Large-scale patterns of forest fire occurrence in the conterminous United States and Alaska, 2013
| Authors: | K.M. Potter |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Type: | General Technical Report |
| Station: | Southern Research Station |
| Source: | Potter, K.M., and B.L. Conkling, editors. 2015. Forest Health Monitoring: National Status, Trends and Analysis, 2014. General Technical Report SRS-209. Asheville, North Carolina: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 190 p. |
Abstract
Free-burning wildland re has been a frequent ecological phenomenon on the American landscape, and its expression has changed as new peoples and land uses have become predominant (Pyne 2010). As a pervasive disturbance agent operating at many spatial and temporal scales, wildland re is a key abiotic factor affecting forest health both positively and negatively. In some ecosystems, wildland res have been essential for regulating processes that maintain forest health (Lundquist and others 2011). Wildland re, for example, is an important ecological mechanism that shapes the distributions of species, maintains the structure and function of re-prone communities, and acts as a signicant evolutionary force (Bond and Keeley 2005).