Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Managing and Adapting to Changing Fire Regimes in a Warmer Climate

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Landscape Ecology of Fire

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 213))

Abstract

Planning and management for the expected effects of climate change on natural resources are just now beginning in the western United States (U.S.), where the majority of public lands are located. Federal and state agencies have been slow to address climate change as a factor in resource production objectives, planning strategies, and on-the-ground applications. The recent assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) and other high-profile reports (e.g., GAO 2007) have increased awareness of the need to incorporate climate change into resource management.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agee, J.K., B. Bahro, M.A. Finney, P.N. Omi, D.B. Sapsis, C.N. Skinner, J.W. van Wagtendonk, and C.P. Weatherspoon. 2000. The use of shaded fuelbreaks in landscape fire management. Forest Ecology and Management 127: 55–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agee, J.K., and C.N. Skinner. 2005. Basic principles of forest fuel reduction treatements. Forest Ecology and Management 211: 83–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agee, J.K., C.S. Wright, N. Williamson, and M.H. Huff. 2002. Folier unoisture content of Pacific Northwest vegetation and its relation to wildland fire behavior.Forest Ecology and Management 167: 57–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, P.L., and L.P. Queen. 2001. Fire modeling and information system technology. International Journal of Wildland Fire 10: 343–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arno, S.F., and S. Allison-Bunnell. 2002. Flames in our forest: disaster or renewal? Washington: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A.A., and K.P. Davis. 1973. Forest fire: control and use, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covington, W.W., and M.M. Moore. 1994. Southwestern ponderosa forest structure, changes since Euro-American settlement. Journal of Forestry 92: 39–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cram, D.D., T.T. Baker, and J.C. Boren. 2006. Wildland fire effects in silviculturally treated vs. untreated stands of New Mexico and Arizona. Research Paper RMRS-RP-055. Ogden: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, J.S., C. Wahren, S. Kyle, and W.H. Moir. 2001. Response of exotic plant species to prescribed fire in ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona. Journal of Vegetation Science 12: 261–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dale, V.H., L.A. Joyce, S. McNulty, R.P. Neilson, M.P. Ayres, M.D. Flannigan, P.J. Hanson, L.C. Irland, A.E. Lugo, C.J. Peterson, D. Simberloff, F.J. Swanson, B.J. Stocks, and B.M. Wotton. 2001. Climate change and forest disturbances. BioScience 51: 723–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finney, M.A. 2001. Design of regular landscape fuel treatment patterns for modifying fire growth and behavior. Forest Science 47: 219–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finney, M.A. 2007. A computational method for optimising fuel treatment locations. International Journal of Wildland Fire 16: 702–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finney, M.A., and J.D. Cohen. 2003. Expectation and evaluation of fuel management objectives. In Fire, fuel treatments, and ecological restoration: Conference proceedings, eds. P.N. Omi and L.A. Joyce, 353–366. General Technical Report RMRS-P-29. Ogden: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finney, M.A., C.W. McHugh, and I.C. Grenfell. 2005. Stand and landscape-level effects of prescribed burning on two Arizona wildfires. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35: 1714–1722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fosberg, M.A., and J. Deeming. 1971. Derivation of the 1- and 10-hour timelag fuel moisture calculations for fire-danger rating. Research Note-RM-207. Fort Collins: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gedalof, Z., D.L. Peterson, and N.J. Mantua. 2005. Atmospheric, climatic and ecological controls on extreme wildfire years in the northwestern United States. Ecological Applications 15: 154–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillett, N.P., A.J. Weaver, F.W. Zwiers, and M.D. Flannigan. 