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Price SJ, Germino MJ. Variability in weather and site properties affect fuel and fire behavior following fuel treatments in semiarid sagebrush-steppe. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 353:120154. [PMID: 38308992 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Fuel-treatments targeting shrubs and fire-prone exotic annual grasses (EAGs) are increasingly used to mitigate increased wildfire risks in arid and semiarid environments, and understanding their response to natural factors is needed for effective landscape management. Using field-data collected over four years from fuel-break treatments in semiarid sagebrush-steppe, we asked 1) how the outcomes of EAG and sagebrush fuel treatments varied with site biophysical properties, climate, and weather, and 2) how predictions of fire behavior using the Fuel Characteristic Classification System fire model related to land-management objectives of maintaining fire behavior expected of low-load, dry-climate grasslands. Generalized linear mixed effect modeling with build-up model selection was used to determine best-fit models, and marginal effects plots to assess responses for each fuel type. EAG cover decreased as antecedent-fall precipitation increased and increased as antecedent-spring temperatures and surface soil clay contents increased. Herbicides targeting EAGs were less effective where pre-treatment EAG cover was >40 % and antecedent spring temperatures were >9.5 °C. Sagebrush cover was inversely related to soil clay content, especially where clay contents were >17 %. Predicted fire behavior exceeded management objectives under 1) average fire weather conditions when EAG or sagebrush cover was >50 % or >26 %, respectively, or 2) extreme fire weather conditions when EAG or sagebrush cover was >10 % or >8 %, respectively. Consideration of the strong effects of natural variability in site properties and antecedent weather can help in justifying, planning and implementing fuel-treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Jake Price
- US Geological Service, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Boise ID, 83702, USA
| | - Matthew J Germino
- US Geological Service, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Boise ID, 83702, USA.
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Weise CL, Brussee BE, Coates PS, Shinneman DJ, Crist MR, Aldridge CL, Heinrichs JA, Ricca MA. A retrospective assessment of fuel break effectiveness for containing rangeland wildfires in the sagebrush biome. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 341:117903. [PMID: 37146489 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Escalated wildfire activity within the western U.S. has widespread societal impacts and long-term consequences for the imperiled sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome. Shifts from historical fire regimes and the interplay between frequent disturbance and invasive annual grasses may initiate permanent state transitions as wildfire frequency outpaces sagebrush communities' innate capacity to recover. Therefore, wildfire management is at the core of conservation plans for sagebrush ecosystems, especially critical habitat for species of conservation concern such as the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse). Fuel breaks help facilitate wildfire suppression by modifying behavior through fuels modification and allowing safe access points for containment by firefighters. The Bureau of Land Management has proposed to roughly double the existing fuel break network in the western U.S., centered on the Great Basin. To our knowledge, no broad-scale examination of fuel break effectiveness or the environmental conditions under which fuel breaks are expected to be most effective has been conducted. We performed a retrospective assessment of probability of fuel break contributing to wildfire containment on recorded wildfire and fuel break interactions from 1985 to 2018 within the western U.S. We characterized environmental, fuels, and weather conditions within 500 m of wildfire contact, and within 5 km of the approaching wildfire. We used a binomial mixed model within a Bayesian framework to identify relationships between these variables and fuel break success. Fuel breaks were least successful in areas classified as having low resilience to disturbance and low resistance to invasion, in areas composed of primarily woody fuels, and when operating in high temperature and low precipitation conditions. Fuel breaks were most effective in areas where fine fuels dominated and in areas that were readily accessible. Maintenance history and fuel break type also contributed to the probability of containment. Overall results indicate a complex and sometimes paradoxical relationship between landscape characteristics that promote wildfire spread and those that impact fuel break effectiveness. Finally, we developed predictive maps of fuel break effectiveness by fuel break type to further elucidate these complex relationships and to inform urgently needed fuel break placement and maintenance priorities across the sagebrush biome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cali L Weise
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA
| | - Brianne E Brussee
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA
| | - Peter S Coates
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA.
| | - Douglas J Shinneman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 230 N. Collins Rd., Boise, ID, 83706, USA
| | - Michele R Crist
- Bureau of Land Management, National Interagency Fire Center, 3833 Development Avenue, Boise, ID, 83705-5354, USA
| | - Cameron L Aldridge
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-8118, USA
| | - Julie A Heinrichs
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University; in Cooperation with U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-8118, USA
| | - Mark A Ricca
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA; U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 777 NW 9th St #400, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA
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Pyke DA, Shaff SE, Chambers JC, Schupp EW, Newingham BA, Gray ML, Ellsworth LM. Ten‐year ecological responses to fuel treatments within semiarid Wyoming big sagebrush ecosystems. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- David A. Pyke
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Scott E. Shaff
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Jeanne C. Chambers
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station Reno Nevada USA
| | - Eugene W. Schupp
- Department of Wildland Resources/Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USA
| | - Beth A. Newingham
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Great Basin Rangelands Research Unit Reno Nevada USA
| | - Margaret L. Gray
- Department of Wildland Resources/Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USA
| | - Lisa M. Ellsworth
- Fisheries and Wildlife Department Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon USA
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