1
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Cantarello E, Jacobsen JB, Lloret F, Lindner M. Shaping and enhancing resilient forests for a resilient society. AMBIO 2024; 53:1095-1108. [PMID: 38580897 PMCID: PMC11183019 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-02006-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2023] [Revised: 02/24/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
The world is currently facing uncertainty caused by environmental, social, and economic changes and by political shocks. Fostering social-ecological resilience by enhancing forests' ability to provide a range of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, habitat provision, and sustainable livelihoods, is key to addressing such uncertainty. However, policy makers and managers currently lack a clear understanding of how to operationalise the shaping of resilience through the combined challenges of climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and changes in societal demand. Based on a scientific literature review, we identified a set of actions related to ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and disturbance and pressure impacts that forest managers and policy makers should attend to enhance the resilience of European forest systems. We conclude that the resilience shaping of forests should (1) adopt an operational approach, which is currently lacking, (2) identify and address existing and future trade-offs while reinforcing win-wins and (3) attend to local particularities through an adaptive management approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Cantarello
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, BH12 5BB, UK.
| | - Jette Bredahl Jacobsen
- Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Francisco Lloret
- Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Universitat Autònoma Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marcus Lindner
- European Forest Institute, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7, 53113, Bonn, Germany
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2
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Cravens AE, Clifford KR, Knapp C, Travis WR. The dynamic feasibility of resisting (R), accepting (A), or directing (D) ecological change. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2024:e14331. [PMID: 39016709 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
Ecological transformations are occurring as a result of climate change, challenging traditional approaches to land management decision-making. The resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework helps managers consider how to respond to this challenge. We examined how the feasibility of the choices to resist, accept, and direct shifts in complex and dynamic ways through time. We considered 4 distinct types of social feasibility: regulatory, financial, public, and organizational. Our commentary is grounded in literature review and the examples that exist but necessarily has speculative elements because empirical evidence on this newly emerging management strategy is scarce. We expect that resist strategies will become less feasible over time as managers encounter situations where resisting is ecologically, by regulation, financially, or publicly not feasible. Similarly, we expect that as regulatory frameworks increasingly permit their use, if costs decrease, and if the public accepts them, managers will increasingly view accept and direct strategies as more viable options than they do at present. Exploring multiple types of feasibility over time allows consideration of both social and ecological trajectories of change in tandem. Our theorizing suggested that deepening the time horizon of decision-making allows one to think carefully about when one should adopt different approaches and how to combine them over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda E Cravens
- Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Katherine R Clifford
- Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Corrine Knapp
- Haub School of Environment & Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - William R Travis
- Department of Geography and North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
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3
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Maji K, Li Z, Vaidyanathan A, Hu Y, Stowell JD, Milando C, Wellenius G, Kinney PL, Russell AG, Odman MT. Estimated Impacts of Prescribed Fires on Air Quality and Premature Deaths in Georgia and Surrounding Areas in the US, 2015-2020. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:12343-12355. [PMID: 38943591 PMCID: PMC11256750 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c00890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/01/2024]
Abstract
Smoke from wildfires poses a substantial threat to health in communities near and far. To mitigate the extent and potential damage of wildfires, prescribed burning techniques are commonly employed as land management tools; however, they introduce their own smoke-related risks. This study investigates the impact of prescribed fires on daily average PM2.5 and maximum daily 8-h averaged O3 (MDA8-O3) concentrations and estimates premature deaths associated with short-term exposure to prescribed fire PM2.5 and MDA8-O3 in Georgia and surrounding areas of the Southeastern US from 2015 to 2020. Our findings indicate that over the study domain, prescribed fire contributes to average daily PM2.5 by 0.94 ± 1.45 μg/m3 (mean ± standard deviation), accounting for 14.0% of year-round ambient PM2.5. Higher average daily contributions were predicted during the extensive burning season (January-April): 1.43 ± 1.97 μg/m3 (20.0% of ambient PM2.5). Additionally, prescribed burning is also responsible for an annual average increase of 0.36 ± 0.61 ppb in MDA8-O3 (approximately 0.8% of ambient MDA8-O3) and 1.3% (0.62 ± 0.88 ppb) during the extensive burning season. We estimate that short-term exposure to prescribed fire PM2.5 and MDA8-O3 could have caused 2665 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2249-3080) and 233 (95% CI: 148-317) excess deaths, respectively. These results suggest that smoke from prescribed burns increases the mortality. However, refraining from such burns may escalate the risk of wildfires; therefore, the trade-offs between the health impacts of wildfires and prescribed fires, including morbidity, need to be taken into consideration in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamal
J. Maji
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Zongrun Li
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Ambarish Vaidyanathan
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
- National
Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, United States
| | - Yongtao Hu
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Jennifer D. Stowell
- School
of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
| | - Chad Milando
- School
of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
| | - Gregory Wellenius
- School
of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
| | - Patrick L. Kinney
- School
of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
| | - Armistead G. Russell
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - M. Talat Odman
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
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4
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Buford M, Lacher S, Slattery M, Levings DC, Postma B, Holian A, Migliaccio C. A mouse model of wildfire smoke-induced health effects: sex differences in acute and sustained effects of inhalation exposures. Inhal Toxicol 2024:1-11. [PMID: 38769076 DOI: 10.1080/08958378.2024.2354398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Due to climate change, wildfires have increased in intensity and duration. While wildfires threaten lives directly, the smoke has more far-reaching adverse health impacts. During an extreme 2017 wildfire event, residents of Seeley Lake, Montana were exposed to unusually high levels of wood smoke (WS) causing sustained effects on lung function (decreased FEV1/FVC). Objective: The present study utilized an animal model of WS exposure to research cellular and molecular mechanisms of the resulting health effects. Methods: Mice were exposed to inhaled WS utilizing locally harvested wood to recapitulate community exposures. WS was generated at a rate resulting in a 5 mg/m3 PM2.5 exposure for five days. Results: This exposure resulted in a similar 0.28 mg/m2 particle deposition (lung surface area) in mice that was calculated for human exposure. As with the community observations, there was a significant effect on lung function, increased resistance, and decreased compliance, that was more pronounced in males at an extended (2 months) timepoint and males were more affected than females: ex vivo assays illustrated changes to alveolar macrophage functions (increased TNFα secretion and decreased efferocytosis). Female mice had significantly elevated IL-33 levels in lungs, however, pretreatment of male mice with IL-33 resulted in an abrogation of the observed WS effects, suggesting a dose-dependent role of IL-33. Additionally, there were greater immunotoxic effects in male mice. Discussion: These findings replicated the outcomes in humans and suggest that IL-33 is involved in a mechanism of the adverse effects of WS exposures that inform on potential sex differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Buford
- University of MT, Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - Sarah Lacher
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of MN Medical School, Duluth, MN, USA
| | - Matthew Slattery
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of MN Medical School, Duluth, MN, USA
| | - Daniel C Levings
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of MN Medical School, Duluth, MN, USA
| | - Britten Postma
- University of MT, Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - Andrij Holian
- University of MT, Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - Chris Migliaccio
- University of MT, Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Missoula, MT, USA
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5
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Winker R, Payton A, Brown E, McDermott E, Freedman JH, Lenhardt C, Eaves LA, Fry RC, Rager JE. Wildfires and climate justice: future wildfire events predicted to disproportionally impact socioeconomically vulnerable communities in North Carolina. Front Public Health 2024; 12:1339700. [PMID: 38741908 PMCID: PMC11089107 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1339700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Wildfire events are becoming increasingly common across many areas of the United States, including North Carolina (NC). Wildfires can cause immediate damage to properties, and wildfire smoke conditions can harm the overall health of exposed communities. It is critical to identify communities at increased risk of wildfire events, particularly in areas with that have sociodemographic disparities and low socioeconomic status (SES) that may exacerbate incurred impacts of wildfire events. This study set out to: (1) characterize the distribution of wildfire risk across NC; (2) implement integrative cluster analyses to identify regions that contain communities with increased vulnerability to the impacts of wildfire events due to sociodemographic characteristics; (3) provide summary-level statistics of populations with highest wildfire risk, highlighting SES and housing cost factors; and (4) disseminate wildfire risk information via our online web application, ENVIROSCAN. Wildfire hazard potential (WHP) indices were organized at the census tract-level, and distributions were analyzed for spatial autocorrelation via global and local Moran's tests. Sociodemographic characteristics were analyzed via k-means analysis to identify clusters with distinct SES patterns to characterize regions of similar sociodemographic/socioeconomic disparities. These SES groupings were overlayed with housing and wildfire risk profiles to establish patterns of risk across NC. Resulting geospatial analyses identified areas largely in Southeastern NC with high risk of wildfires that were significantly correlated with neighboring regions with high WHP, highlighting adjacent regions of high risk for future wildfire events. Cluster-based analysis of SES factors resulted in three groups of regions categorized through distinct SES profiling; two of these clusters (Clusters 2 and 3) contained indicators of high SES vulnerability. Cluster 2 contained a higher percentage of younger (<5 years), non-white, Hispanic and/or Latino residents; while Cluster 3 had the highest mean WHP and was characterized by a higher percentage of non-white residents, poverty, and less than a high school education. Counties of particular SES and WHP-combined vulnerability include those with majority non-white residents, tribal communities, and below poverty level households largely located in Southeastern NC. WHP values per census tract were dispersed to the public via the ENVIROSCAN application, alongside other environmentally-relevant data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Winker
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Alexis Payton
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Eric Brown
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Elena McDermott
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Jonathan H. Freedman
- Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Chris Lenhardt
- Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Lauren A. Eaves
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Rebecca C. Fry
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Julia E. Rager
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
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6
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Martins PM, Anderson MJ, Sweatman WL, Punnett AJ. Significant shifts in latitudinal optima of North American birds. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2307525121. [PMID: 38557189 PMCID: PMC11009622 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307525121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/25/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Changes in climate can alter environmental conditions faster than most species can adapt. A prediction under a warming climate is that species will shift their distributions poleward through time. While many studies focus on range shifts, latitudinal shifts in species' optima can occur without detectable changes in their range. We quantified shifts in latitudinal optima for 209 North American bird species over the last 55 y. The latitudinal optimum (m) for each species in each year was estimated using a bespoke flexible non-linear zero-inflated model of abundance vs. latitude, and the annual shift in m through time was quantified. One-third (70) of the bird species showed a significant shift in their optimum. Overall, mean peak abundances of North American birds have shifted northward, on average, at a rate of 1.5 km per year (±0.58 SE), corresponding to a total distance moved of 82.5 km (±31.9 SE) over the last 55 y. Stronger poleward shifts at the continental scale were linked to key species' traits, including thermal optimum, habitat specialization, and territoriality. Shifts in the western region were larger and less variable than in the eastern region, and they were linked to species' thermal optimum, habitat density preference, and habitat specialization. Individual species' latitudinal shifts were most strongly linked to their estimated thermal optimum, clearly indicating a climate-driven response. Displacement of species from their historically optimal realized niches can have dramatic ecological consequences. Effective conservation must consider within-range abundance shifts. Areas currently deemed "optimal" are unlikely to remain so.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo Mateus Martins
- New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University, Auckland0745, New Zealand
- PRIMER-e, Quest Research Limited, Auckland0793, New Zealand
| | - Marti J. Anderson
- New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University, Auckland0745, New Zealand
- PRIMER-e, Quest Research Limited, Auckland0793, New Zealand
| | - Winston L. Sweatman
- School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Massey University, Auckland0745, New Zealand
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7
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Kreider MR, Higuera PE, Parks SA, Rice WL, White N, Larson AJ. Fire suppression makes wildfires more severe and accentuates impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2412. [PMID: 38528012 PMCID: PMC10963776 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46702-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Fire suppression is the primary management response to wildfires in many areas globally. By removing less-extreme wildfires, this approach ensures that remaining wildfires burn under more extreme conditions. Here, we term this the "suppression bias" and use a simulation model to highlight how this bias fundamentally impacts wildfire activity, independent of fuel accumulation and climate change. We illustrate how attempting to suppress all wildfires necessarily means that fires will burn with more severe and less diverse ecological impacts, with burned area increasing at faster rates than expected from fuel accumulation or climate change. Over a human lifespan, the modeled impacts of the suppression bias exceed those from fuel accumulation or climate change alone, suggesting that suppression may exert a significant and underappreciated influence on patterns of fire globally. Managing wildfires to safely burn under low and moderate conditions is thus a critical tool to address the growing wildfire crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark R Kreider
- Department of Forest Management, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA.
