Relationships among wildfire, prescribed fire, and drought in a fire-prone landscape in the south-eastern United States
Robert N. Addington A E F , Stephen J. Hudson B , J. Kevin Hiers C , Matthew D. Hurteau D , Thomas F. Hutcherson B , George Matusick A and James M. Parker B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A The Nature Conservancy, PO Box 52452, Fort Benning, GA 31995, USA.
B Directorate of Public Works, Land Management Branch, Building 5884, First Division Road, Fort Benning, GA 31905, USA.
C University of the South, Environmental Stewardship, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA.
D The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Bigler Road, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
E Present address: The Nature Conservancy, 2424 Spruce Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
F Corresponding author. Email: addingtonrob@gmail.com
International Journal of Wildland Fire 24(6) 778-783 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF14187
Submitted: 3 May 2014 Accepted: 22 April 2015 Published: 9 July 2015
Abstract
Concern over increasing wildfire activity in the last few decades has prompted increased investment in fuels reduction treatments worldwide. Prescribed fire is a commonly used management tool for reducing fuels and modifying subsequent wildfire dynamics, yet the influence of prescribed fire on wildfire is difficult to evaluate empirically due to the often unpredictable nature of wildfire. In this study we evaluated a 30-year record of wildfire, prescribed fire and drought at Fort Benning, a 74 000-ha military training installation in west-central Georgia, USA. Annual wildfire incidence declined sharply from 1982 to 2012 as prescribed fire hectares increased. Multiple regression models including both prescribed fire and drought (assessed using the Keetch–Byram Drought Index; KBDI) explained ~80% and 54% of the variation in annual wildfire incidence and areal extent, respectively. Current- and previous-year prescribed fire were strongly inversely related to current-year wildfire, suggesting that the cumulative area burned by prescription is important in explaining current-year wildfire incidence. Wildfire activity overall (both incidence and areal extent) was highest during drought years when cumulative prescribed fire hectares were low. Our results suggest some inevitability of wildfire during drought, but also provide evidence for the positive effects of sustained landscape-scale prescribed fire in reducing wildfire activity over time.
Additional keywords: Fort Benning, fuels reduction, Keetch–Byram Drought Index, longleaf pine.
References
Boer MM, Sadler RJ, Wittkuhn RS, McCaw L, Grierson PF (2009) Long-term impacts of prescribed burning on regional extent and incidence of wildfires – Evidence from 50 years of active fire management in SW Australian forests. Forest Ecology and Management 259, 132–142.| Long-term impacts of prescribed burning on regional extent and incidence of wildfires – Evidence from 50 years of active fire management in SW Australian forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bradshaw L, McCormick E (2000) FireFamily Plus User’s Guide, Version 2.0. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-67WWW. (Ogden, UT)
Brose P, Wade D (2002) Potential fire behavior in pine flatwood forests following three different fuel reduction techniques. Forest Ecology and Management 163, 71–84.
| Potential fire behavior in pine flatwood forests following three different fuel reduction techniques.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brown JK, Smith JK (2000) Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on flora. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-42-vol.2. (Ogden, UT).
Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) ‘Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: a Practical Information-Theoretic Approach’. 2nd edn. (Springer Verlag: New York, NY).
Butry DA, Prestemon JP, Abt KL, Sutphen R (2010) Economic optimization of wildfire intervention activities. International Journal of Wildland Fire 19, 659–672.
| Economic optimization of wildfire intervention activities.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Chan DW, Paul JT, Dozier A (2004) Keetch–Byram Drought Index: can it help predict wildland fires? Fire Management Today 64, 39–42.
Chapman HH (1932) Is the longleaf type a climax? Ecology 13, 328–334.
| Is the longleaf type a climax?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Countryman CM (1972) The fire environment concept. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Ranger Experiment Station, Technical Paper. (Berkeley, CA). Available at http://www.frames.gov/documents/behaveplus/publications/Countryman_1972_TheFireEnvironmentConcept_ocr.pdf [Verified 1 June 2015]
Davis LS, Cooper RW (1963) How prescribed burning affects wildfire occurrence. Journal of Forestry 61, 915–917.
Fernandes PM, Botelho HS (2003) A review of prescribed burning effectiveness in fire hazard reduction. International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, 117–128.
| A review of prescribed burning effectiveness in fire hazard reduction.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Finney MA, McHugh CW, Grenfell IC (2005) Stand- and landscape-level effects of prescribed burning on two Arizona wildfires. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35, 1714–1722.
| Stand- and landscape-level effects of prescribed burning on two Arizona wildfires.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Frost CC, Langley SK (2009) Historic fire regimes and presettlement vegetation of Fort Benning, Georgia. Report to the Fort Benning DPW Environmental Management Division (Fort Benning, GA).
Fulé PZ, Crouse JE, Roccaforte JP, Kalies EL (2012) Do thinning and/or burning treatments in western USA ponderosa or Jeffrey pine-dominated forests help restore natural fire behavior? Forest Ecology and Management 269, 68–81.
| Do thinning and/or burning treatments in western USA ponderosa or Jeffrey pine-dominated forests help restore natural fire behavior?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Haywood JD (2009) Eight years of seasonal burning and herbicidal brush control influence sapling longleaf pine growth, understory vegetation, and the outcome of an ensuing wildfire. Forest Ecology and Management 258, 295–305.
| Eight years of seasonal burning and herbicidal brush control influence sapling longleaf pine growth, understory vegetation, and the outcome of an ensuing wildfire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hessburg PF, Agee JK (2003) An environmental narrative of Inland Northwest United States forests, 1800–2000. Forest Ecology and Management 178, 23–59.
| An environmental narrative of Inland Northwest United States forests, 1800–2000.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hiers JK, Laine SC, Bachant JJ, Furman JF, Green WW, Compton V (2003) Spatial modeling tools for prioritizing prescribed burning activities at the landscape scale. Conservation Biology 17, 1571–1578.
| Spatial modeling tools for prioritizing prescribed burning activities at the landscape scale.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hurteau M, North M (2009) Fuel treatment effects on tree-based forest carbon storage and emissions under modeled wildfire scenarios. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7, 409–414.
| Fuel treatment effects on tree-based forest carbon storage and emissions under modeled wildfire scenarios.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Keetch JJ, Byram GM (1968) A drought index for forest fire control. USDA Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, Research Paper SE-38. (Asheville, NC).
Koehler JT (1992–1993) Prescribed burning: a wildfire prevention tool? Fire Management Notes 53–54, 9–13.
Marshall DJ, Wimberly M, Bettinger P, Stanturf J (2008) Synthesis of knowledge of hazardous fuels management in loblolly pine forests. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, General Technical Report SRS-110. (Asheville, NC).
McCaw WL (2013) Managing forest fuels using prescribed fire – A perspective from southern Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 294, 217–224.
| Managing forest fuels using prescribed fire – A perspective from southern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mercer DE, Prestemon JP (2005) Comparing production function models for wildfire risk analysis in the wildland–urban interface. Forest Policy and Economics 7, 782–795.
| Comparing production function models for wildfire risk analysis in the wildland–urban interface.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mercer DE, Prestemon JP, Butry DT, Pye JM (2007) Evaluating alternative prescribed burning policies to reduce net economic damages from wildfire. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 89, 63–77.
| Evaluating alternative prescribed burning policies to reduce net economic damages from wildfire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mitchell RJ, Hiers JK, O’Brien JJ, Starr G (2009) Ecological forestry in the Southeast: understanding the ecology of fuels. Journal of Forestry 107, 391–397.
