Author:
Morgan Penelope,Hardy Colin C.,Swetnam Thomas W.,Rollins Matthew G.,Long Donald G.
Abstract
This paper was presented at the conference ‘Integrating spatial technologies and ecological principles for a new age in fire management’, Boise, Idaho, USA, June 1999
Maps of fire frequency, severity, size, and pattern are useful for
strategically planning fire and natural resource management, assessing risk
and ecological conditions, illustrating change in disturbance regimes through
time, identifying knowledge gaps, and learning how climate, topography,
vegetation, and land use influence fire regimes. We review and compare
alternative data sources and approaches for mapping fire regimes at national,
regional, and local spatial scales. Fire regimes, defined here as the nature
of fires occurring over an extended period of time, are closely related to
local site productivity and topography, but climate variability entrains fire
regimes at regional to national scales. In response to fire exclusion
policies, land use, and invasion of exotic plants over the last century, fire
regimes have changed greatly, especially in dry forests, woodlands, and
grasslands. Comparing among and within geographic regions, and across time, is
a powerful way to understand the factors determining and constraining fire
patterns. Assembling spatial databases of fire information using consistent
protocols and standards will aid comparison between studies, and speed and
strengthen analyses. Combining multiple types of data will increase the power
and reliability of interpretations. Testing hypotheses about relationships
between fire, climate, vegetation, land use, and topography will help to
identify what determines fire regimes at multiple scales.
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295 articles.
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