Quantifying the characteristics and investigating the biogeoscientific and societal impacts of extreme wildland fires in the United States northern Rockies region: Group project highlights from IDS-NNX11AO24G

Alistair Matthew Stuart Smith, University of Idaho, alistair@uidaho.edu
Karen Owens Lannom, University of Idaho, klannom@uidaho.edu (Presenter)
Troy Hall, University of Idaho, troyh@uidaho.edu
Beth Newingham, University of Idaho, beth@uidaho.edu
Morgan Penelope, University of Idaho, pmorgan@uidaho.edu
Travis Paveglio, University of Montana, travis.paveglio@cfc.umt.edu
Chad Kooistra, University of Idaho, kooi4876@vandals.uidaho.edu

In recent years, there is a growing perception that wildland fires have become more intense, frequent, and widespread with significant ecological, social, and economic impacts. We present highlights from our interdisciplinary research team that has focused on characterizing extreme wildland fires in the northwestern United States and evaluates the biophysical and social responses to those fires. In terms of characterizing extreme fire years, results show that for the extent of the study region over the last 30 years, three years (1988, 2000, 2007) can statistically be considered widespread fire years; in that they exceeded the 90th percentile of annual burned area. Departure from average climatic data illustrates that these years are associated with significant departures from the climate normal. Potential geospatial metrics of extreme fires were explored; statistically short and long fire durations, area burned, percentage of the fire that exhibits high vegetation mortality and the distance of these areas to the wildland urban interface, among others. Analysis of all fires since 1984 highlights six potentially extreme individual wildland fire events. These fires were selected based on both biophysical and social geospatial metrics. Analysis of the biophysical and socially perceived recovery from these fires is currently ongoing. Exploration of fire radiative energy as a metric of intensity has highlighted challenges due to moisture content dependencies. The social science team members have been examining people’s perceptions of landscape recovery following these potentially extreme fires. In conjunction with assessments of ecosystem effects, they have conducted a series of case study informant interviews to evaluate: (i) how post-wildfire landscape recovery is defined and perceived by the public, (ii) how individuals’ perceptions of recovery compare to conclusions based on biophysical data, and (iii) the extent to which biophysical changes versus peoples’ subjective meanings explain perceptions of landscape change.

Presentation: 2013_Poster_Smith_59_74.pdf (2477k)

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Poster Session 2-A   (Wed 11:00 AM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Quantifying the characteristics and investigating the biogeoscientific and societal impacts of extreme wildland fires in the United States northern Rockies region

Poster Location ID: 59