| | - Philip E Higuera
- Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
| | - Sean A Parks
- Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, MT, 59801, USA
| | - William L Rice
- Department of Society and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
| | - Nadia White
- Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
| | - Andrew J Larson
- Department of Forest Management, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
- Wilderness Institute, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
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8
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Steel BS, Lovrich NP, Pierce JC. Cultural Theory, Wildfire Information Source, and Agency Public Trust: A Central Oregon Case Study. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 73:579-594. [PMID: 37981581 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-023-01909-7] [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: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
With the increasing occurrence and severity of wildfires in the U.S., and especially in the forests and rangelands of the western U.S., it is important to know which wildfire information sources are trusted by households and the amount of trust placed on natural resources agencies to manage for wildfire. The Theory of Motivated Reasoning suggests that people will trust and use those information sources that conform to their own value and ideological orientations. Similarly, trust in natural resource agencies' ability to manage wildfire may also be the result of cultural traits. This study uses Cultural Theory as a theoretical perspective to determine those value systems, and how cultural traits motivate people to use and trust various wildfire information sources and the agencies tasked with managing wildfire. Using random sample surveys of Wildland-Urban-Interface (WUI) households in fire-prone Deschutes County in central Oregon, the study finds that egalitarians are significantly more likely than those with other cultural traits to use and trust natural resource agency information sources, while individualists are more likely to use and trust family members and neighbors for their information. Similarly, egalitarians are trusting of natural resource managers to use prescribed fire, manage naturally ignited fires, and to thin forests to reduce fuels. Individualists are less trusting of government agencies to use the same approaches to reduce fuels. The study concludes with some suggestions for how wildfire policy makers and managers can use these findings to communicate more effectively important wildfire information to audiences with differing cultural traits and differing levels of natural resource agency trust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brent S Steel
- School of Public Policy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
| | - Nicholas P Lovrich
- School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - John C Pierce
- School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA
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9
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Villarruel CM, Figueroa LA, Ranville JF. Quantification of Bioaccessible and Environmentally Relevant Trace Metals in Structure Ash from a Wildland-Urban Interface Fire. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:2502-2513. [PMID: 38277687 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c08446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Wildfires at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are increasing in frequency and intensity, driven by climate change and anthropogenic ignitions. Few studies have characterized the variability in the metal content in ash generated from burned structures in order to determine the potential risk to human and environmental health. Using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), we analyzed leachable trace metal concentration in soils and ash from structures burned by the Marshall Fire, a WUI fire that destroyed over 1000 structures in Boulder County, Colorado. Acid digestion revealed that ash derived from structures contained 22 times more Cu and 3 times more Pb on average than surrounding soils on a mg/kg basis. Ash liberated 12 times more Ni (mg/kg) and twice as much Cr (mg/kg) as soils in a water leach. By comparing the amount of acid-extractable metals to that released by water and simulated epithelial lung fluid (SELF), we estimated their potential for environmental mobility and human bioaccessibility. The SELF leach showed that Cu and Ni were more bioaccessible (mg of leachable metal/mg of acid-extractable metal) in ash than in soils. These results suggest that structure ash is an important source of trace metals that can negatively impact the health of both humans and the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmen M Villarruel
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
| | - Linda A Figueroa
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
| | - James F Ranville
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
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Ahmad SK, Holmes TR, Kumar SV, Lahmers TM, Liu PW, Nie W, Getirana A, Orland E, Bindlish R, Guzman A, Hain CR, Melton FS, Locke KA, Yang Y. Droughts impede water balance recovery from fires in the Western United States. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:229-238. [PMID: 38168941 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02266-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
A steady rise in fires in the Western United States, coincident with intensifying droughts, imparts substantial modifications to the underlying vegetation, hydrology and overall ecosystem. Drought can compound the ecosystem disturbance caused by fire, although how these compound effects on hydrologic and ecosystem recovery vary among ecosystems is poorly understood. Here we use remote sensing-derived high-resolution evapotranspiration (ET) estimates from before and after 1,514 fires to show that ecoregions dominated by grasslands and shrublands are more susceptible to drought, which amplifies fire-induced ET decline and, subsequently, shifts water flux partitioning. In contrast, severely burned forests recover from fire slowly or incompletely, but are less sensitive to dry extremes. We conclude that moisture limitation caused by droughts influences the dynamics of water balance recovery in post-fire years. This finding explains why moderate to extreme droughts aggravate impacts on the water balance in non-forested vegetation, while moisture accessed by deeper roots in forests helps meet evaporative demands unless severe burns disrupt internal tree structure and deplete fuel load availability. Our results highlight the dominant control of drought on altering the resilience of vegetation to fires, with critical implications for terrestrial ecosystem stability in the face of anthropogenic climate change in the West.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahryar K Ahmad
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
- Science Applications International Corporation, McLean, VA, USA.
| | - Thomas R Holmes
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - Sujay V Kumar
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - Timothy M Lahmers
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Pang-Wei Liu
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, USA
| | - Wanshu Nie
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Augusto Getirana
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Science Applications International Corporation, McLean, VA, USA
| | - Elijah Orland
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
- GESTAR II, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rajat Bindlish
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - Alberto Guzman
- Biospheric Sciences Branch, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Santa Clara, CA, USA
- California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, USA
| | | | - Forrest S Melton
- Biospheric Sciences Branch, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Santa Clara, CA, USA
- California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, USA
| | - Kim A Locke
- Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Science Applications International Corporation, McLean, VA, USA
| | - Yun Yang
- Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA
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11
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Nogueira L, Florez N. The Impact of Climate Change on Global Oncology. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am 2024; 38:105-121. [PMID: 37580192 DOI: 10.1016/j.hoc.2023.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/16/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is the greatest threat to human health of our time, with significant implications for global cancer control efforts. The changing frequency and behavior of climate-driven extreme weather events results in more frequent and increasingly unanticipated disruptions in access to cancer care. Given the significant threat that climate change poses to cancer control efforts, oncology professionals should champion initiatives that help protect the health and safety of patients with cancer, such as enhancing emergency preparedness and response efforts and reducing emissions from our own professional activities, which has health cobenefits for the entire population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leticia Nogueira
- Surveillance and Health Equity Sciences, American Cancer Society, Palm Harbor, FL, USA.
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12
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Daniels MC, Braziunas KH, Turner MG, Ma TF, Short KC, Rissman AR. Multiple social and environmental factors affect wildland fire response of full or less-than-full suppression. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 351:119731. [PMID: 38169249 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119731] [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: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Wildland fire incident commanders make wildfire response decisions within an increasingly complex socio-environmental context. Threats to human safety and property, along with public pressures and agency cultures, often lead commanders to emphasize full suppression. However, commanders may use less-than-full suppression to enhance responder safety, reduce firefighting costs, and encourage beneficial effects of fire. This study asks: what management, socioeconomic, environmental, and fire behavior characteristics are associated with full suppression and the less-than-full suppression methods of point-zone protection, confinement/containment, and maintain/monitor? We analyzed incident report data from 374 wildfires in the United States northern Rocky Mountains between 2008 and 2013. Regression models showed that full suppression was most strongly associated with higher housing density and earlier dates in the calendar year, along with non-federal land jurisdiction, regional and national incident management teams, human-caused ignitions, low fire-growth potential, and greater fire size. Interviews with commanders provided decision-making context for these regression results. Future efforts to encourage less-than-full suppression should address the complex management context, in addition to the biophysical context, of fire response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly C Daniels
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
| | - Kristin H Braziunas
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
| | - Monica G Turner
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
| | - Ting-Fung Ma
- Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States; Department of Statistics, University of South Carolina, United States.
| | - Karen C Short
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, United States.
| | - Adena R Rissman
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
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13
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Schuck LK, Neely WJ, Buttimer SM, Moser CF, Barth PC, Liskoski PE, Caberlon CDA, Valiati VH, Tozetti AM, Becker CG. Effects of grassland controlled burning on symbiotic skin microbes in Neotropical amphibians. Sci Rep 2024; 14:959. [PMID: 38200064 PMCID: PMC10781984 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50394-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Climate change has led to an alarming increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires worldwide. While it is known that amphibians have physiological characteristics that make them highly susceptible to fire, the specific impacts of wildfires on their symbiotic skin bacterial communities (i.e., bacteriomes) and infection by the deadly chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, remain poorly understood. Here, we address this research gap by evaluating the effects of fire on the amphibian skin bacteriome and the subsequent risk of chytridiomycosis. We sampled the skin bacteriome of the Neotropical species Scinax squalirostris and Boana leptolineata in fire and control plots before and after experimental burnings. Fire was linked with a marked increase in bacteriome beta dispersion, a proxy for skin microbial dysbiosis, alongside a trend of increased pathogen loads. By shedding light on the effects of fire on amphibian skin bacteriomes, this study contributes to our broader understanding of the impacts of wildfires on vulnerable vertebrate species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura K Schuck
- Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Biologia, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, 93022-750, Brazil.
