Do you CBI what I see? The relationship between the Composite Burn Index and quantitative field measures of burn severity varies across gradients of forest structure
Saba J. Saberi A B , Michelle C. Agne A and Brian J. Harvey A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
B Corresponding author. Email: sjsaberi@uw.edu
International Journal of Wildland Fire 31(2) 112-123 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF21062
Submitted: 12 May 2021 Accepted: 24 November 2021 Published: 11 January 2022
Abstract
Burn severity in forests is commonly assessed in the field with visual ordinal estimates such as the Composite Burn Index (CBI). However, how CBI (a composite of several individual field measures) relates to independent quantitative measures of burn severity (e.g. fire-caused tree mortality, surface charring) has not been widely tested. Here, we use field data from 315 plots in 14 fires in the north-western USA to ask: (1) how CBI relates to eight independent field measures of burn severity; and (2) how these relationships vary across gradients of pre-fire forest structure. Overall, CBI corresponded well with most independent field measures, but some measures of extreme burn severity (e.g. deep charring on trees and snags) were not captured by CBI. Additionally, some measures of canopy burn severity corresponded to lower CBI values in forests with larger average tree size (diameter and height) – potentially from decoupling of surface and canopy fire effects in stands with larger, fire-resistant trees. Our findings suggest continued broad utility of CBI, while highlighting how the correspondence of aggregate plot-level CBI to different measures of burn severity can vary with forest conditions. We also suggest considerations for broadening CBI to account for more extreme levels of burn severity.
Keywords: Cascade Mountains, conifer forests, deep char, fire ecology, fire effects, north-western USA, Rocky Mountains, tree mortality.
References
Abatzoglou JT, Williams AP (2016) Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113, 11770–11775.| Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 27791053PubMed |
Agee JK (1996) ‘Fire Ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests.’ (Island Press: Washington, DC)
Allen JL, Sorbel B (2008) Assessing the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio’s ability to map burn severity in the boreal forest and tundra ecosystems of Alaska’s national parks. International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, 463–475.
| Assessing the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio’s ability to map burn severity in the boreal forest and tundra ecosystems of Alaska’s national parks.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Andrus RA, Veblen TT, Harvey BJ, Hart SJ (2016) Fire severity unaffected by spruce beetle outbreak in spruce-fir forests in southwestern Colorado. Ecological Applications 26, 700–711.
| Fire severity unaffected by spruce beetle outbreak in spruce-fir forests in southwestern Colorado.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 27411244PubMed |
Baker WL (2009) ‘Fire ecology in Rocky Mountain landscapes.’ (Island Press: Washington, DC)
Baldock JA, Smernik RJ (2002) Chemical composition and bioavailability of thermally altered Pinus resinosa (red pine) wood. Organic Geochemistry 33, 1093–1109.
| Chemical composition and bioavailability of thermally altered Pinus resinosa (red pine) wood.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bird MI, Wynn JG, Saiz G, Wurster CM, McBeath A (2015) The Pyrogenic Carbon Cycle. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 43, 273–298.
| The Pyrogenic Carbon Cycle.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bowman DMJS, Balch JK, Artaxo P, Bond WJ, Carlson JM, Cochrane MA, D’Antonio CM, DeFries RS, Doyle JC, Harrison SP, Johnston FH, Keeley JE, Krawchuk MA, Kull CA, Marston JB, Moritz MA, Prentice IC, Roos CI, Scott AC, Swetnam TW, van der Werf GR, Pyne SJ (2009) Fire in the Earth system. Science 324, 481–484.
| Fire in the Earth system.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brodie EG, Miller JED, Safford HD (2021) Productivity modifies the effects of fire severity on understory diversity. Ecology 102, e03514
| Productivity modifies the effects of fire severity on understory diversity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 34363692PubMed |
Cansler CA, McKenzie D (2012) How robust are burn severity indices when applied in a new region? Evaluation of alternate field-based and remote-sensing methods. Remote Sensing 4, 456–483.
