Postponed

Presenter: Brian Sturtevant, PhD, US Forest Service

Sponsor: Lake States Fire Science Consortium

It is well-known that fire played an important historic role in the ecology and structure for many ecosystems of the Lake States region. What is less clear is how to reintegrate fire as a natural disturbance and as a management tool given the risks associated with fire to an expanding human presence in the region. Global changes such as climate change, natural disturbances such as insect outbreaks and wind, and human activities such as land development and forest management, all interact with each other and fire in complex ways. Consequently, cumulative management actions or inaction may have unintended consequences at the landscape scale and over long time frames. Dynamic landscape simulation models can be useful tools in such situations. In this webinar, I will overview a series of applications of the LANDIS model to questions related to fire risk and effects in response to different drivers including forest succession, insect disturbance, human ignition patterns, forest management, and climate change.  The results from these studies provide objective guidance for the strategic application of fire and other management activities to balance the risk of fire to human property and safety with the conservation and restoration of fire-dependent ecosystems in the region.