CASC Fire Research Highlights

Major Research Themes 

• Estimating/forecasting future wildfire risks  

• Effects of fire on dominant vegetation species (e.g., aspen, sagebrush) 

• Processes of post-fire regeneration 

• Fire as a driver of ecosystem transformation 

• Interactions between climate, invasive species, drought, and other stressors on fire frequency and severity 

• Effects of fires on watersheds and water resources 

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Cross-CASC Fire Initiatives 

CASC Network Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellows Program: “The Future of Fire” 

The CASC network’s Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellows (CAPF) Program is a nationally coordinated postdoctoral research program that provides management-relevant research opportunities on the effects of climate change to fish, wildlife and ecosystems. The inaugural 2021-2023 CAPF cohort centers around the theme “The Future of Fire.” Seven postdoctoral fellows based at CASC consortium universities around the country lead regionally-focused research projects related to climate-fire dynamics, providing a regional-to-national synthesis of climate change impacts on fire regimes, fire management, and fire response. Fellows also participate in regular training and professional development opportunities, including training on translational ecology; mutual learning with stakeholders; iterative creative problem-solving; and interdisciplinary collaboration across academic disciplines. 

 

Fire and Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems in the Western United States 

Sagebrush steppe is one of the most widely distributed ecosystems in western North America and is of critical importance to the conservation and economic fortunes of many western states. Yet this landscape is increasingly threatened by increases in wildfire frequency and severity, the spread of invasive grasses, and changing climate conditions. The Northwest, North Central, and Southwest CASCs have collaborated on a series of projects looking at the effects of fire on sagebrush ecosystems. The first project, completed in 2020, sought to increase the success of post-fire adaptive management strategies in sagebrush steppes by understanding how climate conditions and invasive species affect sagebrush recovery after wildfires. They found that small-scale droughts (a few days or weeks in length) had oversized impacts on the ability of sagebrush plants to recover following wildfires. In a more recent project, researchers explore how sagebrush communities are affected by wildfire-driven increases in invasive grasses. 

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Project Highlights 

Predicting the Effects of Climate Change on the Spread of Fire-Promoting Plants in Hawai‘i: Assessing Emerging Threats to Rare Native Plants and Ecosystems

• Issue: The frequency and severity of wildfire in Hawai‘i has increased in recent years, in part driven by the spread of highly-flammable invasive plant species. 

• CASC Science: Researchers supported by the Pacific Islands CASC seek to reduce harm caused by wildfires in Hawai‘i by identifying fire-promoting invasive species on the islands to inform eradication prioritization.  

• Applications: Results of this project will be used by the National Park Service to develop their Fire Management Plan for the new Hono’uli’uli National Monument on O‘ahu and Hawai‘i’s Island Invasive Species Committees (ISCs) to develop protocols to prioritize new species for island-wide eradication. 

Examining Soil and Drought Dynamics to Improve Fire Forecasting in the southern Great Plains 

• Issue: Extreme fire events across the Great Plains in recent years have highlighted the importance of developing accurate fire forecasting tools. 

• CASC Science: In this project, researchers supported by the South Central CASC fine-tuned fire weather forecasting predictions by incorporating soil characteristics (previously identified as important for fire dynamics) into predictive models. Soil characteristics had significant impacts on plant growth and drought dynamics in Texas and Oklahoma, indicating that predictive models accounting for these features can improve fire forecasting.  

• Applications: This information is meant to give managers in Texas and Oklahoma a more complete picture of fire risk, thus helping to inform fire prevention, crop production, and conservation decision making across the region.   

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Product Highlights 

2020 Fire Season: Grim, Smokey, Flexible

The Southwest CASC partners with the USDA Southwest Climate Hub to produce the monthly podcast Come Rain or Shine, where they discuss recent advances in climate science and climate adaptation practices. In Season 1 Episode 5, guests Tim Brown (Desert Research Institute), Royce Fontenot (National Weather Service), and Megan Friggens (U.S. Forest Service) share their impressions of the intense 2020 fire season and discuss their work with pre-fire preparedness, active fire management, and post-fire recovery in the western U.S.  

Alaska Daily Historical Fire Weather Indices (1979-2017) 

Researchers supported by the Alaska CASC have made available a database containing the daily historical fire weather indices averaged over 21 Alaska Predictive Service Areas (PSAs) from 1979-2017. These indices were computed using downscaled meteorological data. These data can be used to calculate local fire risk across Alaska, and was applied to an Alaska CASC project assessing seasonal wildfire forecasting methods within the state. 

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