| How robust are burn severity indices when applied in a new region? Evaluation of alternate field-based and remote-sensing methods.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cansler CA, McKenzie D (2014) Climate, fire size, and biophysical setting control fire severity and spatial pattern in the northern Cascade Range, USA. Ecological Applications 24, 1037–1056.
| Climate, fire size, and biophysical setting control fire severity and spatial pattern in the northern Cascade Range, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 25154095PubMed |
Crookston NL, Dixon GE (2005) The forest vegetation simulator: a review of its structure, content, and applications. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 49, 60–80.
| The forest vegetation simulator: a review of its structure, content, and applications.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
De Santis A, Chuvieco E (2009) GeoCBI: A modified version of the Composite Burn Index for the initial assessment of the short-term burn severity from remotely sensed data. Remote Sensing of Environment 113, 554–562.
| GeoCBI: A modified version of the Composite Burn Index for the initial assessment of the short-term burn severity from remotely sensed data.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dillon GK, Holden ZA, Morgan P, Crimmins MA, Heyerdahl EK, Luce CH (2011) Both topography and climate affected forest and woodland burn severity in two regions of the western US, 1984 to 2006. Ecosphere 2, 130
| Both topography and climate affected forest and woodland burn severity in two regions of the western US, 1984 to 2006.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Donato DC, Campbell JL, Fontaine JB, Law BE (2009) Quantifying char in postfire woody detritus inventories. Fire Ecology 5, 104–115.
| Quantifying char in postfire woody detritus inventories.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dragozi E, Gitas IZ, Bajocco S, Stavrakoudis DG (2016) Exploring the relationship between burn severity field data and very high resolution GeoEye images: the case of the 2011 Evros wildfire in Greece. Remote Sensing 8, 566
| Exploring the relationship between burn severity field data and very high resolution GeoEye images: the case of the 2011 Evros wildfire in Greece.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dunn CJ, Bailey JD (2016) Tree mortality and structural change following mixed-severity fire in Pseudotsuga forests of Oregon’s western Cascades, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 365, 107–118.
| Tree mortality and structural change following mixed-severity fire in Pseudotsuga forests of Oregon’s western Cascades, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Eidenshink J, Schwind B, Brewer K, Zhu Z, Quayle B, Howard S (2007) A project for monitoring trends in burn severity. Fire Ecology 3, 3–21.
| A project for monitoring trends in burn severity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Furniss TJ, Kane VR, Larson AJ, Lutz JA (2020) Detecting tree mortality with Landsat-derived spectral indices: Improving ecological accuracy by examining uncertainty. Remote Sensing of Environment 237, 111497
| Detecting tree mortality with Landsat-derived spectral indices: Improving ecological accuracy by examining uncertainty.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Harvey BJ, Donato DC, Romme WH, Turner MG (2013) Influence of recent bark beetle outbreak on fire severity and postfire tree regeneration in montane Douglas-fir forests. Ecology 94, 2475–2486.
| Influence of recent bark beetle outbreak on fire severity and postfire tree regeneration in montane Douglas-fir forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 24400499PubMed |
Harvey BJ, Donato DC, Turner MG (2014a) Recent mountain pine beetle outbreaks, wildfire severity, and postfire tree regeneration in the US Northern Rockies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111, 15120–15125.
| Recent mountain pine beetle outbreaks, wildfire severity, and postfire tree regeneration in the US Northern Rockies.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 25267633PubMed |
Harvey BJ, Donato DC, Romme WH, Turner MG (2014b) Fire severity and tree regeneration following bark beetle outbreaks: the role of outbreak stage and burning conditions. Ecological Applications 24, 1608–1625.
| Fire severity and tree regeneration following bark beetle outbreaks: the role of outbreak stage and burning conditions.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 29210226PubMed |
Harvey BJ, Donato DC, Turner MG (2016) Burn me twice, shame on who? Interactions between successive forest fires across a temperate mountain region. Ecology 97, 2272–2282.
