu, David R. Godwin
Year Published:

As important centres for biological diversity, aspen forests are essential to the function and aesthetics of montane ecosystems in western North America. Aspen stands are maintained by a nuanced relationship with wildfire, although in recent decades…
Author(s): Jesse L. Morris, R. Justin DeRose, Thomas Brussel, Simon C. Brewer, Andrea R. Brunelle, James N. Long
Year Published:

Seed mixes used for postfire seeding in the Great Basin are often selected on the basis of short-term rehabilitation objectives, such as ability to rapidly establish and suppress invasive exotic annuals (e.g., cheatgrass, Bromus tectorum L.). Longer…
Author(s): Jeffrey E. Ott, Francis F. Kilkenny, Daniel D. Summers, Tyler W. Thompson
Year Published: