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This will reset the permalinks and fix the issue in many cases. If this doesn't work, you may need to edit your. If your blog is showing the wrong domain name in links, redirecting to another site, or is missing images and style, these are all usually related to the same problem: Documenting spatially and temporally mixed-severity fire regimes is data intensive, and much of the necessary evidence has been lost where these forests have been altered by logging and urban development [ 31 ].
In general, forest types that historically burned infrequently fire-return intervals longer than about years may still be within the historical range of variability—in terms of fuel loads, stand structures, and species composition [ 45 ]—in areas that have not been altered by logging or other anthropogenic disturbances. Fire regimes in coastal forests—where fire has been rare for millennia—have not been altered by fire exclusion; however, landscapes dominated by early successional forest resulting from massive timber harvests are far outside the historical range of variability.
In addition, range shifts and widespread mortality of some tree species and changes in water relationships, likely due to direct and indirect effects of climate warming, may also result in conditions outside the historical range of variability in Alaskan Pacific maritime ecosystems. Contemporary fuel characteristics in Alaskan Pacific maritime ecosystems differ from historical characteristics due to changes in plant community structure and composition resulting from widespread logging, increased forest cover and tree biomass in some ecosystems, widespread mortality of some tree species, and changes in water relationships.
Some of these changes are apparently direct and indirect effects of climate warming. Additional changes to fuel characteristics are anticipated with further warming, and the overall expectation for the region is forest expansion and accretion of biomass, increasing its role as a significant carbon sink [ 27 , ].
The most obvious and drastic change in contemporary fuel characteristics in Alaskan coastal forests is due to logging. Large areas of logged forest in southeastern Alaska can present a potentially hazardous fuel situation [ ]. Logging slash is highly flammable when fresh, and can remain a fire hazard until the young stand reaches crown closure, at which point fuels dry out less easily [ 38 ]. During the s, most fires in southeastern Alaska and northern coastal British Columbia [ 55 , , ] and many of the biggest fires in Haida Gwaii were associated with logging, likely due to the large amounts of slash fuels [ 38 ].
See Postsettlement fires for more information. Tree species composition is changing and overall tree biomass is increasing in Alaskan coastal ecosystems, but biomass changes vary among individual species. Shore pine was the only tree species that showed a net loss of biomass [ ].
Overall aboveground carbon mass assumed to be equal to 0. Species composition has changed on both forests. Sitka spruce and white spruce significantly increased in carbon mass on the Chugach, and Sitka spruce, red alder, and western redcedar significantly increased on the Tongass. Biomass increases for yellow-cedar were highest on steep, north-facing slopes which are likely to be better drained and hold snow longer , while yellow-cedar biomass was unchanged on shallow, south-facing slopes [ 27 ]. The distribution, extent, and density of Alaskan temperate rainforests are shifting and increasing at the regional scale as trees establish in new sites and biomass accumulation exceeds mortality in unlogged forests.
Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas - Google Книги
Observed gains in forest biomass are consistent with the hypothesis that climate change is allowing for colonization of previously non-forested locations. Overall, gains exceed losses but occur in different spatial and topographic contexts. Regionally, forest gains are concentrated at high latitudes, low elevations, and on northerly aspects, and losses are skewed toward low latitudes and southerly aspects. Gains greatly outpace losses in the northern part of the region south-central Alaska and are concentrated primarily in shrubland such as above treeline, areas exposed by receding glaciers, and floodplains.
Forest extent appears to be expanding in the north and declining slightly in the south; yellow-cedar mortality may be driving much of this spatial pattern see Mortality , below. Wetland encroachment could explain some of the biomass and spatial gains on lower slopes; increases in precipitation in the future may decrease this growth if soils become waterlogged [ 27 ].
Alaskan wetlands are drying and succeeding to upland habitat in some coastal areas as a result of climate changes [ 21 , 64 ], such as increasing temperatures and decreasing water balance, in the Kenai Lowlands [ 64 ]. Wetlands that might have served as firebreaks in the past may become "fuel bridges" as they convert to shrublands and forests, potentially increasing fire spread and extent [ 21 ]. Mortality events lead to changes in stand structure and species composition of affected stands, thereby altering fuel characteristics and possibly increasing fire hazard.
Widespread mortality of spruce mostly white spruce and Lutz spruce, but also some Sitka spruce in south-central Alaska, and of yellow-cedar at lower elevations throughout its range, has been well known for decades. More recently, reduced growth and biomass of shore pine has been detected in southeastern Alaska. Increased temperatures and reduced snowpack are implicated in these changes.
