Large-scale restoration increases carbon stability under projected climate and wildfire regimes

Changing climate and increasing area burned pose a challenge to forest carbon (C) storage, which is compounded by an elevated risk of high-severity wildfire due to long-term fire suppression in the western US. Restoration treatments that reduce tree density and reintroduce surface fire are effective...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in ecology and the environment Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 207 - 212
Main Authors: Liang, Shuang, Hurteau, Matthew D, Westerling, Anthony L
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Washington Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2018
Ecological Society of America
Subjects:
California
Carbon
carbon sequestration
climate
Climate change
Computer simulation
Environmental changes
Environmental conditions
environmental factors
fire hazard
Fire hazards
fire suppression
Forest fires
forest types
Forests
mountains
RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
Restoration
risk
Shelf life
simulation models
Stability
trees
Wildfires
California
ISSN:1540-9295, 1540-9309
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Changing climate and increasing area burned pose a challenge to forest carbon (C) storage, which is compounded by an elevated risk of high-severity wildfire due to long-term fire suppression in the western US. Restoration treatments that reduce tree density and reintroduce surface fire are effective at moderating fire effects and may help build adaptive capacity to changing environmental conditions. However, treatment implementation has been slow and spatially limited relative to the extent of the area affected by fire suppression. Using model simulations, we quantified how large-scale restoration treatments in frequent-fire forest types would influence C outcomes in the Sierra Nevada mountain range under projected climate-wildfire interactions. Our results indicate that large-scale restoration treatments are an effective means of reducing fire hazard and increasing C storage and stability under future climate and wildfire conditions. The effects of implementation timing suggest that accelerated implementation of large-scale restoration treatments may confer greater C-storage benefits, supporting California's efforts to combat climate change.
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ISSN:1540-9295
1540-9309
DOI:10.1002/fee.1791