2004. Detecting the effect of climate change on Canadian forest fires. Geophysical Research Letters 31: L18211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Government Accountability Office (GAO). 2007. Climate change: Agencies should develop guidance for addressing the effects on federal land and water resources. Report to Congressional Requesters. Washington: Government Accountability Office Report GAO-07-863.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, R.T., S. McCaffrey, and T.B. Jain. 2004. Science basis for changing forest structure to modify wildfire behavior and severity. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-120. Ogden: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffis, K.L., J.A. Crawford, M.R. Wagner, and W.H. Moir. 2001. Understory response to management treatments in northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 146: 239–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamlet, A.F., P.W. Mote, M.P. Clark, and D.P. Lettenmaier. 2007. 20th century trends in runoff, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture in the Western U.S. Journal of Climate 20: 1468–1486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, L.J., J.L. Biringer, and J.R. Hoffman, eds. 2003. Buying time: a user’s manual for ­building resistance and resilience to climate change in natural systems. Berlin: World Wildlife Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J.A., R.J. Hobbs, E. Higgs, and J. Aronson. 2006. Ecological restoration and global climate change. Restoration Ecology 14: 170–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrod, R.J., B.H. McRae, and W.E. Hartl. 1999. Historical stand reconstruction in ponderosa pine forests to guide silvicultural prescriptions. Forest Ecology and Management 114: 433–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrod, R.J., N.A. Povak, and D.W. Peterson. 2007. Comparing the effectiveness of thinning and prescribed fire for modifying structure in dry coniferous forests. In The fire environment–innovations, management, and policy: conference proceedings. Proceedings RMRS-P-46CD. eds. B.W. Butler, and W. Cook, 301–314. Ogden: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hessburg, P.F., and J.K. Agee. 2003. An environmental narrative of Inland Northwest U.S. forests, 1800–2000. Forest Ecology and Management 178: 23–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hessl, A.E., D. McKenzie, and R. Schellhaas. 2004. Drought and Pacific decadal oscillation affect fire occurrence in the inland Pacific Northwest. Ecological Applications 14: 425–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heyerdahl, E.K., D. McKenzie, L. Daniels, A.E. Hessl, J.S. Littell, and N.J. Mantua. 2008. Climate drivers of regionally synchronous fires in the inland Northwest (1651–1900). International Journal of Wildland Fire 17: 40–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, K., V. Kafka, C. Tymstra, R. McAlpine, B. Hawkes, H. Stegehuis, S. Quintilio, S. Gauthier, and K. Peck. 2001. Firesmart forest management: a pragmatic approach to sustainable forest management in fire-dominated ecosystems. Forestry Chronicle 77: 357–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs, R., S. Arico, J. Aronson, J.S. Baron, P. Bridgewater, V.A. Cramer, P.R. Epstein, J.J. Ewel, C.A. Klink, and A.E. Lugo. 2006. Novel ecosystems: theoretical and management aspects of the new ecological world order. Global Ecology and Biogeography 15: 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurteau, M.D., G.W. Koch, and B.A. Hungate. 2008. Carbon protection and fire risk reduction: toward a full accounting of forest carbon offsets. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6: 493–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2007. Climate change 2007: the IPCC fourth assessment report. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.C. 2008. Analyzing fuel treatments and fire hazard in the Pacific Northwest. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, E.A., and D.R. Wowchuk. 1993. Wildfires in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains and their relationship to mid-tropospheric anomalies. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 23: 1213–1222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.C., D.L. Peterson, and C.L. Raymond. 2007. Guide to fuel treatments in dry forests of the western United States: assessing forest structure and fire hazard. Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-686. Portland: U.S. Forest