Widespread mortality of spruce following spruce beetle outbreaks in the late 20th century changed fuel properties over large areas of south-central Alaska [ 24 , , ]; however, Sitka spruce-mountain hemlock forests along the Gulf of Alaska did not show consistent directional changes in vegetation composition or fuel properties [ 24 ]. In white and Lutz spruce communities on the Kenai Peninsula, abundant dead trees and rapid growth of grasses, especially bluejoint reedgrass, led to concerns regarding increased fuel loads and altered fuel characteristics that increase the risk of severe fire [ 43 , , , ].
Extensive yellow-cedar mortality and decline in southeastern Alaska and adjacent coastal British Columbia is a persistent feature on affected landscapes, not only because tree death occurs gradually, but also because yellow-cedar trees remain standing for 80 to years after death figure 6.
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At the northern extent of the decline on Chichagof Island, yellow-cedar death occurs in a narrow, low-elevation band from sea level up to about feet m. Every year, forest health reports document new areas of active yellow-cedar decline, which is strongly affected by warmer winters, reduced snow-pack, and earlier snowmelt that culminate in freezing damage to fine roots and eventual tree death [ 59 , 60 ]. Shore pine also seems to be declining in Alaskan coastal forests, which could dramatically alter stand structure and species composition in shore pine peatlands, because associated tree species are not adapted to fill its niche in saturated, acidic soils [ 86 , 94 , 98 , ].
See the following sources for more information on shore pine mortality: Fire occurrence increased in Alaskan coastal forests during the past 2 centuries compared to the reference period. However, these increases were not as dramatic as those observed in interior Alaska e. Most fires in Alaskan coastal ecosystems were small, ignited by humans, and related to human activities such as logging, mining, and railroad construction. These fires may lead to changes that are outside the historical range of variability in Alaskan coastal ecosystems, including changes in species dominance and distributions.
In addition, roadside fires may contribute to the establishment and spread of nonnative species into natural areas near roads [ 9 , 68 ]. Fire frequency increased in the late s and early s with the arrival of miners and the construction of railroads in south-central Alaska. Since the s, the major causes of fires in the same area have been campfires and debris burning. Several fires larger than acres 40 ha occurred on the Kenai Peninsula in the early s [ ].
It is unclear whether any of these fires burned in any Alaskan Pacific maritime ecosystems. It is more likely that they burned in white and Lutz spruce forests, and adjacent mountain hemlock and mountain hemlock-white spruce forests e. Nonetheless, changing conditions in south-central Alaska have contributed to higher than normal fire hazard during recent decades that could affect coastal ecosystems.
For example, temperatures over the last several decades have been warming, leading to longer and drier fire seasons [ ] see Climate change and fire regimes , and widespread mortality of some dominant tree species has altered fuel conditions and successional relationships in some areas see Postsettlement fuels. As human populations i. See the FEIS syntheses Fire regimes of Alaskan mountain hemlock ecosystems and Fire regimes of Alaskan white spruce communities for more information on contemporary fires in south-central Alaska. Prior to the late s, fire was very rare in southeastern Alaska.
Since that time, several fires have been recorded. Published references to fire in the region are few, although one account mentions a acre 41 ha fire in in an area logged in Two large fires burned on the east side of Prince of Wales Island in and " A study of succession in Sitka spruce-western hemlock forests in Southeast Alaska included 12 stands that established after fires in the 19th and 20th centuries [ 6 ].
The three largest fires recorded in southeastern Alaska as of were the 15,acre 6, ha Karta Bay fire, the 5,acre Skowl Arm fire—both of which occurred in the early s—and the 2,acre Cleveland Peninsula fire of Only three other fires exceeded acres: During the summers of , , and , parts of southeastern Alaska experienced extended dry periods, but total area burned in each of the three years was only 1,, , and 71 acres , 55, and 29 ha , respectively.
All but two of the 70 fires recorded during those years were human-caused [ 55 ]. Fire reports from through on National Forest land in Alaska included fires that burned 1, acres of Sitka spruce and western hemlock cover types. The three large fires burned when fire danger was high. Fires tended to be clustered around populated and high-use areas, and most were human-caused [ ]. Several small, high-severity ground fires occurred in southeastern Alaska during the early 21st century, after warm, dry weather dried the forest floor enough to ignite and carry fire e.