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
| | - Wesley J Neely
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA
- Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA
| | - Shannon M Buttimer
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and One Health Microbiome Center, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Camila F Moser
- Programa de Pos-Graduacão em Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, 66075-110, Brazil
| | - Priscila C Barth
- Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Biologia, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, 93022-750, Brazil
| | - Paulo E Liskoski
- Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Biologia, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, 93022-750, Brazil
| | - Carolina de A Caberlon
- Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Biologia, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, 93022-750, Brazil
| | - Victor Hugo Valiati
- Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Biologia, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, 93022-750, Brazil
| | - Alexandro M Tozetti
- Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Biologia, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, 93022-750, Brazil.
| | - C Guilherme Becker
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
- Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and One Health Microbiome Center, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
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14
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Nogueira LM, Yabroff KR. Climate change and cancer: the Environmental Justice perspective. J Natl Cancer Inst 2024; 116:15-25. [PMID: 37813679 DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djad185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite advances in cancer control-prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship-racial disparities in cancer incidence and survival persist and, in some cases, are widening in the United States. Since 2020, there's been growing recognition of the role of structural racism, including structurally racist policies and practices, as the main factor contributing to historical and contemporary disparities. Structurally racist policies and practices have been present since the genesis of the United States and are also at the root of environmental injustices, which result in disproportionately high exposure to environmental hazards among communities targeted for marginalization, increased cancer risk, disruptions in access to care, and worsening health outcomes. In addition to widening cancer disparities, environmental injustices enable the development of polluting infrastructure, which contribute to detrimental health outcomes in the entire population, and to climate change, the most pressing public health challenge of our time. In this commentary, we describe the connections between climate change and cancer through an Environmental Justice perspective (defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all racialized groups, nationalities, or income, in all aspects, including development, implementation, and enforcement, of policies and practices that affect the environment and public health), highlighting how the expertise developed in communities targeted for marginalization is crucial for addressing health disparities, tackling climate change, and advancing cancer control efforts for the entire population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leticia M Nogueira
- Surveillance and Health Equity Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - K Robin Yabroff
- Surveillance and Health Equity Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA
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15
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Nguyen D, Belval EJ, Wei Y, Short KC, Calkin DE. Dataset of United States Incident Management Situation Reports from 2007 to 2021. Sci Data 2024; 11:23. [PMID: 38172173 PMCID: PMC10764906 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02876-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
This paper presents a unique 15-year dataset of Incident Management Situation Reports (IMSR), which document daily wildland fire situations across ten geographical regions in the United States. The IMSR dataset includes summaries for each reported day on national and regional wildfire activities, wildfire-specific activities, and committed fire suppression resources (i.e., personnel and equipment). This dataset is distinct from other wildfire data sources as it provides daily information on national fire suppression resource utilization, national and regional preparedness levels, and management priority for each region and fire. We developed an open-source Java program, IMSR-Tool, to process 3,124 IMSR reports available from 2007 to 2021 to generate this structured IMSR dataset, which can be updated when future reports become available. The dataset presented here and its future extension enable researchers and practitioners to study historical wildfire activity and resource use across regions and time, examine fire management perceptions, evaluate strategies for fire prioritization and fire resource allocation, and exploit other broader usage to improve wildfire management and response in the United States.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dung Nguyen
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
| | - Erin J Belval
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 240 West Prospect, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA
| | - Yu Wei
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - Karen C Short
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 5775 US Highway 10 West, Missoula, MT, 59808, USA
| | - David E Calkin
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 800 East Beckwith, Missoula, MT, 59801, USA
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16
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Holmquist AJ, Cody Markelz RJ, Martinez CC, Gillespie RG. The importance of habitat type and historical fire regimes in arthropod community response following large-scale wildfires. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17135. [PMID: 38273502 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 10/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Novel wildfire regimes are rapidly changing global ecosystems and pose significant challenges for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. In this study, we used DNA metabarcoding to assess the response of arthropod pollinator communities to large-scale wildfires across diverse habitat types in California. We sampled six reserves within the University of California Natural Reserve System, each of which was partially burned in the 2020 Lightning Complex wildfires in California. Using yellow pan traps to target pollinators, we collected arthropods from burned and unburned sites across multiple habitat types including oak woodland, redwood, scrub, chamise, grassland, forest, and serpentine habitats. We found no significant difference in alpha diversity values between burned and unburned sites; instead, seasonal variations played a significant role in arthropod community dynamics, with the emergence of plant species in Spring promoting increased pollinator richness at all sites. When comparing all sites, we found that burn status was not a significant grouping factor. Instead, compositional differences were largely explained by geographic differences, with distinct communities within each reserve. Within a geographic area, the response of arthropods to fire was dependent on habitat type. While communities in grasslands and oak woodlands exhibited recovery following burn, scrublands experienced substantial changes in community composition. Our study highlights the importance of examining community responses to wildfires across broad spatial scales and diverse habitat types. By understanding the nuanced dynamics of arthropod communities in response to fire disturbances, we can develop effective conservation strategies that promote resilience and maintain biodiversity in the face of increasing wildfire frequency and severity driven by climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna J Holmquist
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California: Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
- Center for Comparative Genomics, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - R J Cody Markelz
- Berkeley Institute for Data Science, University of California: Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Ciera C Martinez
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California: Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
- Berkeley Institute for Data Science, University of California: Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
- Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and Environment, University of California: Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Rosemary G Gillespie
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California: Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
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17
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Rodman KC, Davis KT, Parks SA, Chapman TB, Coop JD, Iniguez JM, Roccaforte JP, Sánchez Meador AJ, Springer JD, Stevens-Rumann CS, Stoddard MT, Waltz AEM, Wasserman TN. Refuge-yeah or refuge-nah? Predicting locations of forest resistance and recruitment in a fiery world. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:7029-7050. [PMID: 37706328 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
Climate warming, land use change, and altered fire regimes are driving ecological transformations that can have critical effects on Earth's biota. Fire refugia-locations that are burned less frequently or severely than their surroundings-may act as sites of relative stability during this period of rapid change by being resistant to fire and supporting post-fire recovery in adjacent areas. Because of their value to forest ecosystem persistence, there is an urgent need to anticipate where refugia are most likely to be found and where they align with environmental conditions that support post-fire tree recruitment. Using biophysical predictors and patterns of burn severity from 1180 recent fire events, we mapped the locations of potential fire refugia across upland conifer forests in the southwestern United States (US) (99,428 km2 of forest area), a region that is highly vulnerable to fire-driven transformation. We found that low pre-fire forest cover, flat slopes or topographic concavities, moderate weather conditions, spring-season burning, and areas affected by low- to moderate-severity fire within the previous 15 years were most commonly associated with refugia. Based on current (i.e., 2021) conditions, we predicted that 67.6% and 18.1% of conifer forests in our study area would contain refugia under moderate and extreme fire weather, respectively. However, potential refugia were 36.4% (moderate weather) and 31.2% (extreme weather) more common across forests that experienced recent fires, supporting the increased use of prescribed and resource objective fires during moderate weather conditions to promote fire-resistant landscapes. When overlaid with models of tree recruitment, 23.2% (moderate weather) and 6.4% (extreme weather) of forests were classified as refugia with a high potential to support post-fire recruitment in the surrounding landscape. These locations may be disproportionately valuable for ecosystem sustainability, providing habitat for fire-sensitive species and maintaining forest persistence in an increasingly fire-prone world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle C Rodman
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Kimberley T Davis
- Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - Sean A Parks
- Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - Teresa B Chapman
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Program, Chief Conservation Office, The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA
| | - Jonathan D Coop
- Clark School of Environment and Sustainability, Western Colorado University, Gunnison, Colorado, USA
| | - Jose M Iniguez
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - John P Roccaforte
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Andrew J Sánchez Meador
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Judith D Springer
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Camille S Stevens-Rumann
- Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Michael T Stoddard
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Amy E M Waltz
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Tzeidle N Wasserman
- Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
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18
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Malekzadeh M, Long JA. A network community structure similarity index for weighted networks. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0292018. [PMID: 38019878 PMCID: PMC10686481 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Identification of communities in complex systems is an essential part of network analysis. Accordingly, measuring similarities between communities is a fundamental part of analysing community structure in different, yet related, networks. Commonly used methods for quantifying network community similarity fail to consider the effects of edge weights. Existing methods remain limited when the two networks being compared have different numbers of nodes. In this study, we address these issues by proposing a novel network community structure similarity index (NCSSI) based on the edit distance concept. NCSSI is proposed as a similarity index for comparing network communities. The NCSSI incorporates both community labels and edge weights. The NCSSI can also be employed to assess the similarity between two communities with varying numbers of nodes. We test the proposed method using simulated data and case-study analysis of New York Yellow Taxi flows and compare the results with that of other commonly used methods (i.e., mutual information and the Jaccard index). Our results highlight how NCSSI effectively captures the impact of both label and edge weight changes and their impacts on community structure, which are not captured in existing approaches. In conclusion, NCSSI offers a new approach that incorporates both label and weight variations for community similarity measurement in complex networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milad Malekzadeh
- Department of Geography and Environment, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Jed A. Long
- Department of Geography and Environment, Western University, London, ON, Canada
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19
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Radeloff VC, Mockrin MH, Helmers D, Carlson A, Hawbaker TJ, Martinuzzi S, Schug F, Alexandre PM, Kramer HA, Pidgeon AM. Rising wildfire risk to houses in the United States, especially in grasslands and shrublands. Science 2023; 382:702-707. [PMID: 37943916 DOI: 10.1126/science.ade9223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Wildfire risks to homes are increasing, especially in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where wildland vegetation and houses are in close proximity. Notably, we found that more houses are exposed to and destroyed by grassland and shrubland fires than by forest fires in the United States. Destruction was more likely in forest fires, but they burned less WUI. The number of houses within wildfire perimeters has doubled since the 1990s because of both housing growth (47% of additionally exposed houses) and more burned area (53%). Most exposed houses were in the WUI, which grew substantially during the 2010s (2.6 million new WUI houses), albeit not as rapidly as before. Any WUI growth increases wildfire risk to houses though, and more fires increase the risk to existing WUI houses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Volker C Radeloff
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Miranda H Mockrin
- Northern Research Station, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Catonsville, MD 21228, USA
| | - David Helmers
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Amanda Carlson
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Todd J Hawbaker
- US Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Lakewood, CO 80225, USA
| | - Sebastian Martinuzzi
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Franz Schug
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Patricia M Alexandre
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - H Anu Kramer
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Anna M Pidgeon
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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20
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Espinel Z, Shultz JM, Aubry VP, Abraham OM, Fan Q, Crane TE, Sahar L, Nogueira LM. Protecting vulnerable patient populations from climate hazards: the role of the nation's cancer centers. J Natl Cancer Inst 2023; 115:1252-1261. [PMID: 37490548 PMCID: PMC11009498 DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djad139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals diagnosed with cancer are a vulnerable population during disasters. Emergency preparedness efforts are crucial for meeting the health and safety needs of patients, health-care professionals, health-care facilities, and communities before, during, and after a disaster. Recognizing the importance of advancing emergency preparedness expertise to cancer control efforts nationwide, especially in the era of climate change, we searched National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers' websites to examine emergency preparedness information sharing and evidence of research efforts focused on disaster preparedness. Of 71 centers, 56 (78.9%) presented some emergency preparedness information, and 36 (50.7%) presented information specific to individuals diagnosed with cancer. Only 17 (23.9%) centers provided emergency preparedness information for climate-driven disasters. Informed by these data, this commentary describes an opportunity for cancer centers to lead knowledge advancement on an important aspect of climate change adaptation: disaster preparedness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zelde Espinel
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - James M Shultz
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Vanina Pavia Aubry
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Omar Muñoz Abraham
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Jackson Memorial Hospital, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Qinjin Fan
- Surveillance and Health Equity Sciences, American Cancer Society, Kennesaw, GA, USA
| | - Tracy E Crane
- Division of Medical Oncology, Miller School of Medicine, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Liora Sahar
- Data Science, American Cancer Society, Kennesaw, GA, USA