    Google Scholar 

  • Joyce, L., G.M. Blate, J.S. Littell, S.G. McNulty, C.I. Millar, S.C. Moser, R.P. Neilson, K. O’Halloran, and D.L. Peterson. 2008. Chapter 3, National forests. In Preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources – a report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research, eds. S.H. Julius and J.M. West, 3.1–3.127. Washington: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keegan, C., M. Niccolucci, C. Fiedler, J. Jones, and R. Regel. 2002. Harvest cost collection approaches and associated equations for restoration treatments on national forests. Forest Products Journal 52: 96–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimbell, A.R. 2008. Climate change, water, and kids. http://www.fs.fed.us/kidsclimate/index.shtml 10 July 2008.

  • Littell, J.S., D. McKenzie, D.L. Peterson, and A.L. Westerling. 2009. Climate and wildfire area burned in western U.S. ecoprovinces, 1916–2003. Ecological Applications 19: 1003–1021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littell, J.S., D.L. Peterson, C.I. Millar, and K. O’Halloran. [N.d.]. U.S. national forests adapt to climate change through science-management partnerships. Manuscript in review. On file with: Jeremy Littell, CSES Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-5672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinson, E.J., and P.N. Omi. 2003. Performance of fuel treatments subjected to wildfires. In Fire, fuel treatments, and ecological restoration: conference proceedings, eds. P.N. Omi. and L.A. Joyce, 7–14. Proceedings RMRS-P-29. Ogden: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, D., Z. Gedalof, D.L. Peterson, and P. Mote. 2004. Climatic change, wildfire, and conservation. Conservation Biology 18: 890–902.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, E.L., D.P. Lettenmaier, et al. 2007. HB1303 interim report: a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of climate change on the State of Washington. Seattle: Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millar, C.I., N.L. Stephenson, and S.L. Stephens. 2007. Climate change and forests of the future: managing in the face of uncertainty. Ecological Applications 17: 2145–2151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noss, R.F. 2001. Beyond Kyoto: forest management in a time of rapid climate change. Conservation Biology 15: 578–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ottmar, R.D., D.V. Sandberg, C.L. Riccardi, and S.J. Prichard. 2007. An overview of the Fuel Characteristic Classification System–quantifying, classifying, and creating fuelbeds for resource planning. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37: 2383–2393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, W.C., S.J. Colombo, M.L. Cherry, M.D. Flannigan, S. Greifenhagen, R.S. McAlpine, C. Papadopol, and T. Scarr. 2000. Third millennium forestry: what climate change might mean to forests and forest management in Ontario. Forestry Chronicle 76: 445–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, D.L., and M.C. Johnson. 2007. Science-based strategic planning for hazardous fuel treatment. Fire Management Today 67: 13–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, D.L. M.C. Johnson, J.K. Agee, T.B. Jain, D. McKenzie, and E.R. Reinhardt. 2005. Forest structure and fire hazard in dry forests of the western United States. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-628. Portland: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilliod, D.S., E.L. Bull, J.L. Hayes, and B.C. Wales. 2006. Wildlife and invertebrate response to fuel reduction treatments in dry coniferous forests of the western United States: a synthesis. Ogden: U.S. Forest Service General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollet, J., and P.N. Omi. 2002. Effect of thinning and prescribed burning on crown fire severity in ponderosa pine forests. International Journal of Wildland Fire 11: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, C., and D. Rind. 1994. The impacts of a 2 x CO2 climate on lightning-caused fires. Journal of Climate 7: 1484–1494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyne, S.J., P.L. Andrews, and R.D. Laven. 1996. Introduction to wildland fire, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall-Parker, T., and R. Miller. 2002. Effects of prescribed fire in ponderosa pine on key wildlife habitat components: preliminary results and a method for monitoring. In Proceedings of the symposium on ecology and management of dead wood in western forests, eds. W.F. Laudenslayer, P.J. Shea, B.E. Valentine, C.P. Weatherspoon, and T.E. Lisle, 823–834. General Technical Report PSW-GTR-181. Albany: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt, E., and N.L. Crookston, eds. 2003. The fire and fuels extension to the forest vegetation simulator. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-116. Ogden: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rummer, B. 2008. Assessing the cost of fuel reduction treatments: a critical review. Forest Policy and Economics 10: 355–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandberg, D.V., C.L. Riccardi, and M.D. Schaaf. 2007. Reformulation of Rothermel’s wildland fire behaviour model for heterogeneous fuelbeds. