Before and after the Flames: An Ecological Examination of the Factors That Influence Forest Fire Effects and Post-fire Recovery and Resilience

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 1694

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis 95616, CA, USA
Interests: fire ecology; tropical ecology; community ecology; natural resource management; mediterranean-type ecosystems; biogeography; biodiversity and conservation; climate change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fire-adapted and fire-prone forests are found across the globe, and the incidence of fire in these systems affects and is affected by the people and societies living in their midst. From Indigenous cultural burns and prescribed fire to natural ignitions and human-caused wildfire, the effects of burning can have rejuvenating or devastating effects on ecological communities, forest resources and ecosystem services. While integrated long-term forest strategies and management plans can restore and support sustainable forests, climate change, fire-suppression policies and misguided resource extraction can degrade, fragment or cause lasting harm to productivity, native species and forest ecosystems.

For this Special Issue, we invite contributions from researchers whose work explores and offers insight into how forests respond to natural or human-caused fire and which factors play important roles in determining post-fire forest recovery and resilience. We encourage research that examines these issues across a wide breadth of geographies and contexts—from the boreal forests to the tropics and from remote wilderness areas to heavily managed forest systems and those at the agricultural frontier and wildland-urban interface, or WUI. We welcome studies that employ a range of research techniques, from on-the-ground data collection and monitoring to remote sensing and modeling. With the collection of studies published in this Special Issue, we aim to highlight (1) the commonalities and idiosyncrasies of how pre- and post-fire conditions lead to or detract from post-fire resilience; (2) generalized or system-specific recommendations for preparing for, managing and adapting to future fire regimes; and (3) promising quantitative techniques for studying, monitoring and informing how we ensure the integrity and function of fire-adapted forests.

Dr. John N. Williams
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • disturbance regime
  • ecosystem function
  • fire return interval
  • fuels
  • prescribed fire
  • regeneration
  • severity
  • species composition
  • stand dynamics
  • wildfire

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

21 pages, 4723 KiB  
Review
Research Trends in Wildland Fire Prediction Amidst Climate Change: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis
by Mingwei Bao, Jiahao Liu, Hong Ren, Suting Liu, Caixia Ren, Chen Chen and Jianxiang Liu
Forests 2024, 15(7), 1197; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15071197 - 10 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1350
Abstract
Wildfire prediction plays a vital role in the management and conservation of forest ecosystems. By providing detailed risk assessments, it contributes to the reduction of fire frequency and severity, safeguards forest resources, supports ecological stability, and ensures human safety. This study systematically reviews [...] Read more.
Wildfire prediction plays a vital role in the management and conservation of forest ecosystems. By providing detailed risk assessments, it contributes to the reduction of fire frequency and severity, safeguards forest resources, supports ecological stability, and ensures human safety. This study systematically reviews wildfire prediction literature from 2003 to 2023, emphasizing research trends and collaborative trends. Our findings reveal a significant increase in research activity between 2019 and 2023, primarily driven by the United States Forest Service and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The majority of this research was published in prominent journals such as the International Journal of Wildland Fire, Forest Ecology and Management, Remote Sensing, and Forests. These publications predominantly originate from Europe, the United States, and China. Since 2020, there has been substantial growth in the application of machine learning techniques in predicting forest fires, particularly in estimating fire occurrence probabilities, simulating fire spread, and projecting post-fire environmental impacts. Advanced algorithms, including deep learning and ensemble learning, have shown superior accuracy, suggesting promising directions for future research. Additionally, the integration of machine learning with cellular automata has markedly improved the simulation of fire behavior, enhancing both efficiency and precision. The profound impact of climate change on wildfire prediction also necessitates the inclusion of extensive climate data in predictive models. Beyond conventional studies focusing on fire behavior and occurrence probabilities, forecasting the environmental and ecological consequences of fires has become integral to forest fire management and vital for formulating more effective wildfire strategies. The study concludes that significant regional disparities in knowledge exist, underscoring the need for improved research capabilities in underrepresented areas. Moreover, there is an urgent requirement to enhance the application of artificial intelligence algorithms, such as machine learning, deep learning, and ensemble learning, and to intensify efforts in identifying and leveraging various wildfire drivers to refine prediction accuracy. The insights generated from this field will profoundly augment our understanding of wildfire prediction, assisting policymakers and practitioners in managing forest resources more sustainably and averting future wildfire calamities. Full article
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