| Burn me twice, shame on who? Interactions between successive forest fires across a temperate mountain region.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 27859087PubMed |
Harvey BJ, Andrus RA, Anderson SC (2019) Incorporating biophysical gradients and uncertainty into burn severity maps in a temperate fire-prone forested region. Ecosphere 10, e02600
| Incorporating biophysical gradients and uncertainty into burn severity maps in a temperate fire-prone forested region.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hood SM, Cluck DR, Smith SL, Ryan KC (2008) Using bark char codes to predict post-fire cambium mortality. Fire Ecology 4, 57–73.
| Using bark char codes to predict post-fire cambium mortality.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hudak AT, Morgan P, Bobbitt MJ, Smith AMS, Lewis SA, Lentile LB, Robichaud PR, Clark JT, McKinley RA (2007) The relationship of multispectral satellite imagery to immediate fire effects. Fire Ecology 3, 64–90.
| The relationship of multispectral satellite imagery to immediate fire effects.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Johnston JD, Dunn CJ, Vernon MJ (2019) Tree traits influence response to fire severity in the western Oregon Cascades, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 433, 690–698.
| Tree traits influence response to fire severity in the western Oregon Cascades, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Johnstone JF, Allen CD, Franklin JF, Frelich LE, Harvey BJ, Higuera PE, Mack MC, Meentemeyer RK, Metz MR, Perry GL, Schoennagel T, Turner MG (2016) Changing disturbance regimes, ecological memory, and forest resilience. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14, 369–378.
| Changing disturbance regimes, ecological memory, and forest resilience.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Keeley JE (2009) Fire intensity, fire severity and burn severity: a brief review and suggested usage. International Journal of Wildland Fire 18, 116–126.
| Fire intensity, fire severity and burn severity: a brief review and suggested usage.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Key CH, Benson NC (2006) Landscape assessment (LA) FIREMON: Fire effects monitoring and inventory system. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station-General Technical Report 164-CD LA-1. (Ogden, UT)
Knipling EB (1970) Physical and physiological basis for the reflectance of visible and near-infrared radiation from vegetation. Remote Sensing of Environment 1, 155–159.
| Physical and physiological basis for the reflectance of visible and near-infrared radiation from vegetation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kolden CA, Smith AMS, Abatzoglou JT (2015) Limitations and utilisation of Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity products for assessing wildfire severity in the USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, 1023–1028.
| Limitations and utilisation of Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity products for assessing wildfire severity in the USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Korhonen L, Korhonen KT, Rautiainen M, Stenberg P (2006) Estimation of forest canopy cover: a comparison of field measurement techniques. Silva Fennica 40, 577–588.
| Estimation of forest canopy cover: a comparison of field measurement techniques.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | http://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/532615
Miller JD, Thode AE (2007) Quantifying burn severity in a heterogeneous landscape with a relative version of the delta normalized burn ratio (dNBR). Remote Sensing of Environment 109, 66–80.
| Quantifying burn severity in a heterogeneous landscape with a relative version of the delta normalized burn ratio (dNBR).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Miller JD, Knapp EE, Key CH, Skinner CN, Isbell CJ, Creasy RM, Sherlock JW (2009) Calibration and validation of the relative differenced normalized burn ratio (RdNBR) to three measures of fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains, California, USA. Remote Sensing of Environment 113, 645–656.
| Calibration and validation of the relative differenced normalized burn ratio (RdNBR) to three measures of fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains, California, USA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Morgan P, Keane RE, Dillon GK, Jain TB, Hudak AT, Karau EC, Sikkink PG, Holden ZA, Strand EK (2014) Challenges of assessing fire and burn severity using field measures, remote sensing and modelling. International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, 1045–1060.
| Challenges of assessing fire and burn severity using field measures, remote sensing and modelling.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ospina R, Ferrari SLP (2012) A general class of zero-or-one inflated beta regression models. Computational Statistics & Data Analysis 56, 1609–1623.
