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Burned forests impact water supplies.

ABSTRACT: Wildland fire impacts on surface freshwater resources have not previously been measured, nor factored into regional water management strategies. But, large wildland fires are increasing and raise concerns about fire impacts on potable water. Here we synthesize long-term records of wildland fire, climate, and river flow for 168 locations across the United States. We show that annual river flow changed in 32 locations, where more than 19% of the basin area was burned. Wildland fires enhanced annual river flow in the western regions with a warm temperate or humid continental climate. Wildland fires increased annual river flow most in the semi-arid Lower Colorado region, in spite of frequent droughts in this region. In contrast, prescribed burns in the subtropical Southeast did not significantly alter river flow. These extremely variable outcomes offer new insights into the potential role of wildfire and prescribed fire in regional water resource management, under a changing climate.

SUBMITTER: Hallema DW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5893570 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Burned forests impact water supplies.

Hallema Dennis W DW Sun Ge G Caldwell Peter V PV Norman Steven P SP Cohen Erika C EC Liu Yongqiang Y Bladon Kevin D KD McNulty Steven G SG

Nature communications 20180410 1

Wildland fire impacts on surface freshwater resources have not previously been measured, nor factored into regional water management strategies. But, large wildland fires are increasing and raise concerns about fire impacts on potable water. Here we synthesize long-term records of wildland fire, climate, and river flow for 168 locations across the United States. We show that annual river flow changed in 32 locations, where more than 19% of the basin area was burned. Wildland fires enhanced annua ...[more]

PMID: 29636465

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Dataset Information

Burned forests impact water supplies.

Publications

Burned forests impact water supplies.

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