| | - Leticia M Nogueira
- Surveillance and Health Equity Sciences, American Cancer Society, Kennesaw, GA, USA
- Climate and Health Initiative, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Miami, FL, USA
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21
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Thacker FEN, Ribau MC, Bartholomeus H, Stoof CR. What is a fire resilient landscape? Towards an integrated definition. AMBIO 2023; 52:1592-1602. [PMID: 37389758 PMCID: PMC10460754 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01891-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
The concept of fire resilience has become increasingly relevant as society looks to understand and respond to recent wildfire events. In particular, the idea of a 'fire resilient landscape' is one which has been utilised to explore how society can coexist with wildfires. However, the concept of fire resilient landscapes has often been approached in silos, either from an environmental or social perspective; no integrated definition exists. Based on a synthesis of literature and a survey of scientists and practitioners, we propose to define a fire resilient landscape as 'a socio-ecological system that accepts the presence of fire, whilst preventing significant losses through landscape management, community engagement and effective recovery.' This common definition could help guide policy surrounding fire resilient landscapes, and exemplify how such landscapes could be initiated in practice. We explore the applicability of the proposed definition in both Mediterranean and temperate Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fiona E. Newman Thacker
- Soil, Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marc Castellnou Ribau
- Catalan Fire Service, Bombers GRAF, Parc de Bombers de Cerdanyola del Vallès, Av. De Serragalliners, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - Harm Bartholomeus
- Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Cathelijne R. Stoof
- Soil, Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
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22
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Schug F, Bar-Massada A, Carlson AR, Cox H, Hawbaker TJ, Helmers D, Hostert P, Kaim D, Kasraee NK, Martinuzzi S, Mockrin MH, Pfoch KA, Radeloff VC. The global wildland-urban interface. Nature 2023; 621:94-99. [PMID: 37468636 PMCID: PMC10482693 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06320-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is where buildings and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle1,2. It is where human-environmental conflicts and risks can be concentrated, including the loss of houses and lives to wildfire, habitat loss and fragmentation and the spread of zoonotic diseases3. However, a global analysis of the WUI has been lacking. Here, we present a global map of the 2020 WUI at 10 m resolution using a globally consistent and validated approach based on remote sensing-derived datasets of building area4 and wildland vegetation5. We show that the WUI is a global phenomenon, identify many previously undocumented WUI hotspots and highlight the wide range of population density, land cover types and biomass levels in different parts of the global WUI. The WUI covers only 4.7% of the land surface but is home to nearly half its population (3.5 billion). The WUI is especially widespread in Europe (15% of the land area) and the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome (18%). Of all people living near 2003-2020 wildfires (0.4 billion), two thirds have their home in the WUI, most of them in Africa (150 million). Given that wildfire activity is predicted to increase because of climate change in many regions6, there is a need to understand housing growth and vegetation patterns as drivers of WUI change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franz Schug
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
| | - Avi Bar-Massada
- Department of Biology and Environment, University of Haifa at Oranim, Kiryat Tivon, Israel
| | - Amanda R Carlson
- US Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Lakewood, CO, USA
| | - Heather Cox
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Todd J Hawbaker
- US Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Lakewood, CO, USA
| | - David Helmers
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Patrick Hostert
- Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Dominik Kaim
- Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Neda K Kasraee
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Sebastián Martinuzzi
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Miranda H Mockrin
- Northern Research Station, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kira A Pfoch
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Volker C Radeloff
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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23
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Zhang D, Xi Y, Boffa DJ, Liu Y, Nogueira LM. Association of Wildfire Exposure While Recovering From Lung Cancer Surgery With Overall Survival. JAMA Oncol 2023; 9:1214-1220. [PMID: 37498574 PMCID: PMC10375383 DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.2144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Importance With a changing climate, wildfire activity in the US has increased dramatically, presenting multifaceted and compounding health hazards. Individuals discharged from the hospital following surgical resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are potentially at higher risk from wildfires' health hazards. Objective To assess the association between wildfire exposure and postoperative long-term overall survival among patients with lung cancer in the US. Design, Setting, and Participants In this cohort study, individuals who underwent curative-intent NSCLC resection between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2019, were selected from the National Cancer Database. Daily wildfire information was aggregated at the zip code level from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Fire Information for Resource Management System. The data analysis was performed between July 19, 2022, and April 14, 2023. Exposure An active wildfire detected at the zip code of residence between 0 and 3, 4 and 6, or 7 and 12 months after NSCLC surgery. Main Outcome Overall survival was defined as the interval between age at hospital discharge and age at death, last contact, or study end, whichever came first. Cox proportional hazards were used for estimating hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for sex, region, metropolitan category, health insurance type, comorbidities, tumor size, lymph node involvement, era, and facility type. Results A total of 466 912 individuals included in the study (249 303 female and [53.4] and 217 609 male [46.6%]; mean [SD] age at diagnosis, 67.3 [9.9] years), with 48 582 (10.4%) first exposed to a wildfire between 0 and 3 months, 48 328 (10.6%) between 4 and 6 months, and 71 735 (15.3%) between 7 and 12 months following NSCLC surgery. Individuals exposed to a wildfire within 3 months (adjusted HR [AHR], 1.43; 95% CI, 1.41-1.45), between 4 and 6 months (AHR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.37-1.41), and between 7 and 12 months (AHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.15-1.19) after discharge from the hospital following stage I to III NSCLC resection had worse overall survival than unexposed individuals. Conclusions In this cohort study, wildfire exposure was associated with worse overall survival following NSCLC surgical resection, suggesting that patients with lung cancer are at greater risk from the health hazards of wildfires and need to be prioritized in climate adaptation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danlu Zhang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Yuzhi Xi
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | | | - Yang Liu
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Leticia M. Nogueira
- Surveillance and Health Equity Science, American Cancer Society, Kennesaw, Georgia
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24
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Romualdi DC, Wilkinson SL, James PMA. On the limited consensus of mountain pine beetle impacts on wildfire. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY 2023; 38:2159-2178. [PMID: 37521154 PMCID: PMC10372117 DOI: 10.1007/s10980-023-01720-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Context The mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a native bark beetle whose outbreaks leads to widespread conifer forest mortality. Of particular concern to forest and wildfire managers is the influence of MPB outbreaks on wildfire via spatial legacies left in impacted forest stands. There is, however, limited consensus in the literature regarding how MPB outbreaks affect wildfire across western North America. Objectives This meta-analysis aims to (1) summarize available evidence regarding MPB-wildfire interactions, and (2) identify environmental and methodological indicators associated with various wildfire responses (i.e., amplified, neutral, or dampened) post-outbreak. Methods We include peer-reviewed publications focusing on MPB outbreaks and subsequent wildfire activity in forests across western Canada and the USA between 2000 and 2021. A classification scheme was used to examine attributes of each publication to assess which indicators contribute most to their associated wildfire response. Results We found that spatial scale, forest fuels, and weather are main drivers of variation in wildfire response post-outbreak. Metrics of forest fuels and inclusion of weather data on a stand-scale are related to amplified fire responses, whereas dampened responses correspond to landscape-scale analyses. Furthermore, red-stage stands are associated with amplified fire response, whereas other stages are associated with dampened response-supporting current conceptual models of the importance of outbreak stage on wildfire. Conclusions Advancing our understanding regarding drivers of wildfire responses post-MPB outbreak is key to developing accurate, and comparative research studies. These findings provide crucial information for wildfire, and forest management agencies, especially in forests newly exposed to this disturbance interaction under climate change. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-023-01720-z.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. C. Romualdi
- Institute of Forestry and Conservation, Daniels Faculty of Landscape, Architecture and Design, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks St, Toronto, ON M5S 3B3 Canada
| | - S. L. Wilkinson
- Institute of Forestry and Conservation, Daniels Faculty of Landscape, Architecture and Design, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks St, Toronto, ON M5S 3B3 Canada
| | - P. M. A. James
- Institute of Forestry and Conservation, Daniels Faculty of Landscape, Architecture and Design, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks St, Toronto, ON M5S 3B3 Canada
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25
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Hwang J, Chong NS, Zhang M, Agnew RJ, Xu C, Li Z, Xu X. Face-to-face with scorching wildfire: potential toxicant exposure and the health risks of smoke for wildland firefighters at the wildland-urban interface. LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH. AMERICAS 2023; 21:100482. [PMID: 37008196 PMCID: PMC10060103 DOI: 10.1016/j.lana.2023.100482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
As wildfire risks have elevated due to climate change, the health risks that toxicants from fire smoke pose to wildland firefighters have been exacerbated. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has reclassified wildland firefighters' occupational exposure as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). Wildfire smoke contributes to an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, yet wildland firefighters have inadequate respiratory protection. The economic cost of wildland fires has risen concurrently, as illustrated by the appropriation of $45 billion for wildfire management over FYs 2011-2020 by the U.S. Congress. Occupational epidemiological studies of wildland firefighters are crucial for minimizing health risks; however, they must account for the mixture of exposures in wildfire smoke. This review focuses on four aspects of wildland firefighters' health risks at the wildland-urban interface: 1) economic costs and health impact, 2) respiratory protection, 3) multipollutant mixtures, and 4) proactive management of wildfires.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jooyeon Hwang
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Hudson College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Ngee-Sing Chong
- Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
| | - Mengliang Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
| | - Robert J. Agnew
- Fire Protection & Safety Engineering Technology Program, College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
| | - Chao Xu
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Hudson College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Zhuangjie Li
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University at Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92831, USA
| | - Xin Xu
- Shanghai Anti-doping Laboratory, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China
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26
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Baijnath-Rodino JA, Le PVV, Foufoula-Georgiou E, Banerjee T. Historical spatiotemporal changes in fire danger potential across biomes. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 870:161954. [PMID: 36736401 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
This study 1) identifies the seasons and biomes that exhibit significant (1980-2019) changes in fire danger potential, as quantified by the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI); 2) explores what types of fire behavior potentials may be contributing to changes in fire danger potential, as quantified by the United States Energy Release Component (ERC) and the Ignition Component (IC); 3) provides spatiotemporal insight on how fire danger potential and fire behavior potential are responding in relation to changes in seasonal precipitation totals and seasonal mean air temperature across biomes. Time series of these fire potentials, as well as seasonal mean temperature, and seasonal precipitation totals are generated using data from the 0.25° ECMWF spatial resolution Reanalysis 5th Generation (ERA5) and the Climatic Research Unit gridded Time Series (CRU TS). The Mann-Kendall test is then applied to identify significant spatiotemporal trends across each biome. Results indicate that the September-November season (SON) exhibits the greatest rate of increase in fire danger potential, followed by the June-August season (JJA), December, January-February season (DJF), and March-May season (MAM), and this is predominant over the Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forest Biome, as well as all vegetation types of the temperate biomes. Similarly, the temperate biomes experience the greatest rate of increase in fire intensity potential and ignition potential, but prevalent during the DJF and MAM seasons. Furthermore, there is a significant positive correlation between fire danger potential and seasonal mean air temperature during JJA in the Northern Hemisphere for the temperate biomes in North America and Europe, as well as the Tropical and Subtropical biomes in Africa. Our analysis provides quantitative insight as to how fire danger potential and fire behavior potential have been responding to changes in seasonal mean temperature and seasonal precipitation totals across different ecoregions around the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janine A Baijnath-Rodino
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
| | - Phong V V Le
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; Faculty of Hydrology Meteorology and Oceanography, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | - Efi Foufoula-Georgiou
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Earth Systems Science, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Tirtha Banerjee
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
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27
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Crist MR. Rethinking the focus on forest fires in federal wildland fire management: Landscape patterns and trends of non-forest and forest burned area. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 327:116718. [PMID: 36565577 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
For most of the 20th century and beyond, national wildland fire policies concerning fire suppression and fuels management have primarily focused on forested lands. Using summary statistics and landscape metrics, wildfire spatial patterns and trends for non-forest and forest burned area over the past two decades were examined across the U.S, and federal agency jurisdictions. This study found that wildfires burned more area of non-forest lands than forest lands at the scale of the conterminous and western U.S. and the Department of Interior (DOI). In an agency comparison, 74% of DOI burned area occurred on non-forest lands and 78% of U.S. Forest Service burned area occurred on forested lands. Landscape metrics revealed key differences between forest and non-forest fire patterns and trends in total burned area, burned patch size, distribution, and aggregation over time across the western U.S. Opposite fire patterns emerged between non-forest and forest burns when analyzed at the scale of federal agency jurisdictions. In addition, a fire regime departure analysis comparing current large fire probability with historic fire trends identified certain vegetation types and locations experiencing more fire than historically. These patterns were especially pronounced for cold desert shrublands, such as sagebrush where increases in annual area burned, and fire frequency, size, and juxtaposition have resulted in substantial losses over a twenty-year period. The emerging non-forest fire patterns are primarily due to the rapid expansion of non-native invasive grasses that increase fuel connectivity and fire spread. These invasions promote uncharacteristic frequent fire and loss of native ecosystems at large-scales, accelerating the need to place greater focus on managing invasive species in wildland fire management. Results can be used to inform wildfire management and policy aimed at reducing uncharacteristic wildfire processes and patterns for both non-forest and forest ecosystems as well as identify differing management strategies needed to address the unique wildfire issues each federal agency faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele R Crist
- Landscape Ecologist, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Fire and Aviation Directorate, Boise, ID, 83705, USA.