These fires are often ignited from campfires of recreationists, although several lightning-caused fires have also occurred [ 82 , 90 , 91 ]. Because humans cause most contemporary fires, more fires may be expected in the future as human populations expand [ 55 , ], especially if global climate changes lead to higher temperatures and periods of drought sufficient to dry the large biomass of fuels present in these systems see Climate change and fire regimes.
British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest: Relative to many forest districts in interior British Columbia, the total area burned in the North Coast was extremely small 1, acres ha , and estimated fire-return intervals for the area during the study period ranged from 2, to well over 10, years [ 38 ]. Because they mostly result from human-caused ignitions, contemporary fires tend to burn in different locations and possibly in different seasons than presettlement fires [ 38 ].
In southern British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, most large, stand-replacing fires that occurred in coastal forests since European settlement were associated with logging activity e. Logging created large fuel loads and microclimatic conditions that allowed the fuels to dry, making these sites conducive to burning. Humans ignited most of these fires [ 31 ].
A total of 6, wildfires occurred on Vancouver Island from to The fire cycle calculated for lightning-caused fires in the wet coastal western hemlock very wet hypermaritime subzone on Vancouver Island was 8. Climate change and fire regimes: Global climate warming during the past century is unequivocal, and scientific evidence shows major and widespread ecosystem changes throughout the globe that are associated with increasing air and ocean temperatures [ 80 ].
Projections generally indicate that a warmer world will have more fire, although the potential impacts vary geographically and among ecosystems [ 40 ]. Climate change is caused, in part, by alterations in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, and human activities are modifying both the average state and variability of climate by adding greenhouse gasses—particularly carbon dioxide and methane—to the atmosphere [ ]. Both past and future anthropogenic emissions will continue to contribute to warming temperatures for more than a millennium, due to the time scales required for the removal of these gasses from the atmosphere [ 80 ].
Fire regimes in coastal Alaska are strongly climate-driven, and are therefore potentially susceptible to climate changes. Fire is rare in these ecosystems because lightning is rare and, although they are abundant, fuels are typically too wet to burn. Increasing temperatures, changing moisture relationships, and changing storm patterns have the potential to increase the possibility of fire occurrence by drying fuels; changing the composition, structure, and distribution of fuels; lengthening the fire season; and altering lightning patterns.
However, the effects of climate changes are complex, and complexity increases at finer spatial scales due to local variability in factors that affect fuel characteristics such as local weather patterns, topography, dominant vegetation, disturbance history, and management history [ 57 ].
The following sections describe recorded and projected climate changes in southern coastal Alaska, how these changes are expected to alter fuels and possibly fire regimes, and climate change considerations for land managers:. Observed and projected climate changes in southern coastal Alaska: Climate datasets indicate substantial changes in southern coastal Alaska during the past century [ , ] that have the potential to affect the probability and characteristics of wildfire; these include increased temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, reduced depth and duration of snowpack, and increasing storm intensities [ 56 , ].
It is very likely that further warming will cause changes that exceed those observed during the 20th century [ 80 ]. Projections of future effects of climate change are based on global circulation models that assume continued increases in greenhouse gases at varied rates, and therefore typically report a range of values [ 56 ].
During the late 20th and early 21st century, Alaska has warmed at more than twice the rate of the rest of the United States [ 7 ]. Increases in mean annual air temperature table 3 and especially large increases in winter temperatures have occurred in southern coastal Alaska [ 56 , 63 , ]. Near Juneau, winter temperatures increased 6. Temperature increases in south-central Alaska were driven, in part, by a warm-phase PDO that began in Hartmann and Wendler cited by [ ].
Warmer winter temperatures have led to longer growing seasons and an average increase of 10 snow-free days throughout Alaska during the latter part of the 20th century [ 56 ], creating the potential for longer and more active fire seasons [ 7 ]. The length of the growing season increased almost 7 days per decade in south-central and southeastern Alaska between and The first snow-free week in Alaska occurred 3 to 5 days earlier per decade from to , and the duration of the snow-free period extended 3 to 6 days longer per decade [ ].
Regardless of the models or emission scenarios used, it is universally expected that warming will continue throughout the globe, and the magnitude of change will increase with increasing latitude. It is very likely that hot extremes, heat waves, heavy precipitation events, and more intense storms will become more frequent [ 56 , 80 , ].
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Predictions also include continued retreat of glaciers and icefields, increased flooding—especially in spring—and inundation of coastal areas [ 38 , 63 ], which will likely alter composition and structure of many Alaskan Pacific maritime ecosystems. Air temperatures in Alaska [ , ] and British Columbia are expected to continue to increase [ 57 ], with winter temperatures increasing at a higher rate than summer temperatures [ 56 , ].
