The century-long shadow of fire exclusion: Historical data reveal early and lasting effects of fire regime change on contemporary forest composition
Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
Historical logging practices and fire exclusion have reduced the proportion of pine in mixed-conifer forests of the western United States. To better understand pine’s decline, we investigate the impact of historical logging on the tree regeneration layer and subsequent stand development over almost a century of fire exclusion.
Factors influencing wildfire management decisions after the 2009 US federal policy update
Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type
Background
The decision making process undertaken during wildfire responses is complex and prone to uncertainty.
Terrestrial carbon dynamics in an era of increasing wildfire
Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
In an increasingly flammable world, wildfire is altering the terrestrial carbon balance. However, the degree to which novel wildfire regimes disrupt biological function remains unclear. Here, we synthesize the current understanding of above- and belowground processes that govern carbon loss and recovery across diverse ecosystems.
Megafire: An ambiguous and emotive term best avoided by science
Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
Background
As fire regimes are changing and wildfire disasters are becoming more frequent, the term megafire is increasingly used to describe impactful wildfires, under multiple meanings, both in academia and popular media.
Fire refugia are robust across Western US forested ecoregions, 1986–2021
Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
In the Western US, area burned and fire size have increased due to the influences of climate change, long-term fire suppression leading to higher fuel loads, and increased ignitions. However, evidence is less conclusive about increases in fire severity within these growing wildfire extents.
Grasshopper abundance and offtake increase after prescribed fire in semi-arid grassland
Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
Background
Fire modulates herbivore dynamics in open ecosystems.
Quantifying the smoke-related public health trade-offs of forest management
Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
Prescribed burning can mitigate extreme wildfire risk and reduce total smoke emissions. Yet prescribed burns’ emissions may also contribute to smoke exposures in nearby communities. Incorporating public health considerations into forest management planning efforts may help reduce prescribed burn-related exposure impacts.
Bridging scales for landscape-level wildfire adaptation: A case study of the Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition
Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type
Federal-level strategies or guidance for addressing wildfire risk encourage adaptation activities that span progressively larger scales, often focusing on landscape-level action that necessitates coordination between decision-makers and socially diverse communities.
Long-term mortality burden trends attributed to black carbon and PM2·5 from wildfire emissions across the continental USA from 2000 to 2020: a deep learning modelling study
Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
Background
Long-term improvements in air quality and public health in the continental USA were disrupted over the past decade by increased fire emissions that potentially offset the decrease in anthropogenic emissions.