Publications
The USGS fire science mission is to produce and deliver the best available scientific information, tools, and products to support land and emergency management by individuals and organizations at all levels. Below are USGS publications associated with our fire science portfolio.
Filter Total Items: 308
Resilience and resistance in sagebrush ecosystems are associated with seasonal soil temperature and water availability
Invasion and dominance of exotic grasses and increased fire frequency threaten native ecosystems worldwide. In the Great Basin region of the western United States, woody and herbaceous fuel treatments are implemented to decrease the effects of wildfire and increase sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem resilience to disturbance and resistance to exotic annual grasses. High cover of the...
Authors
Bruce A. Roundy, Jeanne C. Chambers, David Pyke, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Eugene W. Schupp, Benjamin M. Rau, Trevor Gruell
Assessing historical and projected carbon balance of Alaska: A synthesis of results and policy/management implications
We summarize the results of a recent interagency assessment of land carbon dynamics in Alaska, in which carbon dynamics were estimated for all major terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for the historical period (1950–2009) and a projection period (2010–2099). Between 1950 and 2009, upland and wetland (i.e., terrestrial) ecosystems of the state gained 0.4 Tg C/yr (0.1% of net primary...
Authors
A. V. McGuire, Helene Genet, Zhou Lyu, Neal J. Pastick, Sarah M. Stackpoole, Richard A. Birdsey, David V. D'Amore, Yujie He, T. Scott Rupp, Robert G. Striegl, Bruce Wylie, Xiaoping Zhou, Qianlai Zhuang, Zhiliang Zhu
Pre‐fire drought and competition mediate post‐fire conifer mortality in western U.S. National Parks
Tree mortality is an important outcome of many forest fires. Extensive tree injuries from fire may lead directly to mortality, but environmental and biological stressors may also contribute to tree death. However, there is little evidence showing how the combined effects of two common stressors, drought and competition, influence post‐fire mortality. Geographically broad observations of...
Authors
Phillip van Mantgem, Donald A. Falk, Emma C. Williams, Adrian Das, Nathan L. Stephenson
Fire, flood, and drought: Extreme climate events alter flow paths and stream chemistry
Extreme climate events—such as hurricanes, droughts, extreme precipitation, and wildfires—have the potential to alter watershed processes and stream response. Yet due to the destructive and hazardous nature and unpredictability of such events, capturing their hydrochemical signal is challenging. A 5‐year postwildfire study of stream chemistry in the Fourmile Creek watershed, Colorado...
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, R. Blaine McCleskey, Deborah A. Martin, Jeffrey Writer, Brian Ebel
STEPWAT2: An individual‐based model for exploring the impact of climate and disturbance on dryland plant communities
The combination of climate change and altered disturbance regimes is directly and indirectly affecting plant communities by mediating competitive interactions, resulting in shifts in species composition and abundance. Dryland plant communities, defined by low soil water availability and highly variable climatic regimes, are particularly vulnerable to climatic changes that exceed their...
Authors
Kyle A. Palmquist, John Bradford, Trace E. Martin, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth
Global Modern Charcoal Dataset (GMCD): A tool for exploring proxy-fire linkages and spatial patterns of biomass burning
Progresses in reconstructing Earth's history of biomass burning has motivated the development of a modern charcoal dataset covering the last decades through a community-based initiative called the Global Modern Charcoal Dataset (GMCD). As the frequency, intensity and spatial scale of fires are predicted to increase regionally and globally in conjunction with changing climate...
Authors
Donna Hawthorne, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi, Julie C. Aleman, Olivier Blarquez, Daniele Colombaroli, Anne-Laure Daniau, Jennifer R. Marlon, Mitchell J. Power, Boris Vannière, Yongming Han, Stijn Hantson, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Brian I. Magi, Xu Yue, Christopher Carcaillet, Rob Marchant, Ayodele Ogunkoya, Esther N. Githumbi, Rebecca M. Muriuki
Hydrologic conditions and simulation of groundwater and surface water in the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, has investigated the hydrology of the Great Dismal Swamp (Swamp) National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) in Virginia and North Carolina and developed a three-dimensional numerical model to simulate groundwater and surface-water hydrology. The model was developed with MODFLOW-NWT, a USGS numerical...