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28
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Hawbaker TJ, Henne PD, Vanderhoof MK, Carlson AR, Mockrin MH, Radeloff VC. Changes in wildfire occurrence and risk to homes from 1990 through 2019 in the Southern Rocky Mountains,
USA. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Amanda R. Carlson
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
| | - Miranda H. Mockrin
- Northern Research Station U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Baltimore Maryland USA
| | - Volker C. Radeloff
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
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29
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Delayed wildfires in 2020 promote snowpack melting in the western United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2218087120. [PMID: 36595697 PMCID: PMC9926238 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2218087120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
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30
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Bracewell SA, Barros TL, Mayer-Pinto M, Dafforn KA, Simpson SL, Johnston EL. Contaminant pulse following wildfire is associated with shifts in estuarine benthic communities. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 316:120533. [PMID: 36341829 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Novel combinations of climatic conditions due to climate change and prolonged fire seasons have contributed to an increased occurrence of "megafires". Such large-scale fires pose an unknown threat to biodiversity due to the increased extent and severity of burn. Assessments of wildfires often focus on terrestrial ecosystems and effects on aquatic habitats are less documented, particularly in coastal environments. In a novel application of eDNA techniques, we assessed the impacts of the 2019-2020 Australian wildfires on the diversity of estuarine benthic sediment communities in six estuaries in NSW, Australia, before and after the fires. Estuaries differed in area of catchment burnt (0-92%) and amount of vegetative buffer that remained post-fire between burnt areas and waterways. We found greater dissimilarities in the composition and abundance of eukaryotic and bacterial sediment communities in estuaries from burnt catchments with no buffer compared to those with an intact buffer or from unburnt catchments. Shifts in composition in highly burnt catchments were associated with increased concentrations of nutrients, carbon, including fire-derived pyrogenic carbon, and copper, which was representative of multiple highly correlated trace metals. Changes in the relative abundances of certain taxonomic groups, such as sulfate-reducing and nitrifying bacterial groups, in the most impacted estuaries indicate potential consequences for the functioning of sediment communities. These results provide a unique demonstration of the use of eDNA to identify wildfire impacts on ecological communities and emphasize the importance of vegetative buffers in limiting wildfire-associated impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sally A Bracewell
- Applied Marine and Estuarine Ecology Laboratory, Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Thayanne L Barros
- Applied Marine and Estuarine Ecology Laboratory, Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Mariana Mayer-Pinto
- Applied Marine and Estuarine Ecology Laboratory, Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Katherine A Dafforn
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
| | - Stuart L Simpson
- CSIRO Land and Water, Tharawal Country, Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research, NSW, 2232, Australia
| | - Emma L Johnston
- Applied Marine and Estuarine Ecology Laboratory, Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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31
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Too hot, too cold, or just right: Can wildfire restore dry forests of the interior Pacific Northwest? PLoS One 2023; 18:e0281927. [PMID: 36848330 PMCID: PMC9970105 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Abstract
As contemporary wildfire activity intensifies across the western United States, there is increasing recognition that a variety of forest management activities are necessary to restore ecosystem function and reduce wildfire hazard in dry forests. However, the pace and scale of current, active forest management is insufficient to address restoration needs. Managed wildfire and landscape-scale prescribed burns hold potential to achieve broad-scale goals but may not achieve desired outcomes where fire severity is too high or too low. To explore the potential for fire alone to restore dry forests, we developed a novel method to predict the range of fire severities most likely to restore historical forest basal area, density, and species composition in forests across eastern Oregon. First, we developed probabilistic tree mortality models for 24 species based on tree characteristics and remotely sensed fire severity from burned field plots. We applied these estimates to unburned stands in four national forests to predict post-fire conditions using multi-scale modeling in a Monte Carlo framework. We compared these results to historical reconstructions to identify fire severities with the highest restoration potential. Generally, we found basal area and density targets could be achieved by a relatively narrow range of moderate-severity fire (roughly 365-560 RdNBR). However, single fire events did not restore species composition in forests that were historically maintained by frequent, low-severity fire. Restorative fire severity ranges for stand basal area and density were strikingly similar for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and dry mixed-conifer forests across a broad geographic range, in part due to relatively high fire tolerance of large grand (Abies grandis) and white fir (Abies concolor). Our results suggest historical forest conditions created by recurrent fire are not readily restored by single fires and landscapes have likely passed thresholds that preclude the effectiveness of managed wildfire alone as a restoration tool.
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32
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Shaffer HB, Toffelmier E, Corbett-Detig RB, Escalona M, Erickson B, Fiedler P, Gold M, Harrigan RJ, Hodges S, Luckau TK, Miller C, Oliveira DR, Shaffer KE, Shapiro B, Sork VL, Wang IJ. Landscape Genomics to Enable Conservation Actions: The California Conservation Genomics Project. J Hered 2022; 113:577-588. [PMID: 35395669 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esac020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP) is a unique, critically important step forward in the use of comprehensive landscape genetic data to modernize natural resource management at a regional scale. We describe the CCGP, including all aspects of project administration, data collection, current progress, and future challenges. The CCGP will generate, analyze, and curate a single high-quality reference genome and 100-150 resequenced genomes for each of 153 species projects (representing 235 individual species) that span the ecological and phylogenetic breadth of California's marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. The resulting portfolio of roughly 20 000 resequenced genomes will be analyzed with identical informatic and landscape genomic pipelines, providing a comprehensive overview of hotspots of within-species genomic diversity, potential and realized corridors connecting these hotspots, regions of reduced diversity requiring genetic rescue, and the distribution of variation critical for rapid climate adaptation. After 2 years of concerted effort, full funding ($12M USD) has been secured, species identified, and funds distributed to 68 laboratories and 114 investigators drawn from all 10 University of California campuses. The remaining phases of the CCGP include completion of data collection and analyses, and delivery of the resulting genomic data and inferences to state and federal regulatory agencies to help stabilize species declines. The aspirational goals of the CCGP are to identify geographic regions that are critical to long-term preservation of California biodiversity, prioritize those regions based on defensible genomic criteria, and provide foundational knowledge that informs management strategies at both the individual species and ecosystem levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Bradley Shaffer
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fisheries Branch, West Sacramento, CA 95605, USA
| | - Erin Toffelmier
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Russ B Corbett-Detig
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Merly Escalona
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Bjorn Erickson
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento, CA 95825, USA
| | - Peggy Fiedler
- Natural Reserve System, Office of the President, University of California, Oakland, CA 94607, USA
| | - Mark Gold
- California Natural Resources Agency, 1416 Ninth Street, Suite 1311, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA
| | - Ryan J Harrigan
- La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,Center for Tropical Research, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Scott Hodges
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Tara K Luckau
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Courtney Miller
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Daniel R Oliveira
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Kevin E Shaffer
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fisheries Branch, West Sacramento, CA 95605, USA
| | - Beth Shapiro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Victoria L Sork
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Ian J Wang
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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33
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Byerly Flint H, Champ PA, Meldrum JR, Brenkert-Smith H. Wildfire imagery reduces risk information-seeking among homeowners as property wildfire risk increases. COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT 2022; 3:229. [PMID: 36211134 PMCID: PMC9531637 DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00505-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Negative imagery of destruction may induce or inhibit action to reduce risks from climate-exacerbated hazards, such as wildfires. This has generated conflicting assumptions among experts who communicate with homeowners: half of surveyed wildfire practitioners perceive a lack of expert agreement about the effect of negative imagery (a burning house) on homeowner behavior, yet most believe negative imagery is more engaging. We tested whether this expectation matched homeowner response in the United States. In an online experiment, homeowners who viewed negative imagery reported more negative emotions but the same behavioral intentions compared to those who viewed status-quo landscape photos. In a pre-registered field experiment, homeowners who received a postcard showing negative imagery were equally likely, overall, to visit a wildfire risk webpage as those whose postcard showed a status quo photo. However, the negative imagery decreased webpage visits as homeowners' wildfire risk increased. These results illustrate the importance of testing assumptions to encourage behavioral adaptation to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Byerly Flint
- Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82072 USA
| | - Patricia A. Champ
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Fort Collins, CO 80526 USA
| | - James R. Meldrum
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO 80526 USA
| | - Hannah Brenkert-Smith
- Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
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34
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Ford JD, Zavaleta-Cortijo C, Ainembabazi T, Anza-Ramirez C, Arotoma-Rojas I, Bezerra J, Chicmana-Zapata V, Galappaththi EK, Hangula M, Kazaana C, Lwasa S, Namanya D, Nkwinti N, Nuwagira R, Okware S, Osipova M, Pickering K, Singh C, Berrang-Ford L, Hyams K, Miranda JJ, Naylor A, New M, van Bavel B. Interactions between climate and COVID-19. Lancet Planet Health 2022; 6:e825-e833. [PMID: 36208645 PMCID: PMC9534524 DOI: 10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00174-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 06/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
In this Personal View, we explain the ways that climatic risks affect the transmission, perception, response, and lived experience of COVID-19. First, temperature, wind, and humidity influence the transmission of COVID-19 in ways not fully understood, although non-climatic factors appear more important than climatic factors in explaining disease transmission. Second, climatic extremes coinciding with COVID-19 have affected disease exposure, increased susceptibility of people to COVID-19, compromised emergency responses, and reduced health system resilience to multiple stresses. Third, long-term climate change and prepandemic vulnerabilities have increased COVID-19 risk for some populations (eg, marginalised communities). The ways climate and COVID-19 interact vary considerably between and within populations and regions, and are affected by dynamic and complex interactions with underlying socioeconomic, political, demographic, and cultural conditions. These conditions can lead to vulnerability, resilience, transformation, or collapse of health systems, communities, and livelihoods throughout varying timescales. It is important that COVID-19 response and recovery measures consider climatic risks, particularly in locations that are susceptible to climate extremes, through integrated planning that includes public health, disaster preparedness, emergency management, sustainable development, and humanitarian response.
