Extreme Fire Spread Events Burn More Severely and Homogenize Postfire Landscapes in the Southwestern United States DOI Creative Commons

Jim McFarland,

Jonathan D. Coop, Jared A. Balik

et al.

Global Change Biology, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 31(2)

Published: Feb. 1, 2025

ABSTRACT Extreme fire spread events rapidly burn large areas with disproportionate impacts on people and ecosystems. Such are associated warmer drier seasons expected to increase in the future. Our understanding of landscape outcomes extreme is limited, particularly regarding whether they more severely or produce spatial patterns less conducive ecosystem recovery. To assess relationships between rates severity patterns, we used satellite detections create day‐of‐burning maps for 623 fires comprising 4267 single‐day within forested ecoregions southwestern United States. We related satellite‐measured a suite high‐severity patch metrics daily area burned. (defined here as burning > 4900 ha/day) exhibited higher mean severity, greater proportion burned severely, increased like adjacencies pixels. Furthermore, increasing also resulted distances patches live tree seed sources. High‐severity size total core were substantially containing one than without an event. Larger homogenous produced during can limit regeneration set stage protracted forest conversion. These be magnified under future climate scenarios, accelerating fire‐driven loss long‐term ecological change.

Language: Английский

Extreme Fire Spread Events Burn More Severely and Homogenize Postfire Landscapes in the Southwestern United States DOI Creative Commons

Jim McFarland,

Jonathan D. Coop, Jared A. Balik

et al.

Global Change Biology, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 31(2)

Published: Feb. 1, 2025

ABSTRACT Extreme fire spread events rapidly burn large areas with disproportionate impacts on people and ecosystems. Such are associated warmer drier seasons expected to increase in the future. Our understanding of landscape outcomes extreme is limited, particularly regarding whether they more severely or produce spatial patterns less conducive ecosystem recovery. To assess relationships between rates severity patterns, we used satellite detections create day‐of‐burning maps for 623 fires comprising 4267 single‐day within forested ecoregions southwestern United States. We related satellite‐measured a suite high‐severity patch metrics daily area burned. (defined here as burning > 4900 ha/day) exhibited higher mean severity, greater proportion burned severely, increased like adjacencies pixels. Furthermore, increasing also resulted distances patches live tree seed sources. High‐severity size total core were substantially containing one than without an event. Larger homogenous produced during can limit regeneration set stage protracted forest conversion. These be magnified under future climate scenarios, accelerating fire‐driven loss long‐term ecological change.

Language: Английский

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