Researchers have developed a new tool, REBURN, that can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies. The model can simulate the consequences of extinguishing all wildfires regardless of size, which was done for much of the 20th century and has contributed to a rise in large and severe wildfires, or of allowing certain fires to return to uninhabited areas to help create a more 'patchwork' forest structure that can help lessen fire severity. REBURN can also simulate conditions where more benign forest landscape dynamics have fully recovered in an area.
In 2006, the Tripod Complex Fire burned more than 175,000 acres in north-central Washington. The fire, which was within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, was more than three times the size of Seattle. Yet while considered severe at the time, even larger wildfires in 2014, 2015 and 2021 have since dwarfed Tripod.
Prichard, along with colleagues from the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station -- Paul Hessburg, Nicholas Povak and Brion Salter -- and consulting fire ecologist Robert Gray, have created a modeling tool that will allow managers and policymakers to imagine and realize a different future: one where large, severe wildfires like Tripod are once again rare events, even under climate change.
"We also found that non-forest areas comprised of grasslands, shrublands, wet and dry meadows, and sparsely treed woodlands were key ingredients of wildfire-resilient forests," said Hessburg."REBURN showed us that our policy of extinguishing all wildfires created forests like those that exist today, with large, severe wildfires growing more prevalent.
Research has shown that before large-scale European colonization of the area, smaller wildfires shaped forests in north-central Washington and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. The Methow people and other tribes in the region actively set fires through cultural burning practices. Aerial photos show that, as recently as the 1930s, forests in north-central Washington had a"patchwork quilt" structure that kept large wildfires from forming easily.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Stabilizing precipitate growth at grain boundaries in alloys -- ScienceDailyMaterials are often considered to be one phase, but many engineering materials contain two or more phases, improving their properties and performance. These two-phase materials have inclusions, called precipitates, embedded in the microstructure. Alloys, a combination of two or more types of metals, are used in many applications, like turbines for jet engines and light-weight alloys for automotive applications, because they have very good mechanical properties due to those embedded precipitates. The average precipitate size, however, tends to increase over time-in a process called coarsening-which results in a degradation of performance for microstructures with nanoscale precipitates.
Leer más »
Quantum physicists simulate super diffusion on a quantum computer -- ScienceDailyQuantum physicists have successfully simulated super diffusion in a system of interacting quantum particles on a quantum computer. This is the first step in doing highly challenging quantum transport calculations on quantum hardware and, as the hardware improves over time, such work promises to shed new light in condensed matter physics and materials science.
Leer más »
Largest genetic study of brain structure identifies how the brain is organized -- ScienceDailyThe largest ever study of the genetics of the brain -- encompassing some 36,000 brain scans -- has identified more than 4,000 genetic variants linked to brain structure.
Leer más »
HIV and AIDS News -- ScienceDailyHIV and AIDS information and facts. Read latest medical articles and view educational videos on AIDS and HIV symptoms and treatments. Stay informed about new developments on the AIDS/HIV front.
Leer más »
Gene Therapy News -- ScienceDailyRead all about gene therapy including current medical research on switching therapeutic genes on and off, light-activated gene therapy and gene silencing.
Leer más »
CRISPR Gene Editing News -- ScienceDailyLatest research news on CRISPR and gene editing tools, genome engineering, biotechnology.
Leer más »