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Affiliation(s)
- James D Ford
- Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
| | - Carol Zavaleta-Cortijo
- Intercultural Citizenship and Indigenous Health Unit, Cayetano Heredia University, Lima, Peru
| | - Triphini Ainembabazi
- Department of Geography, Geo-Informatics, and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Cecilia Anza-Ramirez
- Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | | | - Joana Bezerra
- Community Engagement, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa
| | | | | | - Martha Hangula
- Department of Livestock Production, Agribusiness, and Economics, University of Namibia, Oshakati, Namibia
| | | | - Shuaib Lwasa
- Department of Geography, Geo-Informatics, and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | | | - Nosipho Nkwinti
- Community Engagement, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa
| | | | - Samuel Okware
- Uganda National Health Research Organisation, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - Maria Osipova
- Arctic State Institute of Culture and Arts, North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia
| | - Kerrie Pickering
- Sustainability Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Buderim, QLD, Australia
| | - Chandni Singh
- School of Environment and Sustainability, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore, India
| | - Lea Berrang-Ford
- Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Keith Hyams
- Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - J Jaime Miranda
- Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Angus Naylor
- School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Mark New
- Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Bianca van Bavel
- Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
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Byerly Flint H, Cada P, Champ PA, Gomez J, Margoles D, Meldrum JR, Brenkert-Smith H. You vs. us: framing adaptation behavior in terms of private or social benefits. CLIMATIC CHANGE 2022; 174:11. [PMID: 36157475 PMCID: PMC9483271 DOI: 10.1007/s10584-022-03400-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Private actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change may have benefits to both the individual and society. In some cases, an individual may be motivated by appeals that highlight benefits to others, rather than to oneself. We test whether such prosocial framing influences information-seeking behavior to address wildfire risk among homeowners. In a field experiment across ten communities in western Colorado, property owners (n = 2977) received a postcard from their local fire department highlighting the impact of risk mitigation to either "your property" (private benefits) or "our community" (social benefits). The postcard directed recipients to visit a personalized webpage on wildfire risk. Overall, 10.5% of property owners visited their personalized risk webpage. There was little difference in webpage visitation between those who received the social (11.3%) rather than the private (9.7%) benefits message (χ 2 = 1.74, p = 0.19). However, response may depend on a property owner's relationship to the community. Those who reside within the community (as opposed to out-of-town owners) or who were in an evacuation zone during a recent wildfire were more likely to visit their webpages after receiving the social benefits message. How homeowners view their contributions to shared risk and whether simple changes in messaging influence prosocial behavior can inform efforts to address climate-exacerbated hazards. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10584-022-03400-4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Byerly Flint
- Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82072 USA
| | - Paul Cada
- Vail Fire and Emergency Services, Vail, CO 81657 USA
| | - Patricia A. Champ
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Fort Collins, CO 80526 USA
| | - Jamie Gomez
- West Region Wildfire Council, Montrose, CO 81401 USA
| | - Danny Margoles
- Dolores Watershed Resilience Forest Collaborative, Cortez, CO 81321 USA
| | - James R. Meldrum
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO 80526 USA
| | - Hannah Brenkert-Smith
- Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
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Słowiński M, Obremska M, Avirmed D, Woszczyk M, Adiya S, Łuców D, Mroczkowska A, Halaś A, Szczuciński W, Kruk A, Lamentowicz M, Stańczak J, Rudaya N. Fires, vegetation, and human-The history of critical transitions during the last 1000 years in Northeastern Mongolia. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 838:155660. [PMID: 35526637 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155660] [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: 02/22/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Fires are natural phenomena that impact human behaviors, vegetation, and landscape functions. However, the long-term history of fire, especially in the permafrost marginal zone of Central Asia (Mongolia), is poorly understood. This paper presents the results of radiocarbon and short-lived radionuclides (210Pb and 137Cs) dating, pollen, geochemical, charcoal, and statistical analyses (Kohonen's artificial neural network) of sediment core obtained from Northern Mongolia (the Khentii Mountains region). Therefore, we present the first high-resolution fire history from Northern Mongolia covering the last 1000 years, based on a multiproxy analysis of peat archive data. The results revealed that most of the fires in the region were likely initiated by natural factors, which were probably related to heatwaves causing prolonged droughts. We have demonstrated the link between enhanced fires and "dzud", a local climatic phenomenon. The number of livestock, which has been increasing for several decades, and the observed climatic changes are superimposed to cause "dzud", a deadly combination of droughts and snowy winter, which affects fire intensity. We observed that the study area has a sensitive ecosystem that reacts quickly to climate change. In terms of changes in the vegetation, the reconstruction reflected climate variations during the last millennium, the degradation of permafrost and occurrence of fires. However, more sites with good chronologies are needed to thoroughly understand the spatial relationships between changing climate, permafrost degradation, and vegetation change, which ultimately affect the nomadic societies in the region of Central and Northern Mongolia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michał Słowiński
- Past Landscape Dynamics Laboratory, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Milena Obremska
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Dashtseren Avirmed
- Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Michał Woszczyk
- Biogeochemistry Research Unit, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Saruulzaya Adiya
- Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Dominika Łuców
- Past Landscape Dynamics Laboratory, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Mroczkowska
- Past Landscape Dynamics Laboratory, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland; Department of Geology and Geomorphology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Halaś
- Past Landscape Dynamics Laboratory, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Witold Szczuciński
- Geohazards Research Unit, Institute of Geology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Andrzej Kruk
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
| | - Mariusz Lamentowicz
- Climate Change Ecology Research Unit, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Joanna Stańczak
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Natalia Rudaya
- PaleoData Lab, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
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Chen H, Wang JJ, Ku PJ, Tsui MTK, Abney RB, Berhe AA, Zhang Q, Burton SD, Dahlgren RA, Chow AT. Burn Intensity Drives the Alteration of Phenolic Lignin to (Poly) Aromatic Hydrocarbons as Revealed by Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:12678-12687. [PMID: 35947441 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c00426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
High-intensity wildfires alter the chemical composition of organic matter, which is expected to be distinctly different from low-intensity prescribed fires. Herein, we used pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), in conjunction with solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, to assess chemical alterations from three wildfires and a long-term frequent prescribed fire site. Our results showed that black ash formed under moderate intensity burns contained less aromatic (ArH), polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), and nitrogen-containing compounds (Ntg) but more lignin (LgC) and phenol compounds (PhC), compared to white ash formed under high intensity burns. Both 13C NMR and FT-IR confirmed a higher relative percentage of carboxyl carbon in white ash, indicating the potential for higher water solubility and more mobile carbon, relative to black ash. Compared to wildfires, ash from low-intensity prescribed fire contained less ArH, PAH, and Ntg and more LgC and PhC. Controlled laboratory burning trials indicated that organic matter alteration was sensitive to the burn temperature, but not related to the fuel type (pine vs fir) nor oxygen absence/presence at high burn temperatures. This study concludes that higher burn temperatures resulted in higher (poly)aromatic carbon/nitrogen and lower lignin/phenol compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Chen
- Biogeochemistry & Environmental Quality Research Group, Clemson University, Georgetown, South Carolina 29442, United States
| | - Jun-Jian Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Pei-Jia Ku
- Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui
- School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Rebecca B Abney
- D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, California 95343, United States
| | - Qiang Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Sarah D Burton
- Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - Randy A Dahlgren
- Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Alex T Chow
- Biogeochemistry & Environmental Quality Research Group, Clemson University, Georgetown, South Carolina 29442, United States
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38
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Dillis C, Butsic V, Moanga D, Parker‐Shames P, Wartenberg A, Grantham TE. The threat of wildfire is unique to cannabis among agricultural sectors in California. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Dillis
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley Berkeley California USA
| | - Van Butsic
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley Berkeley California USA
| | - Diana Moanga
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley Berkeley California USA
| | - Phoebe Parker‐Shames
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley Berkeley California USA
| | - Ariani Wartenberg
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley Berkeley California USA
| | - Theodore E. Grantham
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley Berkeley California USA
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39
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Nave LE, DeLyser K, Domke GM, Holub SM, Janowiak MK, Kittler B, Ontl TA, Sprague E, Sucre EB, Walters BF, Swanston CW. Disturbance and management effects on forest soil organic carbon stocks in the Pacific Northwest. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2611. [PMID: 35366042 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Carbon (C)-informed forest management requires understanding how disturbance and management influence soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks at scales relevant to landowners and forest policy and management professionals. The continued growth of data sets and publications allows powerful synthesis approaches to be applied to such questions at increasingly fine scales. Here, we report results from a synthesis that used meta-analysis of published studies and two large observational databases to quantify disturbance and management impacts on SOC stocks. We conducted this, the third in a series of ecoregional SOC assessments, for the Pacific Northwest, which comprises ~8% of the land area but ~12% of the U.S. forest sector C sink. At the ecoregional level, our analysis indicated that fundamental patterns of vegetation, climate, and topography are far more important controls on SOC stocks than land use history, disturbance, or management. However, the same patterns suggested that increased warming, drying, wildland fire, and forest regeneration failure pose significant risks to SOC stocks across the region. Detailed meta-analysis results indicated that wildfires diminished SOC stocks throughout the soil profile, while prescribed fire only influenced surface organic materials and harvesting had no significant overall impact on SOC. Independent observational data corroborated the negative influence of fire on SOC derived from meta-analysis, suggested that harvest impacts may vary subregionally with climate or vegetation, and revealed that forests with agricultural uses (e.g., grazing) or legacies (e.g., cultivation) had smaller SOC stocks. We also quantified effects of a range of common forest management practices having either positive (organic amendments, nitrogen [N]-fixing vegetation establishment, inorganic N fertilization) or no overall effects on SOC (other inorganic fertilizers, urea fertilization, competition suppression through herbicides). In order to maximize the management applications of our results, we qualified them with ratings of confidence based on degree of support across approaches. Last, similar to earlier published assessments from other ecoregions, we supplemented our quantitative synthesis results with a literature review to arrive at a concise set of tactics for adapting management operations to site-specific criteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas E Nave
- Biological Station and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Pellston, Michigan, USA
- Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Houghton, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Grant M Domke
- Northern Research Station, USDA-Forest Service, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | | | - Maria K Janowiak
- Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Houghton, Michigan, USA
