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Full Citation: Bigler, Christof; Kulakowski, Dominik; Veblen, Thomas T. 2005. Multiple disturbance interactions and drought influence fire severity in Rocky Mountain subalpine forests. Ecology 86(11):3018-3029.
External Identifier(s): 10.1890/05-0011 Digital Object Identifier
Location: Flat Tops Wilderness, White River National Forest, Colorado, U.S.
Ecosystem types: Subalpine forest
Southwest FireCLIME Keywords: None
FRAMES Keywords: Abies lasiocarpa, Colorado, community ecology, coniferous forests, dead fuels, Dendroctonus rufipennis, disturbance, droughts, elevation, fire case histories, fire exclusion, fire intensity, fire management, fire regimes, fire size, forest management, GIS - geographic information system, insects, lightning caused fires, Pinus contorta, plant diseases, Populus tremuloides, rate of spread, stand characteristics, statistical analysis, subalpine forests, vegetation surveys, wildfires, windthrows, continuation ratio model, disturbance ecology, insect outbreaks, ordinal logistic regression , robust Huber-White covariance estimator, spatial overlay analysis, statistical modeling, spatial autocorrelation , fire severity, spatial analysis, logistic regression, statistical models, disturbance interactions

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Multiple disturbance interactions and drought influence fire severity in rocky mountain subalpine forests

Christof Bigler, Dominik Kulakowski, Thomas T. Veblen
Summary - what did the authors do and why?

The authors studied the effects of past disturbances, specifically beetle outbreak and extreme drought, on the spatial variability of fire severity.
Publication findings:

Stands affected by beetle outbreak burned at higher severities and more often than expected, although forest cover type and vegetation were stronger predictors of severity than previous disturbance or elevation. Furthermore, the authors point to other studies in nearby stands that did not see a relationship between fire and beetle outbreaks. They suggest that beetle outbreaks followed by extreme drought, as occurred prior to the fire in the study, or wind are required to increase the flammability of the large, dead fuels, resulting in increased fire severity.

Climate and Fire Linkages

How does drought relate to fire severity?

Beetle outbreaks followed by extreme drought, as occurred prior to the fire in the study, or wind are required to increase the flammability of the large, dead fuels, resulting in increased fire severity.

Fire and Ecosystem Effects Linkages

How does fire severity relate to fuels?

Stands affected by beetle outbreak burned at higher severities and more often than expected, although forest cover type and vegetation were stronger predictors of severity than previous disturbance or elevation. Furthermore, the authors point to other studies in nearby stands that did not see a relationship between fire and beetle outbreaks. They suggest that beetle outbreaks followed by extreme drought, as occurred prior to the fire in the study, or wind are required to increase the flammability of the large, dead fuels, resulting in increased fire severity.