Vegetation-fire feedback reduces projected area burned under climate change.

ABSTRACT: Climate influences vegetation directly and through climate-mediated disturbance processes, such as wildfire. Temperature and area burned are positively associated, conditional on availability of vegetation to burn. Fire is a self-limiting process that is influenced by productivity. Yet, many fire projections assume sufficient vegetation to support fire, with substantial implications for carbon (C) dynamics and emissions. We simulated forest dynamics under projected climate and wildfire for the Sierra Nevada, accounting for climate effects on fuel flammability (static) and climate and prior fire effects on fuel availability and flammability (dynamic). We show that compared to climate effects on flammability alone, accounting for the interaction of prior fires and climate on fuel availabilit

SUBMITTER: Hurteau MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6391438 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature