Authors
Brandon M Collins, Jay D Miller, Andrea E Thode, Maggi Kelly, Jan W Van Wagtendonk, Scott L Stephens
Publication date
2009/2
Journal
Ecosystems
Volume
12
Pages
114-128
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Description
We investigate interactions between successive naturally occurring fires, and assess to what extent the environments in which fires burn influence these interactions. Using mapped fire perimeters and satellite-based estimates of post-fire effects (referred to hereafter as fire severity) for 19 fires burning relatively freely over a 31-year period, we demonstrate that fire as a landscape process can exhibit self-limiting characteristics in an upper elevation Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest. We use the term ‘self-limiting’ to refer to recurring fire as a process over time (that is, fire regime) consuming fuel and ultimately constraining the spatial extent and lessening fire-induced effects of subsequent fires. When the amount of time between successive adjacent fires is under 9 years, and when fire weather is not extreme (burning index <34.9), the probability of the latter fire burning into the previous fire area is extremely …
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Scholar articles
BM Collins, JD Miller, AE Thode, M Kelly… - Ecosystems, 2009