- Northern Research Station, USDA-Forest Service, Houghton, Michigan, USA
| | - Brian Kittler
- American Forests, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Todd A Ontl
- Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Houghton, Michigan, USA
| | - Eric Sprague
- American Forests, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | | | - Brian F Walters
- Northern Research Station, USDA-Forest Service, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Christopher W Swanston
- Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Houghton, Michigan, USA
- Northern Research Station, USDA-Forest Service, Houghton, Michigan, USA
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40
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D’Evelyn SM, Jung J, Alvarado E, Baumgartner J, Caligiuri P, Hagmann RK, Henderson SB, Hessburg PF, Hopkins S, Kasner EJ, Krawchuk MA, Krenz JE, Lydersen JM, Marlier ME, Masuda YJ, Metlen K, Mittelstaedt G, Prichard SJ, Schollaert CL, Smith EB, Stevens JT, Tessum CW, Reeb-Whitaker C, Wilkins JL, Wolff NH, Wood LM, Haugo RD, Spector JT. Wildfire, Smoke Exposure, Human Health, and Environmental Justice Need to be Integrated into Forest Restoration and Management. Curr Environ Health Rep 2022; 9:366-385. [PMID: 35524066 PMCID: PMC9076366 DOI: 10.1007/s40572-022-00355-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Increasing wildfire size and severity across the western United States has created an environmental and social crisis that must be approached from a transdisciplinary perspective. Climate change and more than a century of fire exclusion and wildfire suppression have led to contemporary wildfires with more severe environmental impacts and human smoke exposure. Wildfires increase smoke exposure for broad swaths of the US population, though outdoor workers and socially disadvantaged groups with limited adaptive capacity can be disproportionally exposed. Exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with a range of health impacts in children and adults, including exacerbation of existing respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, worse birth outcomes, and cardiovascular events. Seasonally dry forests in Washington, Oregon, and California can benefit from ecological restoration as a way to adapt forests to climate change and reduce smoke impacts on affected communities. RECENT FINDINGS Each wildfire season, large smoke events, and their adverse impacts on human health receive considerable attention from both the public and policymakers. The severity of recent wildfire seasons has state and federal governments outlining budgets and prioritizing policies to combat the worsening crisis. This surging attention provides an opportunity to outline the actions needed now to advance research and practice on conservation, economic, environmental justice, and public health interests, as well as the trade-offs that must be considered. Scientists, planners, foresters and fire managers, fire safety, air quality, and public health practitioners must collaboratively work together. This article is the result of a series of transdisciplinary conversations to find common ground and subsequently provide a holistic view of how forest and fire management intersect with human health through the impacts of smoke and articulate the need for an integrated approach to both planning and practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Savannah M. D’Evelyn
- Dept. of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 USA
| | - Jihoon Jung
- Dept. of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 USA
| | - Ernesto Alvarado
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Jill Baumgartner
- Dept of Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | | | - R. Keala Hagmann
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
- Applegate Forestry, LLC, Corvallis, USA
| | | | - Paul F. Hessburg
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Wenatchee, WA USA
| | - Sean Hopkins
- Washington State Department of Ecology, Lacey, USA
| | - Edward J. Kasner
- Dept. of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 USA
| | - Meg A. Krawchuk
- Dept. of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA
| | - Jennifer E. Krenz
- Dept. of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 USA
| | - Jamie M. Lydersen
- California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Sacramento, USA
| | - Miriam E. Marlier
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | | | | | | | - Susan J. Prichard
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Claire L. Schollaert
- Dept. of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 USA
| | | | - Jens T. Stevens
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM USA
| | - Christopher W. Tessum
- Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, USA
| | - Carolyn Reeb-Whitaker
- Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Tumwater, USA
| | - Joseph L. Wilkins
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
- Interdisciplinary Studies Department, Howard University, Washington, DC USA
| | | | - Leah M. Wood
- Evan’s School of Public Policy and Governance and The Department of Global Health, University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 USA
| | | | - June T. Spector
- Dept. of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 USA
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41
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Brady MK, Dickinson MB, Miesel JR, Wonkka CL, Kavanagh KL, Lodge AG, Rogers WE, Starns HD, Tolleson DR, Treadwell ML, Twidwell D, Hanan EJ. Soil Heating in Fire (SheFire): A model and measurement method for estimating soil heating and effects during wildland fires. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2627. [PMID: 35397482 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2627] [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: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Fire has transformative effects on soil biological, chemical, and physical properties in terrestrial ecosystems around the world. While methods for estimating fire characteristics and associated effects aboveground have progressed in recent decades, there remain major challenges in characterizing soil heating and associated effects belowground. Overcoming these challenges is crucial for understanding how fire influences soil carbon storage, biogeochemical cycling, and ecosystem recovery. In this paper, we present a novel framework for characterizing belowground heating and effects. The framework includes (1) an open-source model to estimate fire-driven soil heating, cooling, and the biotic effects of heating across depths and over time (Soil Heating in Fire model; SheFire) and (2) a simple field method for recording soil temperatures at multiple depths using self-contained temperature sensor and data loggers (i.e., iButtons), installed along a wooden stake inserted into the soil (i.e., an iStake). The iStake overcomes many logistical challenges associated with obtaining temperature profiles using thermocouples. Heating measurements provide inputs to the SheFire model, and modeled soil heating can then be used to derive ecosystem response functions, such as heating effects on microorganisms and tissues. To validate SheFire estimates, we conducted a burn table experiment using iStakes to record temperatures that were in turn used to fit the SheFire model. We then compared SheFire predicted temperatures against measured temperatures at other soil depths. To benchmark iStake measurements against those recorded by thermocouples, we co-located both types of sensors in the burn table experiment. We found that SheFire demonstrated skill in interpolating and extrapolating soil temperatures, with the largest errors occurring at the shallowest depths. We also found that iButton sensors are comparable to thermocouples for recording soil temperatures during fires. Finally, we present a case study using iStakes and SheFire to estimate in situ soil heating during a prescribed fire and demonstrate how observed heating regimes would influence seed and tree root vascular cambium survival at different soil depths. This measurement-modeling framework provides a cutting-edge approach for describing soil temperature regimes (i.e., soil heating) through a soil profile and predicting biological responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary K Brady
- Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Science, University of Nevada - Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | | | - Jessica R Miesel
- Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Carissa L Wonkka
- USDA, ARS, Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, Sidney, Montana, USA
| | | | - Alexandra G Lodge
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - William E Rogers
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Heath D Starns
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Sonora, Texas, USA
| | - Doug R Tolleson
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Sonora, Texas, USA
| | - Morgan L Treadwell
- Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, San Angelo, Texas, USA
| | - Dirac Twidwell
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
| | - Erin J Hanan
- Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Science, University of Nevada - Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
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42
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Peixoto RS, Voolstra CR, Sweet M, Duarte CM, Carvalho S, Villela H, Lunshof JE, Gram L, Woodhams DC, Walter J, Roik A, Hentschel U, Thurber RV, Daisley B, Ushijima B, Daffonchio D, Costa R, Keller-Costa T, Bowman JS, Rosado AS, Reid G, Mason CE, Walke JB, Thomas T, Berg G. Harnessing the microbiome to prevent global biodiversity loss. Nat Microbiol 2022; 7:1726-1735. [PMID: 35864220 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01173-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Global biodiversity loss and mass extinction of species are two of the most critical environmental issues the world is currently facing, resulting in the disruption of various ecosystems central to environmental functions and human health. Microbiome-targeted interventions, such as probiotics and microbiome transplants, are emerging as potential options to reverse deterioration of biodiversity and increase the resilience of wildlife and ecosystems. However, the implementation of these interventions is urgently needed. We summarize the current concepts, bottlenecks and ethical aspects encompassing the careful and responsible management of ecosystem resources using the microbiome (termed microbiome stewardship) to rehabilitate organisms and ecosystem functions. We propose a real-world application framework to guide environmental and wildlife probiotic applications. This framework details steps that must be taken in the upscaling process while weighing risks against the high toll of inaction. In doing so, we draw parallels with other aspects of contemporary science moving swiftly in the face of urgent global challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel S Peixoto
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Christian R Voolstra
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Michael Sweet
- Aquatic Research Facility, Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, University of Derby, Derby, UK
| | - Carlos M Duarte
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.,Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Helena Villela
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Jeantine E Lunshof
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Center for Bioethics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lone Gram
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Douglas C Woodhams
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Jens Walter
- APC Microbiome Ireland, School of Microbiology, and Department of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Anna Roik
- Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB), Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Ute Hentschel
- RD3 Marine Symbioses, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | | | - Brendan Daisley
- Lawson Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Blake Ushijima
- Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
| | - Daniele Daffonchio
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rodrigo Costa
- Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Tina Keller-Costa
- Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Jeff S Bowman
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Alexandre S Rosado
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Gregor Reid
- Lawson Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Jenifer B Walke
- Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, USA
| | - Torsten Thomas
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Gabriele Berg
- Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria.,University of Postdam and Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Potsdam, Germany
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43
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Wang X, Swystun T, Flannigan MD. Future wildfire extent and frequency determined by the longest fire-conducive weather spell. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 830:154752. [PMID: 35339558 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154752] [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: 11/02/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Great efforts have been made to understand the impacts of a changing climate on fire activity; however, a reliable approach with high prediction confidence has yet to be found. By establishing linkages between the longest duration of fire-conducive weather spell and fire activity parameters, this study projected annual area burned (AAB), annual number of fires (ANF), and annual maximum fire size (MFS) into the future. We found that even though the rates of change differ, the spatial pattern of changes for all three parameters are similar by Canadian ecozone. Areas with the lowest fire activity may see higher rates of change in comparison to high fire activity areas. By end of the century, the changes of AAB and MFS for the study area are projected to be about four and five times that of the baseline respectively, while ANF could almost double.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianli Wang
- Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320-122nd Street, Edmonton, AB T6H 3S5, Canada; Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, 751 General Service Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Canada.
