Climate & Fire & Adaptation
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This Critical Issues webinar explores recent trends in wildfires and changes in contributing factors / drivers of these hazards and features case studies of wildfire policy and management strategies in the western and southern United States.
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This interactive map and database highlights aspen research as it relates to regions in primarily North America.
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The objectives of this study, were: 1) use of climate projections to predict changes in fire activity in 2050, 2) identify potential changes in vegetation and fuels resulting from changes in climate and their implications in fire activity, 3) identify changes in fire occurrence and severity resulting from changes in future climate and vegetation and fuels, and 4) predict impacts on air quality resulting from changes in fire activity and climate on the mid-21st century.
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This interactive map identifies frequently threatened towns and cities, including the different sizes and distances of wildfires from nearby communities.
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Adaptation strategies for rangeland vegetation focus on increasing resilience of rangeland ecosystems, primarily through non-native species control and prevention. Ecologically based non-native plant management focuses on strategies to repair damaged ecological processes that facilitate invasion, and seeding of desired natives can be done where seed availability and dispersal of natives are low. Proactive management to prevent establishment of non-native species is also critical (early detection-rapid response), including tactics such as weed-free policies, education of employees and the public, and collaboration among multiple agencies to control weeds. Livestock grazing can also be managed through the development of site-specific indicators that inform livestock movement guides and allow for maintenance and enhancement of plant health.
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Researchers from the USFS PNW Research Station and Case Research synthesized model projections of changes in vegetation and fire across tribal lands in the PNW. They will demonstrate how these changes will impact economically and culturally important ecosystem services and how this information can be used for adaptation planning.
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Projections of worsening wildfire conditions under climate change are a major concern in policy and management, but there is little understanding of geographical variation in fire-climate relationships. This analysis relating climate variables to historical fire activity across the United States showed substantial variability in the importance of different seasonal temperature and precipitation variables and of climate overall in explaining fire activity. Climate was significantly less important where humans were more prevalent, suggesting that human influence could override or even exceed the effect of climate change on fire activity. Although climate change may play a significant role in altering future fire regimes, geographical context and human influence should also be accounted for in management and policy decisions.
View Chapter 9 of the book, Exotic brome-grasses in arid and semiarid ecosystems of the western US: causes, consequences, and management implications.
A prominent goal of invasive plant management is to prevent or reduce the spread of invasive species into uninvaded landscapes and regions. Monitoring and control efforts often rely on scientific knowledge of suitable habitat for the invasive species. However, rising temperatures and altered precipitation projected with climate change are likely to shift the geographic range of that suitable habitat. Here, we review experimental and modeling studies of climatic limits to exotic annual Bromus distribution in the Intermountain West in the context of projections of future climate change.
View fact sheet, pg. 60.
This fact sheet provides land managers with information that can help identify different aspen types, assess the condition of aspen stands, and prioritize stands for restoration using appropriate treatments.
View all topics reviewed in the Fact Sheet series.
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It is likely that increasing temperatures will stress native sagebrush steppe species in the lowest, hottest basins more than in cooler and wetter upland habitats. Second, the effect of climate change on cheatgrass and fire is critical but uncertain. Regional warming will increase the frequency of hot, dry conditions that promote fire, but droughts could dampen the fire cycle by limiting the production of fine fuels. Third, the adaptive capacity of sagebrush is unknown and research on the potential for sagebrush to adapt to climate change should be a high priority.