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37: 2438–2455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, C.N., J.H. Burk, M.G. Barbour, E. FrancoVizaino, and S.L. Stephens. 2008. Influences of climate on fire regimes in the montane forests of northwestern Mexico. Journal of Biogeography 35: 1436–1451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slaughter, R., and J.D. Wiener. 2007. Water, adaptation, and property rights on the Snake and Klamath Rivers. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 43: 308–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J.B., and S.S. Lenhart. 1996. Climate change adaptation policy options. Climate Research 6: 193–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snover, A.K., L.C. Whitely Binder, J. Lopez, E. Willmott, J.E. Kay, D. Howell, and J. Simmonds. 2007. Preparing for climate change: a guidebook for local, regional, and state governments. Oakland: ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spittlehouse, D.L., and R.B. Stewart. 2003. Adaptation to climate change in forest management. BC Journal of Ecosystems and Management 4: 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, S.L. 1998. Evaluation of the effects of silvicultural and fuels treatments on potential fire behavior in Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forests. Forest Ecology and Management 105: 21–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, S.L., and S.J. Gill. 2005. Forest structure and mortality in an oldgrowth Jeffrey pine mixed conifer forest in northwestern Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 205: 15–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, S.L., and J.J. Moghaddas. 2005. Experimental fuel treatment impacts on forest structure, potential fire behavior, and predicted tree mortality in a California mixed conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management 215: 21–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, I.T., D.R. Cayan, and M.D. Dettinger. 2005. Changes toward earlier streamflow timing across western North America. Journal of Climatology 18: 1136–1155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stocks, B.J., M.A. Fosberg, T.J. Lynham, L. Mearns, B.M. Wotton, Q. Yang, J.-Z. Jin, K. Lawrence, G.R. Hartley, J.A. Mason, and D.W. McKenney. 1998. Climate change and forest fire potential in Russian and Canadian boreal forests. Climate Change 38: 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strom, B.A., and P.Z. Fulé. 2007. Pre-wildfire fuel treatments affect long-term ponderosa pine forest dynamics. International Journal of Wildland Fire 16: 128–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swetnam, T.W., and J.L. Betancourt. 1990. Fire-Southern Oscillation relations in the southwestern United States. Science 249: 1017–1020.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, A.H., V. Trouet, and C.N. Skinner. 2008. Climatic influences on fire regimes in montane forests of the southern Cascades, California, USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire 17: 60–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J.R., T.A. Spies, and L.M. Ganio. 2007. Reburn severity in managed and unmanaged vegetation in a large wildfire. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 10743–10748.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Forest Service. 2000. Protecting people and sustaining resources in fire-adapted ecosystems: a cohesive strategy. Forest Service management response to General Accounting Office Report GAO/RCED-99-65. October 13, 2000. Washington: U.S. Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westerling, A.L., H.G. Hidalgo, D.R. Cayan, and T.W. Swetnam. 2006. Warming and earlier spring increase western U.S. forest wildfire activity. Science 313: 940–943.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whelan, R.J. 1995. The ecology of fire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wotton, B.M., and M.D. Flannigan. 1993. Length of the fire season in a changing climate. Forestry Chronicle 69: 187–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Seattle, WA, 98103-8600, USA

    David L. Peterson

Authors
  1. David L. Peterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jessica E. Halofsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Morris C. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David L. Peterson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Wildlife Fire Sciences Laborator, US Forest Service, N 34th Ste. room 201 400, Seattle, 98103-8600, Washington, USA

    Donald McKenzie

  2. Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institu, US Forest Service, E. Beckwith Ave. 790, Misoula, 59801, Massachusetts, USA

    Carol Miller

  3. School of Natural Resources and the Envi, University of Arizona, Tuscon, 85721-0001, Arizona, USA

    Donald A. Falk

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Peterson, D.L., Halofsky, J.E., Johnson, M.C. (2011). Managing and Adapting to Changing Fire Regimes in a Warmer Climate. In: McKenzie, D., Miller, C., Falk, D. (eds) The Landscape Ecology of Fire. Ecological Studies, vol 213. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0301-8_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation