Climate change likely to alter postfire forest restoration patterns.Station scientists have found that climate change increases the potential for very large fires in the United States. All these factors have strong direct or indirect links with climate variability and climate change. Wildfire risk depends on complex interactions between temperature, soil moisture, and the presence of trees, shrubs, and other potential fuels. USDA Forest Service photo.Ĭlimate change is contributing to the increased risk and extent of wildfires in the Western United States. New plant growth in an area burned by the 2020 Riverside Fire on the Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon. Synthesis of knowledge of extreme fire behavior: volume 2 for fire behavior specialists, researchers, and meteorologists.Synthesis of knowledge of extreme fire behavior: volume 1 for fire managers.
Improved modeling of fire behavior and risk to structures in the wildland-urban interface. The Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE): improving fire and smoke forecasting to protect public health. Air temperature, moisture content, and nighttime fire behavior explained (video). Station scientists have developed comprehensive syntheses of knowledge about extreme fire behavior for managers. “Extreme” fire behavior indicates fire that does not respond to the usual methods of direct suppression, usually because of rapid spread, fire in the tree canopy (e.g., crowning), and formation of fire-related weather systems (e.g., pyrocumulus clouds). Scientists who study fire behavior are interested in factors that influence fire intensity and rate of spread, such as fuel types, weather, and topography. More specifically, it is the way fuel ignites and how flames develop. USDA Forest Service photo by Brendan O’Reilly.įire behavior broadly refers to a fire’s intensity and rate of spread. Lick Fire on the Umatilla National Forest at night. Learn more by clicking on a topic below to jump to that section. Scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station are conducting a range of studies pertaining to fire effects on the environment in multiple fields of study, from meteorology to ecology. Fire effects are influenced by forest conditions before the fire and management action taken or not taken after the fire, and may be long-lasting. Fire also releases carbon dioxide-a key greenhouse gas-into the atmosphere. 
But fire can be deadly, destroying homes, wildlife habitat and timber, and polluting the air with emissions harmful to human health. It plays a key role in shaping ecosystems by serving as an agent of renewal and change. Understanding Fire Effects on the Environment USDA Forest Service photo by Morris Johnson. Fireweed grows on the Colville National Forest, Washington, several years after a wildfire.
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