Authors
John R. Eggleston, Jeremy D. Decker, Jason S. Finkelstein, Frederic C. Wurster, Paul E. Misut, Luke P. Sturtevant, Gary K. Speiran
Lake sediment fecal and biomass burning biomarkers provide direct evidence for prehistoric human-lit fires in New Zealand
Deforestation associated with the initial settlement of New Zealand is a dramatic example of how humans can alter landscapes through fire. However, evidence linking early human presence and land-cover change is inferential in most continental sites. We employed a multi-proxy approach to reconstruct anthropogenic land use in New Zealand’s South Island over the last millennium using fecal...
Authors
Elana Argiriadis, Dario Battistel, David B. McWethy, Marco Vecchiato, Torben Kirchgeorg, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Cathy Whitlock, Janet M. Wilmshurst, Carlo Barbante
An introduction and practical guide to use of the Soil-Vegetation Inventory Method (SVIM) data
Long-term vegetation dynamics across public rangelands in the western United States are not well understood because of the lack of large-scale, readily available historic datasets. The Bureau of Land Management’s Soil-Vegetation Inventory Method (SVIM) program was implemented between 1977 and 1983 across 14 western states, but the data have not been easily accessible. We introduce the...
Authors
Brittany S. Barker, David Pilliod, Justin Welty, Robert Arkle, Michael G. "Sherm" Karl, Gordon Toevs
Metal reactivity in laboratory burned wood from a watershed affected by wildfires
We investigated interfacial processes affecting metal mobility by wood ash under laboratory-controlled conditions using aqueous chemistry, microscopy, and spectroscopy. The Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico experiences catastrophic wildfires of devastating effects. Wood samples of Ponderosa Pine, Colorado Blue Spruce, and Quaking Aspen collected from this site were exposed...
Authors
Asifur Rahman, Eliane El Hayek, Johanna Blake, Rebecca J. Bixby, Abdul-Mehdi S. Ali, Michael N. Spilde, Amanda A. Otieno, Keely Miltenberger, Cyrena Ridgeway, Kateryna Artyushkova, Viorel Atudorei, Jose M. Ceratto
Limits to ponderosa pine regeneration following large high-severity forest fires in the United States Southwest
High-severity fires in dry conifer forests of the United States Southwest have created large (>1000 ha) treeless areas that are unprecedented in the regional historical record. These fires have reset extensive portions of Southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson var. scopulorum Engelm.) forest landscapes. At least two recovery options following high-severity fire...
Authors
Collin Haffey, Thomas D. Sisk, Craig Allen, Andrea E. Thode, Ellis Margolis
Drivers and mechanisms of tree mortality in moist tropical forests
Tree mortality rates appear to be increasing in moist tropical forests (MTFs) with significant carbon cycle consequences. Here, we review the state of knowledge regarding MTF tree mortality, create a conceptual framework with testable hypotheses regarding the drivers, mechanisms and interactions that may underlie increasing MTF mortality rates, and identify the next steps for improved...
Authors
Nate G. McDowell, Craig Allen, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Paulo Monteiro Brando, Roel J W Brienen, Jeff Chambers, Brad Christoffersen, Stuart J. Davies, Chris Doughty, Alvaro Duque, Fernando Espirito-Santo, Rosie A. Fisher, Clarissa G. Fontes, David M. Galbraith, Devin Goodsman, Charlotte Grossiord, Henrik Hartmann, Jennifer Holm, Daniel K. Johnson, Abd. Rahman Kassim, Michael Keller, Charles D. Koven, Lara M. Kueppers, Tomo'omi Kumagai, Yadvinder Malhi, Sean M. McMahon, Maurizio Mencuccini, Patrick Meir, Paul R. Moorcroft, Helene C. Muller-Landau, Oliver L. Phillips, Thomas M. Powell, Carlos Sierra, John S. Sperry, Jeff Warren, Chonggang Xu, Xiangtao Xu