| | - Tom Swystun
- Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 1219 Queen Street East, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 2E5, Canada
| | - Mike D Flannigan
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, 751 General Service Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Canada
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44
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Friedman RSC, Carpenter DM, Shaver JM, McDermott SC, Voelkel J. Telemedicine Familiarity and Post-Disaster Utilization of Emergency and Hospital Services for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions. Am J Prev Med 2022; 63:e1-e9. [PMID: 35300889 DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2021.12.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION In this study, we examined the association between telemedicine use before a disaster and utilization of emergency or hospital services for ambulatory care sensitive conditions post-disaster. METHODS Difference-in-differences analyses were conducted in 2020‒2021 to assess pre- to post-fire changes in emergency or hospital utilization for 5 ambulatory care sensitive conditions: asthma, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and heart failure across all Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa patients (N=108,113) based on telemedicine utilization before the 2017 Tubbs wildfire. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was employed for cohort balancing across telemedicine familiar status. RESULTS Utilization for any ambulatory care sensitive condition increased from 9.03% pre-fire to 9.45% post-fire across the full cohort. Telemedicine familiarity (ref: not familiar) was associated with decreased absolute risk in pre- to post-fire inpatient and emergency department utilization for 4 conditions: asthma (absolute risk= -1.59%, 95% CI= -2.02%, -1.16%), diabetes (absolute risk= -0.68%, 95% CI= -0.89%, -0.47%), hypertension (absolute risk= -2.07%, 95% CI= -2.44%, -1.71%), and coronary artery disease (absolute risk= -0.43%, 95% CI= -0.61%, -0.24%). Telemedicine familiarity was associated with decreased relative change in pre- to post-fire utilization for 5 conditions: asthma (RRR=0.70, 95% CI=0.64, 0.75), diabetes (RRR=0.54, 95% CI=0.47, 0.63), hypertension (RRR=0.57, 95% CI=0.52, 0.62), heart failure (RRR=0.64, 95% CI=0.50, 0.82), and coronary artery disease (RRR=0.56, 95% CI=0.47, 0.67). Similar results were seen among patients residing in evacuation zones. CONCLUSIONS Telemedicine familiarity pre-fire was associated with decreased inpatient and emergency department utilization for certain ambulatory care sensitive conditions for 1-year post-fire. These results suggest a role for telemedicine in preventing unnecessary emergency and hospital utilization following disasters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel S C Friedman
- Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, Santa Rosa, California.
| | - Diane M Carpenter
- Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, California
| | - Julia M Shaver
- Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, Santa Rosa, California
| | - Shannon C McDermott
- Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, Santa Rosa, California
| | - Jackson Voelkel
- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Utility for Care Data Analysis, Portland, Oregon
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45
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Reilly MJ, Zuspan A, Halofsky JS, Raymond C, McEvoy A, Dye AW, Donato DC, Kim JB, Potter BE, Walker N, Davis RJ, Dunn CJ, Bell DM, Gregory MJ, Johnston JD, Harvey BJ, Halofsky JE, Kerns BK. Cascadia Burning: The historic, but not historically unprecedented, 2020 wildfires in the Pacific Northwest,
USA. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Reilly
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Aaron Zuspan
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center, ORISE Fellow Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Joshua S. Halofsky
- Washington State Department of Natural Resources Olympia Washington USA
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
| | - Crystal Raymond
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
| | - Andy McEvoy
- USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, ORISE Fellow Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Alex W. Dye
- College of Forestry Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Daniel C. Donato
- Washington State Department of Natural Resources Olympia Washington USA
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
| | - John B. Kim
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Brian E. Potter
- USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Seattle Washington USA
| | - Nathan Walker
- USDA Forest Service Office of Sustainability and Climate Portland Oregon USA
| | - Raymond J. Davis
- USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Corvallis Oregon USA
| | | | - David M. Bell
- USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Corvallis Oregon USA
| | | | | | - Brian J. Harvey
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
| | - Jessica E. Halofsky
- USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center Olympia Washington USA
| | - Becky K. Kerns
- USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Corvallis Oregon USA
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46
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Whitehill AR, Long RW, Urbanski S, Colón M, Habel B, Landis MS. Evaluation of Cairpol and Aeroqual Air Sensors in Biomass Burning Plumes. ATMOSPHERE 2022; 13:1-22. [PMID: 36926184 PMCID: PMC10013706 DOI: 10.3390/atmos13060877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Cairpol and Aeroqual air quality sensors measuring CO, CO2, NO2, and other species were tested in fresh biomass burning plumes in field and laboratory environments. We evaluated sensors by comparing 1-minute sensor measurements to collocated reference instrument measurements. Sensors were evaluated based on the coefficient of determination (r 2) between the sensor and reference measurements, by the accuracy, collocated precision, root mean square error (RMSE), and other metrics. In general, CO and CO2 sensors performed well (in terms of accuracy and r 2 values) compared to NO2 sensors. Cairpol CO and NO2 sensors had better sensor-versus-sensor agreement (e.g., collocated precision) than Aeroqual CO and NO2 sensors of the same species. Tests of other sensors (e.g., NH3, H2S, VOC, NMHC) provided more inconsistent results and need further study. Aeroqual NO2 sensors had an apparent O3 interference that was not observed in the Cairpol NO2 sensors. Although the sensor accuracy lags that of reference-level monitors, with location-specific calibrations they have the potential to provide useful data about community air quality and personal exposure to smoke impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Whitehill
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-919-541-4540
| | - Russell W. Long
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Shawn Urbanski
- U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - Maribel Colón
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Bruce Habel
- Jacobs Technology Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Matthew S. Landis
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
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47
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Culhane K, Sollmann R, White AM, Tarbill GL, Cooper SD, Young HS. Small mammal responses to fire severity mediated by vegetation characteristics and species traits. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8918. [PMID: 35600681 PMCID: PMC9120878 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The frequency of large, high‐severity “mega‐fires” has increased in recent decades, with numerous consequences for forest ecosystems. In particular, small mammal communities are vulnerable to post‐fire shifts in resource availability and play critical roles in forest ecosystems. Inconsistencies in previous observations of small mammal community responses to fire severity underscore the importance of examining mechanisms regulating the effects of fire severity on post‐fire recovery of small mammal communities. We compared small mammal abundance, diversity, and community structure among habitats that burned at different severities, and used vegetation characteristics and small mammal functional traits to predict community responses to fire severity three years after one mega‐fire in the Sierra Nevada, California. Using a model‐based fourth‐corner analysis, we examined how interactions between vegetation variables and small mammal traits associated with their resource use were associated with post‐fire small mammal community structure among fire severity categories. Small mammal abundance was similar across fire severity categories, but diversity decreased and community structure shifted as fire severity increased. Differences in small mammal communities were large only between unburned and high‐severity sites. Three highly correlated fire‐dependent vegetation variables affected by fire and the volume of soft coarse woody debris were associated with small mammal community structures. Furthermore, we found that interactions between vegetation variables and three small mammal traits (feeding guild, primary foraging mode, and primary nesting habit) predicted community structure across fire severity categories. We concluded that resource use was important in regulating small mammal recovery after the fire because vegetation provided required resources to small mammals as determined by their functional traits. Given the mechanistic nature of our analyses, these results may be applicable to other fire‐prone forest systems, although it will be important to conduct studies across large biogeographic regions and over long post‐fire time periods to assess generality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn Culhane
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara California USA
| | - Rahel Sollmann
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
- Department of Ecological Dynamics Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin Germany
| | - Angela M. White
- Pacific Southwest Research Station USDA Forest Service Davis California USA
| | - Gina L. Tarbill
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Scott D. Cooper
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara California USA
| | - Hillary S. Young
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara California USA
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48
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Comparing Geography and Severity of Managed Wildfires in California and the Southwest USA before and after the Implementation of the 2009 Policy Guidance. FORESTS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/f13050793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Managed wildfires, i.e., naturally ignited wildfires that are managed for resource benefits, have the potential to reduce fuel loads, minimize the effects of future wildfires, and restore critical natural processes across many forest landscapes. In the United States, the 2009 federal wildland fire policy guidance was designed to provide greater flexibility in the use of managed wildfires, but the effects of this policy on wildfires in the western US are not yet fully understood. Our goal was to compare managed and full suppression wildfires and to also analyze the differences between managed wildfires across space (Arizona/New Mexico and California) and time (before and after 2009) using four metrics for each wildfire: (1) distance to wilderness, (2) distance to the wildland–urban interface (WUI), (3) the percentage of area burned with high severity, and (4) the number of land management agencies. Across the study area, we found that managed wildfires were significantly closer to wilderness areas, were farther from the WUI, had a lower percentage of area that was burned at high severity, and had fewer agencies involved in managing the fire compared to full suppression wildfires. In California, managed wildfires occurred closer to wilderness and had a larger percentage of high-severity burn area compared to those in the southwest US (Arizona and New Mexico). Within each region, however, there were no significant geographic differences between managed wildfires before and after the implementation of the 2009 policy guidance. Despite the greater flexibility of the 2009 policy guidance, the basic geographic properties of managed wildfires in these two regions have not changed. As the climate warms and droughts intensify, the use of managed wildfires will need to expand during favorable weather conditions in order to address the threat of large and uncharacteristic wildfires to people and ecosystems.
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49
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Donovan VM, Roberts CP, Fogarty DT, Wedin DA, Twidwell D. Targeted grazing and mechanical thinning enhance forest stand resilience under a narrow range of wildfire scenarios. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Victoria M. Donovan
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture University of Nebraska‐Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA
| | - Caleb P. Roberts
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture University of Nebraska‐Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA
| | - Dillon T. Fogarty
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture University of Nebraska‐Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA
| | - David A. Wedin
- School of Natural Resources University of Nebraska‐Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA
| | - Dirac Twidwell
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture University of Nebraska‐Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA
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50
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Creating Strategic Reserves to Protect Forest Carbon and Reduce Biodiversity Losses in the United States. LAND 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/land11050721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
This paper provides a review and comparison of strategies to increase forest carbon, and reduce species losses for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the United States. It compares forest management strategies and actions that are taking place or being proposed to reduce wildfire risk and to increase carbon storage with recent research findings. International agreements state that safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystems is fundamental to climate resilience with respect to climate change impacts on them, and their roles in adaptation and mitigation. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on impacts, mitigation, and adaptation found, and member countries agreed, that maintaining the resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem services at a global scale is “fundamental” for climate mitigation and adaptation, and requires “effective and equitable conservation of approximately 30 to 50% of Earth’s land, freshwater and ocean areas, including current near-natural ecosystems.” Our key message is that many of the current and proposed forest management actions in the United States are not consistent with climate goals, and that preserving 30 to 50% of lands for their carbon, biodiversity and water is feasible, effective, and necessary for achieving them.
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