Quantifying influences and relative importance of fire weather, topography, and vegetation on fire size and fire severity in a Chinese boreal forest landscape

Fang, Lei; Yang, Jian; Zu, Jiaxing; Gui-Cai, LI; Jia-shen, Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.01.011

Cited by 107 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…In fire research, various indicators have been adopted to delineate topographic characteristics. The most common topographic indicators used in studies include elevation, slope, aspect, topographic wetness index (TWI), solar radiation index (SRI), topographic position index, elevation relief ratio, heat load index, topographic roughness index and gullies (e.g., [19,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]). Because there is no clear evidence indicating which variables are more effective in delineating topographic characteristics, we tried to adopt indicators that have proven to be effective in capturing the complex topographic characteristics of our study areas in previous studies (e.g., [3,10,30]).…”

Section: Mapping Topographic Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies have shown that topographic characteristics are the most significant variables affecting burn severity. For example, Fang et al [19] reported that topography was one of the most significant factors explaining burn severity in the boreal forest of the Great Xing'an Mountains, China. Similarly, Bigler et al [20] found elevation to be the most significant predictor of fire severity in Rocky Mountain subalpine forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To understand the effects of weather on burn severity, two different types of weather should be considered: climate and fire weather. Climate reflects broad weather patterns and is closely associated with long-term annual and seasonal variation in precipitation, temperature, relative moisture, solar radiation, drought and wind on a regional scale [19,21]. In general, higher temperatures, lower humidity and dry conditions create environments that are more susceptible to forest fires due to decreased fuel moisture and the lower energy required for pre-heating [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the literature, some of this complexity is due to interactions among topography, weather and fuel and their spatially varying effects [30]. Simultaneously, this complexity is partially due to potential nonlinear relationships between burn severity with topography, weather and fuels [3,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Lee et al [3] reported the possibility of nonlinear relationships between burn severity and elevation and slope in the hilly forest of Samcheok, Korea. Recently, Fang et al [19] also reported nonlinear response curves of the top three explanatory variables for both fire size and fire severity models in the boreal forest of the Great Xing'an Mountains, China. The underlying rationale of this study was that the complexity and dynamic effects of the fire triangle were in part due to the presence of nonlinear relationships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complex Relationships of the Effects of Topographic Characteristics and Susceptible Tree Cover on Burn Severity

2018

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Forest fires and burn severity mosaics have profound impacts on the post-fire dynamics and complexity of forest ecosystems. Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between topographic variables and susceptible tree covers with regard to burn severity. However, these relationships have not been fully elucidated, because most studies have assumed linearity in these relationships. Therefore, we examined the linearity and the nonlinearity in the relationships between topographic variables and susceptible tree covers with burn severity by comparing linear and nonlinear models. The site of the Samcheok fire, the largest recorded forest fire in Korea, was used as the study area. We generated 802 grid cells with a 500-m resolution that encompassed the entire study area and collected a dataset that included the topographic variables and percentage of red pine trees, which are the most susceptible tree cover types in Korea. We used conventional linear models and generalized additive models to estimate the linear and the nonlinear models based on topographic variables and Japanese red pine trees. The results revealed that the percentage of red pine trees had linear effects on burn severity, reinforcing the importance of silviculture and forest management to lower burn severity. Meanwhile, the topographic variables had nonlinear effects on burn severity. Among the topographic variables, elevation had the strongest nonlinear effect on burn severity, possibly by overriding the effects of susceptible fuels over elevation effects or due to the nonlinear effects of topographic characteristics on pre-fire fuel conditions, including the spatial distribution and availability of susceptible tree cover. To validate and generalize the nonlinear effects of elevation and other topographic variables, additional research is required at different fire sites with different tree cover types in different geographic locations.

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Section: Mapping Topographic Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complex Relationships of the Effects of Topographic Characteristics and Susceptible Tree Cover on Burn Severity

2018

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Characteristics and controls of extremely large wildfires in the western Mediterranean Basin

et al. 2016

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Large fires account for a disproportionally high percentage of area burned with potentially severe environmental and socioeconomic impacts. This study characterizes extremely large fires (ELFs; 2500–24,843 ha) in Portugal (1998–2013) and the concomitant fuel and weather conditions, analyzing the response of ELF size to their variation. ELF burned less shrubland‐grassland (33% of the total ELF area) than forest (59% of total), the latter primarily composed by pine and pine‐eucalypt. High fuel hazard was the norm, as indicated by median values of 0.98 for fuel load as a fraction of potential (maximum) load and time since fire >14 years over 91% of the burned area. ELF occurred under anticyclonic circulation patterns, especially ridging, and 78% of them coincided with extreme fire danger days (corresponding to infrequent conditions) in conjunction with unstable atmosphere. Containment time, fire growth rate, and energy release metrics varied by 1 more order of magnitude than ELF size, hence indicating that size alone is insufficient to describe extreme fires. Distinct combinations between ambient weather conditions, atmospheric instability, and drought defined three categories of ELF as defined by size. Quantile regression indicated that increasingly larger fires showed gradually stronger responses to fire weather severity, highlighting the difficulty in restraining fire spread in flammable landscapes in the absence of extensive fuel treatments. Data limitations inherent to the methods used are discussed, and improvements to further advance the understanding of extreme fires are suggested.

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The effects of vegetative type, edges, fire history, rainfall, and management in fire‐maintained habitat

et al. 2018

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The combined effects of fire history, climate, and landscape features (e.g., edges) on habitat specialists need greater focus in fire ecology studies, which usually only emphasize characteristics of the most recent fire. Florida scrub‐jays are an imperiled, territorial species that prefer medium (1.2–1.7 m) shrub heights, which are dynamic because of frequent fires. We measured short, medium, and tall habitat quality states annually within 10‐ha grid cells (that represented potential territories) because fires and vegetative recovery cause annual variation in habitat quality. We used multistate models and model selection to test competing hypotheses about how transition probabilities vary between states as functions of environmental covariates. Covariates included vegetative type, edges (e.g., roads and forests), precipitation, openings (gaps between shrubs), mechanical cutting, and fire characteristics. Fire characteristics not only included an annual presence/absence of fire covariate, but also fire history covariates: time since the previous fire, the longest fire‐free interval, and the number of repeated fires. Statistical models with support included many covariates for each transition probability, often including fire history, interactions, and nonlinear relationships. Tall territories resulted from 28 yr of fire suppression and habitat fragmentation that reduced the spread of fires across landscapes. Despite 35 yr of habitat restoration and prescribed fires, half the territories remained tall, suggesting a regime shift to a less desirable habitat condition. Edges reduced the effectiveness of fires in setting degraded scrub and flatwoods into earlier successional states, making mechanical cutting an important tool to compliment frequent prescribed fires.

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Quantifying influences and relative importance of fire weather, topography, and vegetation on fire size and fire severity in a Chinese boreal forest landscape

Cited by 107 publications

References 95 publications

Complex Relationships of the Effects of Topographic Characteristics and Susceptible Tree Cover on Burn Severity

Complex Relationships of the Effects of Topographic Characteristics and Susceptible Tree Cover on Burn Severity

Characteristics and controls of extremely large wildfires in the western Mediterranean Basin

The effects of vegetative type, edges, fire history, rainfall, and management in fire‐maintained habitat

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