CSIRO Publishing Books Journals About Us Shopping Cart You are here: Journals > International Journal of Wildland Fire   
International Journal of Wildland Fire
  Published on behalf of the International Association of Wildland Fire
 
Search
 
 
  Advanced Search
   

Journal Home
About the Journal
Editorial Board
Contacts
Content
Online Early
Current Issue
Just Accepted
All Issues
Special Issues
Sample Issue
For Authors
General Information
Notice to Authors
Submit Article
For Referees
General Information
Review Article
Annual Referee Index
For Subscribers
Subscription Prices
Customer Service
Print Publication Dates

 Early Alert
Subscribe to our email Early Alert or RSS feeds for the latest journal papers.

 Connect with us
facebook   youtube

Training

Publication Workshops


 

Article << Previous     |     Next >>   Contents Vol 16(3)

Analysis of Alaskan burn severity patterns using remotely sensed data

Paul A. Duffy A E, Justin Epting B, Jonathan M. Graham C, T. Scott Rupp A, A. David McGuire D

A Ecological Dynamics Modeling Group, Department of Forest Sciences, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA.
B Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington, DC 20036, USA.
C Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA.
D US Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA.
E Corresponding author. Email: paul.duffy@uaf.edu
 
PDF (339 KB) $25
 Export Citation
 Print
  


Abstract

Wildland fire is the dominant large-scale disturbance mechanism in the Alaskan boreal forest, and it strongly influences forest structure and function. In this research, patterns of burn severity in the Alaskan boreal forest are characterised using 24 fires. First, the relationship between burn severity and area burned is quantified using a linear regression. Second, the spatial correlation of burn severity as a function of topography is modelled using a variogram analysis. Finally, the relationship between vegetation type and spatial patterns of burn severity is quantified using linear models where variograms account for spatial correlation. These results show that: 1) average burn severity increases with the natural logarithm of the area of the wildfire, 2) burn severity is more variable in topographically complex landscapes than in flat landscapes, and 3) there is a significant relationship between burn severity and vegetation type in flat landscapes but not in topographically complex landscapes. These results strengthen the argument that differential flammability of vegetation exists in some boreal landscapes of Alaska. Additionally, these results suggest that through feedbacks between vegetation and burn severity, the distribution of forest vegetation through time is likely more stable in flat terrain than it is in areas with more complex topography.

Keywords: Alaska fire, fire variograms, normalised burn ratio, spatial ANOVA.


   
Subscriber Login
Username:
Password:  

    


 
Top  Email this page
 
Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help

CSIRO

© CSIRO 1996-2012