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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 17(1)

Climatic influences on fire regimes in montane forests of the southern Cascades, California, USA

A. H. Taylor A D , V. Trouet A B and C. N. Skinner C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.

B Present address: Swiss Federal Institute, WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, Birmensdorf CH8903, Switzerland.

C USDA Service Center, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 3644 Avtech Parkway, Redding, CA 96002,USA.

D Corresponding author. Email: aht1@psu.edu

International Journal of Wildland Fire 17(1) 60-71 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF07033
Submitted: 19 February 2007  Accepted: 5 June 2007   Published: 15 February 2008

Abstract

The relationship between climate variability and fire extent was examined in montane and upper montane forests in the southern Cascades. Fire occurrence and extent were reconstructed for seven sites and related to measures of reconstructed climate for the period 1700 to 1900. The climate variables included the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), summer temperature (TEMP), NINO3, a measure of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Fire extent at the site and regional scale was associated with dry and warm conditions in the year of the fire and regional fire extent was not associated with ENSO or PDO for the full period of analysis. The relationship between regional fire extent and climate was not stable over time. The associations of fire extent with PDSI and TEMP were only significant from ~1775 onward and the associations were strongest between 1805 and 1855. PDO and fire extent were also associated during the 1805–1855 period, and ENSO was associated with fire extent before 1800, but not after. The interannual and interdecadal variability of the fire response to temperature and drought suggests that increased periods of regional fire activity may occur when high interannual PDSI variation coincides with warm decades.

Additional keywords: American Pacific coast, climatic variation, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, fire ecology, Pacific Decadal Oscillation.


Acknowledgements

The present research was supported by the Lassen National Forest, cooperative agreements (02-CA-11272162–052, 04-JV-11272162–407) between the USDA Forest Service and the Pennsylvania State University, the interagency Joint Fire Sciences Program, and a George S. Deike Research Grant.


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