Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America
Abstract Fire refugia, sometimes referred to as fire islands, shadows, skips, residuals, or fire remnants, are an important element of the burn mosaic, but we lack a quantitative framework that links observations of fire refugia from different environmental contexts. Here, we develop and test a conc...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2016-12-01
|
| Series: | Ecosphere |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1632 |
| _version_ | 1819023400682651648 |
|---|---|
| author | Meg A. Krawchuk Sandra L. Haire Jonathan Coop Marc‐André Parisien Ellen Whitman Geneva Chong Carol Miller |
| author_facet | Meg A. Krawchuk Sandra L. Haire Jonathan Coop Marc‐André Parisien Ellen Whitman Geneva Chong Carol Miller |
| author_sort | Meg A. Krawchuk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Fire refugia, sometimes referred to as fire islands, shadows, skips, residuals, or fire remnants, are an important element of the burn mosaic, but we lack a quantitative framework that links observations of fire refugia from different environmental contexts. Here, we develop and test a conceptual model for how predictability of fire refugia varies according to topographic complexity and fire weather conditions. Refugia were quantified as areas unburned or burned at comparatively low severity based on remotely sensed burn severity data. We assessed the relationship between refugia and a suite of terrain‐related explanatory metrics by fitting a collection of boosted regression tree models. The models were developed for seven study fires that burned in conifer‐dominated forested landscapes of the Western Cordillera of Canada between 2001 and 2014. We fit nine models, each for distinct levels of fire weather and terrain ruggedness. Our framework revealed that the predictability and abundance of fire refugia varied among these environmental settings. We observed highest predictability under moderate fire weather conditions and moderate terrain ruggedness (ROC‐AUC = 0.77), and lowest predictability in flatter landscapes and under high fire weather conditions (ROC‐AUC = 0.63–0.68). Catchment slope, local aspect, relative position, topographic wetness, topographic convergence, and local slope all contributed to discriminating where refugia occur but the relative importance of these topographic controls differed among environments. Our framework allows us to characterize the predictability of contemporary fire refugia across multiple environmental settings and provides important insights for ecosystem resilience, wildfire management, conservation planning, and climate change adaptation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:38:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-75b69bfb4f354d50b65c72b9f2794a6f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-8925 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:38:18Z |
| publishDate | 2016-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-75b69bfb4f354d50b65c72b9f2794a6f2022-12-21T19:15:48ZengWileyEcosphere2150-89252016-12-01712n/an/a10.1002/ecs2.1632Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North AmericaMeg A. Krawchuk0Sandra L. Haire1Jonathan Coop2Marc‐André Parisien3Ellen Whitman4Geneva Chong5Carol Miller6Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon 97331 USAHaire Laboratory for Landscape Ecology Rockport Massachusetts 01966 USACenter for Environment and Sustainability Western State Colorado University Gunnison Colorado 81231 USANorthern Forestry Centre Canadian Forest Service Natural Resources Canada Edmonton Alberta T6H 3S5 CanadaDepartment of Renewable Resources University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta T6G 2H1 CanadaU.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center Jackson Wyoming 83001 USAAldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute Rocky Mountain Research Station USDA Forest Service Missoula Montana 59801 USAAbstract Fire refugia, sometimes referred to as fire islands, shadows, skips, residuals, or fire remnants, are an important element of the burn mosaic, but we lack a quantitative framework that links observations of fire refugia from different environmental contexts. Here, we develop and test a conceptual model for how predictability of fire refugia varies according to topographic complexity and fire weather conditions. Refugia were quantified as areas unburned or burned at comparatively low severity based on remotely sensed burn severity data. We assessed the relationship between refugia and a suite of terrain‐related explanatory metrics by fitting a collection of boosted regression tree models. The models were developed for seven study fires that burned in conifer‐dominated forested landscapes of the Western Cordillera of Canada between 2001 and 2014. We fit nine models, each for distinct levels of fire weather and terrain ruggedness. Our framework revealed that the predictability and abundance of fire refugia varied among these environmental settings. We observed highest predictability under moderate fire weather conditions and moderate terrain ruggedness (ROC‐AUC = 0.77), and lowest predictability in flatter landscapes and under high fire weather conditions (ROC‐AUC = 0.63–0.68). Catchment slope, local aspect, relative position, topographic wetness, topographic convergence, and local slope all contributed to discriminating where refugia occur but the relative importance of these topographic controls differed among environments. Our framework allows us to characterize the predictability of contemporary fire refugia across multiple environmental settings and provides important insights for ecosystem resilience, wildfire management, conservation planning, and climate change adaptation.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1632burn mosaicburn severityfire refugiafire weatherislandpredictability |
| spellingShingle | Meg A. Krawchuk Sandra L. Haire Jonathan Coop Marc‐André Parisien Ellen Whitman Geneva Chong Carol Miller Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America Ecosphere burn mosaic burn severity fire refugia fire weather island predictability |
| title | Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America |
| title_full | Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America |
| title_fullStr | Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America |
| title_short | Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America |
| title_sort | topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern north america |
| topic | burn mosaic burn severity fire refugia fire weather island predictability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1632 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT megakrawchuk topographicandfireweathercontrolsoffirerefugiainforestedecosystemsofnorthwesternnorthamerica AT sandralhaire topographicandfireweathercontrolsoffirerefugiainforestedecosystemsofnorthwesternnorthamerica AT jonathancoop topographicandfireweathercontrolsoffirerefugiainforestedecosystemsofnorthwesternnorthamerica AT marcandreparisien topographicandfireweathercontrolsoffirerefugiainforestedecosystemsofnorthwesternnorthamerica AT ellenwhitman topographicandfireweathercontrolsoffirerefugiainforestedecosystemsofnorthwesternnorthamerica AT genevachong topographicandfireweathercontrolsoffirerefugiainforestedecosystemsofnorthwesternnorthamerica AT carolmiller topographicandfireweathercontrolsoffirerefugiainforestedecosystemsofnorthwesternnorthamerica |