Precipitation is projected to increase in coastal Alaska, particularly in fall and winter [ 63 , , ], but more will fall as rain instead of snow. Five global climate models using two emission pathways projected an overall regional increase in mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation, and a decrease in precipitation as snow in the northern coastal temperate rainforest of southeastern Alaska and northern British Columbia table 4.
Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas
Projected changes in temperature and precipitation were greatest in the north and on the mainland and least in the south and along the coast [ ]. For example, the projected temperatures for the Kenai Peninsula show that mean temperatures in March and November are expected to shift from below freezing to above freezing. Warmer winters would lead to longer growing seasons, altered distribution of snow cover, considerably reduced snow accumulation in some areas, and earlier snowmelt and peak runoff [ 29 , 56 , 60 , ].
Mean annual precipitation has generally decreased in south-central Alaska [ 21 ] and increased in southeastern Alaska [ 56 , ] since the midth century. Precipitation levels are projected to increase with climate warming; however, projections for precipitation changes are more variable and less certain than those for temperature [ 57 ]. Summer precipitation near Juneau is projected to increase by 5. Even with increased precipitation, many locations are expected to have decreased water availability, increased drought stress, and overall drier conditions during summer due to higher temperatures, increased evapotranspiration, longer growing seasons [ 40 , 56 , ].
June [ ]. The drying trends observed in wetlands on the Kenai see Postsettlement fuels are likely to continue and increase [ 56 ]. Soil water stress is projected to increase in May and June in most of British Columbia vs. Projected changes in atmospheric circulation patterns suggest a higher frequency of weather extremes. Projected changes in fuels and fire regimes: Both anthropogenic climate changes especially increased temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and earlier snowmelt and natural climate variability overlapping patterns of ENSO, PDO, etc.
Their models highlight the potential for widespread impacts of climate change on wildfire and suggest severely altered fire regimes in some areas, with substantial invasion and retreat of fire across large portions of the globe.
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They identified regional "hotspots" of change in fire probabilities. The southeastern coast of Alaska and northern coast of British Columbia were projected to transition from low to high probability of fire in the near future [ 67 ]. High-elevation sites could become disproportionately more susceptible to fire under a warmer climate [ 50 , 51 , 74 ].
As of climate-induced changes in fire activity were not obvious in Alaskan Pacific maritime ecosystems, and contemporary changes in fire activity were mostly anthropogenic see Postsettlement fires. Nonetheless, widespread changes in vegetation and fuel characteristics have been observed and are largely attributed to climate warming see Postsettlement fuels.
These types of changes are expected to continue throughout the northern Pacific coastal region and possibly become more widespread and severe with further warming [ 41 , 56 , , ]. These changes suggest a possibility for more frequent and larger fires than have occurred in Alaskan coastal forests than at any time during the Holocene.
Projected changes and their expected impacts on fire regime characteristics are described in the following sections: Climate change and fuel structure and distribution Productivity, range shifts, and mortality Insects and disease Altered disturbance regimes Climate change and fuel moisture Climate change and fire characteristics Climate change and fuel structure and distribution: Direct and indirect effects of climate warming are altering vegetation production, composition, and distribution in Alaskan coastal ecosystems with corresponding changes in the amount, composition, structure, and distribution of fuels on the landscape.
Alaskan coastal forests may be particularly sensitive to these effects of climate change [ ]. Many of the changes in vegetation already observed may be attributed to higher temperatures, reduced depth and duration of snowpack, elevated snowline, longer growing seasons, decreasing water balance, and altered disturbance regimes see Postsettlement fuels , all of which are expected to continue along with associated changes in productivity, increased mortality, range shifts, severe insect outbreaks, and changing storm patterns and associated disturbances.
These changes will continue to alter fuel characteristics, although there is uncertainty regarding overall impacts of these changes. Productivity, range shifts, and mortality: Coastal forests are likely to see increases in productivity with warming temperatures, increased growing season length, and longer frost-free seasons, particularly in northern latitudes at low- and mid-elevation sites [ 56 , 63 , , ].
However, these gains may be offset by increased mortality of some tree species, increases in populations of damaging agents insects, diseases, herbivores , altered disturbance regimes, changes in species compositions and competitive relationships, and moisture and nutrient limitations associated with longer and drier growing seasons [ 56 , ]. Novel communities may develop as succession proceeds under novel climatic conditions [ , ].