| A general class of zero-or-one inflated beta regression models.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Parks SA, Holsinger LM, Koontz MJ, Collins L, Whitman E, Parisien M-A, Loehman RA, Barnes JL, Bourdon J-F, Boucher J, Boucher Y, Caprio AC, Collingwood A, Hall RJ, Park J, Saperstein LB, Smetanka C, Smith RJ, Soverel N (2019) Giving ecological meaning to satellite-derived fire severity metrics across North American forests. Remote Sensing 11, 1735
| Giving ecological meaning to satellite-derived fire severity metrics across North American forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pausas JG (2015) Bark thickness and fire regime. Functional Ecology 29, 315–327.
| Bark thickness and fire regime.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pausas JG, Keeley JE (2021) Wildfires and global change. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 19, 387–395.
| Wildfires and global change.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pearce J, Ferrier S (2000) Evaluating the predictive performance of habitat models developed using logistic regression. Ecological Modelling 133, 225–245.
| Evaluating the predictive performance of habitat models developed using logistic regression.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Picotte JJ, Bhattarai K, Howard D, Lecker J, Epting J, Quayle B, Benson N, Nelson K (2020) Changes to the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program mapping production procedures and data products. Fire Ecology 16, 16
| Changes to the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program mapping production procedures and data products.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
R Core Team (2017) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. (R foundation for statistical computing: Vienna, Austria). Available at http://www.R-project.org/ [Verified 10 May 2021]
Ramsey F, Schafer D (2012) ‘The Statistical Sleuth: A Course in Methods of Data Analysis, 3rd edn.’ (Cengage Learning: Boston, MA).
Rigby RA, Stasinopoulos D (2005) Generalized additive models for location, scale and shape. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C, Applied Statistics 54, 507–554.
| Generalized additive models for location, scale and shape.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Soverel NO, Perrakis DDB, Coops NC (2010) Estimating burn severity from Landsat dNBR and RdNBR indices across western Canada. Remote Sensing of Environment 114, 1896–1909.
| Estimating burn severity from Landsat dNBR and RdNBR indices across western Canada.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Soverel NO, Coops NC, Perrakis DDB, Daniels LD, Gergel SE (2011) The transferability of a dNBR-derived model to predict burn severity across 10 wildland fires in western Canada. International Journal of Wildland Fire 20, 518–531.
| The transferability of a dNBR-derived model to predict burn severity across 10 wildland fires in western Canada.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stenzel JE, Bartowitz KJ, Hartman MD, Lutz JA, Kolden KA, Smith AMS, Law BE, Swanson ME, Larson AJ, Parton WJ, Hudiburg TW (2019) Fixing a snag in carbon emissions estimates from wildfires. Global Change Biology 25, 3985–3994.
| Fixing a snag in carbon emissions estimates from wildfires.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 31148284PubMed |
Stevens JT, Kling MM, Schwilk DW, Varner JM, Kane JM (2020) Biogeography of fire regimes in western U.S. conifer forests: A trait-based approach. Global Ecology and Biogeography 29, 944–955.
| Biogeography of fire regimes in western U.S. conifer forests: A trait-based approach.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Talucci AC, Krawchuk MA (2019) Dead forests burning: the influence of beetle outbreaks on fire severity and legacy structure in sub-boreal forests. Ecosphere 10, e02744
| Dead forests burning: the influence of beetle outbreaks on fire severity and legacy structure in sub-boreal forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Turner MG, Braziunas KH, Hansen WD, Harvey BJ (2019) Short-interval severe fire erodes the resilience of subalpine lodgepole pine forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116, 11319–11328.
| Short-interval severe fire erodes the resilience of subalpine lodgepole pine forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 31110003PubMed |
Westerling AL (2016) Increasing western US forest wildfire activity: sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 371, 20150178
| Increasing western US forest wildfire activity: sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 27216510PubMed |
Whitman E, Parisien M-A, Thompson DK, Hall RJ, Skakun RS, Flannigan MD (2018) Variability and drivers of burn severity in the northwestern Canadian boreal forest. Ecosphere 9, e02128
| Variability and drivers of burn severity in the northwestern Canadian boreal forest.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