Mitchell RJ, Liu Y, O’Brien JJ, Elliott KJ, Starr G, Miniat CF, Hiers JK (2014) Future climate and fire interactions in the southeastern region of the United States. Forest Ecology and Management 327, 316–326.
| Future climate and fire interactions in the southeastern region of the United States.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
North M, Collins BM, Stephens S (2012) Using fire to increase the scale, benefits, and future maintenance of fuels treatments. Journal of Forestry 110, 392–401.
| Using fire to increase the scale, benefits, and future maintenance of fuels treatments.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Palmer WC (1965) Meteorological drought. US Department of Commerce Weather Bureau, Research Paper 45 (Washington DC).
Prestemon JP, Pye JM, Butry DT, Holmes TP, Mercer DE (2002) Understanding broadscale wildfire risks in a human-dominated landscape. Forest Science 48, 685–693.
Prestemon JP, Hawbaker TJ, Bowden M, Carpenter J, Brooks MT, Abt KL, Sutphen R, Scranton S (2013) Wildfire ignitions: a review of the science and recommendations for empirical modeling. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station General Technical Report SRS-171. (Asheville, NC).
Price OF, Bradstock RA (2011) Quantifying the influence of fuel age and weather on the annual extent of unplanned fires in the Sydney region of Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 20, 142–151.
| Quantifying the influence of fuel age and weather on the annual extent of unplanned fires in the Sydney region of Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Prichard SJ, Kennedy MC (2014) Fuel treatment and landform modify landscape patterns of burn severity in an extreme fire event. Ecological Applications 24, 571–590.
| Fuel treatment and landform modify landscape patterns of burn severity in an extreme fire event.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 24834742PubMed |
Pyne S (1982) ‘Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire’. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ).
Schwilk DW, Keeley JE, Knapp EE, McIver J, Bailey JD, Fettig CJ, Fiedler CE, Harrod RJ, Moghaddas JJ, Outcalt KW, Skinner CN, Stephens SL, Waldrop TA, Yaussy DA, Youngblood A (2009) The national Fire and Fire Surrogate study: effects of fuel reduction methods on forest vegetation structure and fuels. Ecological Applications 19, 285–304.
| The national Fire and Fire Surrogate study: effects of fuel reduction methods on forest vegetation structure and fuels.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 19323191PubMed |
Stephens SL, McIver JD, Boerner REJ, Fettig CJ, Fontaine JB, Hartsough BR, Kennedy PL, Schwilk DW (2012) The effects of forest fuel-reduction treatments in the United States. Bioscience 62, 549–560.
| The effects of forest fuel-reduction treatments in the United States.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stephens SL, Agee JK, Fulé PZ, North MP, Romme WH, Swetnam TW, Turner MG (2013) Managing forests and fire in changing climates. Science 342, 41–42.
| Managing forests and fire in changing climates.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3sXhsF2jtrjE&md5=4bf029d6d93bee5a09b39aa25c4d2483CAS | 24092714PubMed |
Stoddard HL (1931) ‘The Bobwhite Quail: its Habits, Preservation, and Increase’. (Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, NY).
USAIC (US Army Infantry Center) (2006) Integrated natural resources management plan, Fort Benning army installation, 2006 incremental revision. Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Management Division (Fort Benning, GA).
USDA (US Department of Agriculture) Forest Service (2000) Protecting people and sustaining resources in fire-adapted ecosystems: a cohesive strategy. Available at http://www.fs.fed.us/publications/2000/cohesive_strategy10132000.pdf [Verified 23 September 2014].
Westerling AL, Hidalgo HG, Cayan DR, Swetnam TW (2006) Warming and earlier spring increase western U.S. forest wildfire activity. Science 313, 940–943.
| Warming and earlier spring increase western U.S. forest wildfire activity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD28XotFCitbo%3D&md5=5148f8496efb4e5e78e7ee6c837fd85bCAS | 16825536PubMed |
Wiedinmyer C, Hurteau MD (2010) Prescribed fire as a means of reducing forest carbon emissions in the western U.S. Environmental Science & Technology 44, 1926–1932.
| Prescribed fire as a means of reducing forest carbon emissions in the western U.S.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXhvVGqurY%3D&md5=06c2c5b6e4a8b6e931eb45d1174cb156CAS |