Projected increases in temperature in south-central Alaska are also likely to increase the probability of nonnative, invasive plant establishment and spread [ 56 , ]. Plant species' responses to climate change and other disturbances can include changes in vigor, phenology, growth rates, mortality, and occupancy of particular sites [ 29 ], leading to changes in the distribution of formations forest, shrubland, grassland across the landscape, and changes in species composition and structure within those formations [ ]. Large vegetation shifts, such as those from forest to woodland or alpine tundra to forest, are expected to alter historical fire regimes [ 77 ].
Forests are projected to remain the dominant formation in northern Pacific coastal ecosystems, but their distribution and composition may change substantially due to range shifts, expansions, and contractions of tree species' distributions. Coniferous forests are expected to expand in south-central and southeastern Alaska and may serve as biome refugia [ ]. The distribution of several dominant conifers in Alaskan coastal forests may shift as temperatures warm, because temperature is a driving factor in determining altitudinal distributions e.
Species range shifts due to climate are most likely to be detected at these extremes [ 29 ]. The six most common conifers in Alaskan coastal forests have ranges that extend from northern California to southeastern and south-central Alaska [ 28 ]. Many of these tree species e. The range of Sitka spruce, for example, is actively expanding westward into wet coastal tundra and shrublands at the western extreme of its distribution on Afognak and Kodiak islands [ 95 , ]. With continued warming, western hemlock and western redcedar may expand their overall range while maintaining most or all of their current range [ ].
As climate warms, lowland and subalpine forests may expand and alpine areas may shrink in south-central Alaska [ 37 ], southeastern Alaska, and northern coastal British Columbia [ , , ]. With less snowpack limiting tree establishment, meadows may succeed to woodland or forest, resulting in a more continuous distribution of woody fuels at high elevations [ 51 , 74 ]. Area of open woodland remained constant but changed location [ 37 ].
Mean annual temperatures in alpine areas are projected to exceed those of current subalpine areas by the s in all but the most northerly part of southeastern Alaska. Rising winter temperatures, reduced depth and duration of snowpack, and increased elevation of snowpack are anticipated to raise the elevation of treeline, resulting in a regional loss of high-elevation tundra ecosystems and raising the lower boundary of subalpine ecosystems [ 37 , 56 , , , ].
A review by Haufler et al. Modeling by Wang et al. Tree death rates and forest declines will likely increase due to the direct and indirect effects of warming temperatures, and many old forests may undergo abrupt changes when critical climatic thresholds are exceeded [ 32 ]. Projected habitat losses and transitions will tend to be exacerbated where insect disturbance especially bark beetles and disease are prevalent or occur in conjunction with drought stress [ ].
Successional trends following large-scale mortality events are relatively unknown [ 27 ], although Oakes et al. Tree mortality and injury from insect and disease outbreaks are expected to increase due to climate warming in southern coastal Alaska [ 56 , , , ]. The relationships between climate and biotic disturbance agents are complex and interdependent. For additional details, the reader is encouraged to see the primary literature cited in these reviews: Changes in fuel characteristics are expected in conjunction with outbreaks e. For example, spruce beetle populations are likely to increase with rising temps e.
Other insects expected to have increasing impacts in Alaskan coastal forests include western balsam bark beetles, Sitka spruce aphids, and mountain pine beetles [ 56 , 63 ]. Climate models predict large potential increases in hemlock dwarf mistletoe abundance [ 17 ], and an increase in disease effects on western hemlock is expected [ 17 , 58 ]. In areas where host trees are stressed by drought, opportunistic pathogens that rely on poor host vigor, such as stem-decay fungi, may display greater virulence and increase frequency of wind-breakage [ ].
Outbreaks of some root rots, blights, and rusts e. Projected climate changes are expected to impact the frequency and severity of disturbances other than fire, which will impact vegetation structure and species composition at landscape scales, changing fuel characteristics and having potential feedbacks on fire regimes. Altered weather patterns including a northern shift in storm tracks and greater storm intensities are one consequence of increasing ocean temperatures, and increased storm intensities are expected in southern coastal Alaska [ 56 ].
Wind damage, floods, and landslides can be expected to increase on terrain where they are already a risk factor [ 57 ]. Disturbance rates are likely to be substantially higher than what the landscape has historically experienced, especially near logged areas because timber harvesting can increase the likelihood and severity of natural disturbances [ 38 ]. The prediction of future forest disturbance regimes is in its infancy, but managers may wish to adjust plans accordingly where there is consensus among projections [ 57 ].
