Wildfires Flashcards
WMO 2018 Fires
1600 deaths
$24 billion in damages
Impacts on peatlands
Burn smaller areas but can smoulder for month releasing carbon.
2010 Russian peat fires
Caused by record high temps
Occured on drained peat areas
Severe air pollution
Saddleworth Moor Fires 2018
Arson attacks
Large scale plant and animal community impacts
Surface peat structure lost and large quantities of P lost
Another view of fires
Essential element as they maintain landscapes like savanna.
Promote nutrient cycling and patch dynamics for biodiversity
Sources of long term fire data
Charcoal in peat and lake sediments
Charcoal in ice
Fire scars on tree rings
Spectroscop to determine intensity
Main modern goal for wildfires
Suppression.
Andela et al 2017
Declining fire activity globally across tropical and temperate grassland and land use frontiers in S american and SE asia.
Marlon 2008
1750-1870 increase in fires from forest clearance
1870-1950 decreasing as fire suppression begins
Fire variability over time
Variable from LIA with few fires to MWP where it has more fires
Climate affecting fire
Determines biomass available and thus fuel.
Determines likelihood of ignition
Arid and wet climates effect
Arid - unlikely - no fuel
Wet - unlikely - no ignition
Same increase in rainfall in two locations
Biomass limited - increased burning
Ignition limited - reduce fire incidence
How do humans affect fire?
Manipulate availability of fuel and type
Effect spatial distribution of fuel
Control its ignition
Studying future fire regimes
MWP provides more realistic predictions than LIA.
