Post-fire Environment & Management
View article.
Study objectives were (1) to quantify the magnitude and direction of change in the cover of native and exotic plant functional groups in relation to their exposure to fire; (2) to relate plant community changes to their historical composition, exposure to fire, and environmental conditions; and (3) to test for consistency of trends revealed by vegetation cover data derived from field plots and Landsat images. Results suggest that burned areas historically occupied by sagebrush‐dominated plant communities may have been invaded by exotic annuals prior to burning, possibly because of prior land uses, and after burning, have now transitioned to a persistent herbaceous‐dominated state. This type of state transition has important consequences for forage quality, wildlife habitat, soil nutrients, and future disturbances, such as drought and wildfire.
View article.
Erosion of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) following severe wildfire may have deleterious effects on downstream resources and ecosystem recovery. Although C and N losses in combustion and runoff have been studied extensively, soil C and N transported by post-fire erosion has rarely been quantified in burned landscapes. To better understand the magnitude and temporal pattern of these losses, we analysed the C and N content of sediment collected in severely burned hillslopes and catchments across the western USA over the first 4 post-fire years.
View report.
Wildland fires in the contiguous United States (CONUS) have increased in size and severity, but much remains unclear about the impact of fire size and burn severity on water supplies used for drinking, irrigation, industry, and hydropower. While some have investigated large-scale fire patterns, long-term effects on runoff, and the simultaneous effect of fire and climate trends on surface water yield, no studies account for all these factors and their interactions at the same time. In this report, we present critical new information for the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy—a first-time CONUS-wide assessment of observed and potential wildland fire impacts on surface water yield. First, we analyzed data from 168 fire-affected locations, collected between 1984 and 2013, with machine learning and used climate elasticity models to correct for the local climate baseline impact.
Access the synthesis.
In this report, we identify and characterize scientific literature produced by USGS scientists during 2006–17 that addresses topics associated with wildland fire science. Our goals were to (1) make the most complete list possible of product citations readily available in an organized format, and (2) use bibliometric analysis approaches to highlight the productivity of USGS scientists and the impact of contributions that the Bureau has provided to the scientific, land management, and fire management communities.
Access the story map and biochar resources.
Biochar is a modern technology that returns carbon to the soil in the form of long-lasting charcoal. It’s made by baking biomass (such as tree wood, plants, manure, and other organic materials) without the oxygen that could cause it to burn completely to ash.
This presentation describes recent research on the important roles of fire refugia, highlighting in particular the capacity for refugia to support forest landscape recovery. We sampled tree regeneration in twelve different burns across the West, analyzed relationships between tree regeneration and refugia pattern, and developed a landscape simulation model of forest recovery. We found that regeneration by ponderosa pine and obligate-seeding mixed-conifer tree species assemblages was strongly and positively predicted by refugia proximity and density. Simulation models revealed that for any given proportion of the landscape occupied by refugia, small patches produced greater landscape recovery than large patches. These results highlight the disproportionate importance of small, isolated islands of surviving trees, which may not be detectable with coarse-scale satellite imagery. Implications and applications for land managers and conservation practitioners include strategies for the promotion and maintenance of fire refugia as components of resilient forest landscapes.
Presenter: Jonathan Coop, Western Colorado University
After the Flames Science Session Recordings
Post-fire science needs for emergency response hazards and rehabilitation: An online opportunity to discuss the state of post-fire science and identify future needs was designed to:
- Assess science needs and barriers to communication of post-fire science
- Determine communication strategies for post-fire science
- Develop pathways forward for working together in post-fire response
This webinar will provide an overview of The Pew Charitable Trust’s recent work on natural disaster spending. Remarks will focus on how all levels of government—and states in particular—can manage rising disaster costs by improving how they track spending and by investing in mitigation. Research by Pew has found that disaster assistance is spread across many federal and state agencies and that comprehensive data, especially on what states spend, is missing. Better data could allow both federal and state policymakers to make more strategic decisions about how they spend on disasters, including mitigation measures that reduce the impact of future events—which a recent Pew analysis found saves money in every state and across disaster types.
Colin Foard, Associate Manager, Fiscal Federalism, The Pew Charitable Trusts, presents.
This webinar explores the social challenges to implementing codes that support a resilient building stock. A public survey by University of Colorado Boulder researchers found that the public is willing to pay for more-resilient buildings, yet several social forces beyond cost pose obstacles to enhancing building-code performance objectives. Many builders, for instance, oppose any code changes that increase construction cost. Engineers might sometimes favor private interests over code changes, which can hinder consensus and support. For legislators, the future benefits of code changes aren’t immediate enough to be politically expedient. In short, even while the technical case for creating resilient building stock is strong, there are factors that must be overcome to implement it. This webinar will use several recent scholarly studies to examine the ethics and economics behind those factors and how we can address challenges head on.
Keith Porter, Research Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder presents.
This webinar will explore the goals and recommendations presented in the National Mitigation Investment Strategy, which provides a national approach to investing in mitigation and risk management across the United States.
The strategy will:
- Provide stakeholders with a foundational understanding of how mitigation investments protect what their communities value
- Foster a better understanding of risks in order to support investment decisions, align risk reduction goals with programs and incentives, and simplify access to investment funds
- Assure that national stakeholders are participating in mitigation activities, especially decisions to enhance building codes and infrastructure standards and the use of financial products that link to mitigation.
Angela R. Gladwell, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Risk Management Directorate within the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency presents.