See the primary literature in the following reviews for more information [ 38 , 56 , 57 , , ]. Climate change and fuel moisture: Under the contemporary climate, high moisture content in fuels usually retards ignition and spread of fire in Alaskan coastal ecosystems, even during years of extreme drought [ 31 ] see Fuel moisture.
Warmer and drier conditions in systems with ample fuel loads and ignition sources will increase the incidence and likely the size and severity of wildfires. However, the effect of warmer and wetter conditions is less straightforward [ 56 ], and projections of future precipitation patterns have a higher degree of uncertainty than those for temperature [ 38 ].
Although projected increases in precipitation may temporarily increase the moisture content of slow-drying forest floors [ 57 ], warmer temperatures could result in drier fuels, despite increased precipitation [ 40 ]. However, soil water stress is projected to increase in the spring and summer in much of the northern Pacific coastal region [ ]. Moisture content of slow-drying forest floors was generally projected to increase in northern British Columbia, particularly in June; however, moisture content of rapidly drying surface fuels, which are important to ignition and fire spread, may decrease even with increased precipitation [ 57 ].
In coastal areas where periodic droughts and fires occasionally occur, such as south-central Alaska and northern British Columbia, both are more likely to increase in frequency and severity with further warming [ ]. Decreased water availability is projected to have a strong influence on fire regimes on the Kenai Peninsula [ 56 ]. Increased water limitation and drought have already been observed in south-central Alaska see Postsettlement fuels and are projected to continue.
Water limitation not only increases the potential for drier fuels during a longer portion of the fire season, it also constrains the growth and distribution of many tree species, and makes some more susceptible to attack from insects and disease [ 8 , , ]. These changes have the potential to alter fuel structure and distribution at landscape scales. Climate change and fire characteristics: Drier fuels alone can increase the likelihood of fire, but annual fire activity is also driven by fire season length, extreme fire weather, and ignition frequency, all of which have been and will likely continue to increase with climate warming e.
Effects of fires in coastal ecosystems are likely to be very severe for dominant conifers and other plants that are not well adapted to survive fire. Wildfires may become more common as ignition sources increase. A warmer planet will have a moister atmosphere, a larger number of extreme convective storms, and a greater density of lightning discharges [ 50 , 56 ]. Increased incidence of lightning, especially during extended drought, would certainly increase the likelihood of wildfires in coastal Alaska. Unlike temperature and precipitation, lightning is often very localized and difficult to determine accurately with standard weather stations [ 4 ].
Human-caused ignitions are also likely to increase as populations grow [ 19 ]. Extreme fire weather could render a greater portion of the landscape susceptible to fire [ 74 ], and an increase in annual area burned is likely with longer fire seasons [ 57 ].
Modelling by Bachelet et al. In Canadian forests, most area is burned on a small number of days with extreme fire weather. Similar increases in the number of days with active fire spread could occur Alaskan coastal forests. Fire management agencies in coastal and temperate regions may need to adapt their planning and capacity to deal with proportionally larger changes to their fire weather regime compared to the already high fire management capacity found in drier continental regions [ ]. While projected increases in global temperatures are unambiguous, projections for other climate variables are less certain, which complicates projections for fire regime characteristics.
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Because changes in precipitation with climate warming are difficult to predict, projected changes in area burned are less certain in ecosystems where fire activity is driven by precipitation and drought, than in ecosystems where fire activity is driven by temperature. Variations due to complex topography further complicate finer scale projections [ 88 ].
Contributions come from fire ecology, paleoecology, biogeography, paleoclimatology, landscape and ecosystem ecology, ecological modeling, forest management, plant community ecology and plant morphology. The book gives a synthetic overview of methods, data and simulation models for evaluating fire regime processes in forests, shrublands and woodlands and assembles case studies of fire, climate and land use histories.
The unique approach of this book gives researchers the benefits of a north-south comparison as well as the integration of paleoecological histories, current ecosystem dynamics and modeling of future changes. Read more Read less. Prime Book Box for Kids. Review Praise for Veblen, T. ANNALS of the Association of American Geographers "The volume will provide an array of readers with an important factual and theoretical reference for better understanding the varied cultural and environmental aspects of fire.
Ecological Studies Book Hardcover: Springer; edition December 6, Language: Be the first to review this item Amazon Best Sellers Rank: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Customer reviews There are no customer reviews yet. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review.
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