DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2016.10.035
Scopus记录号: 2-s2.0-84994517572
论文题名: Quantifying the effect of elevation and aspect on fire return intervals in the Canadian Rocky Mountains
作者: Rogeau M.-P. ; Armstrong G.W.
刊名: Forest Ecology and Management
ISSN: 0378-1127
出版年: 2017
卷: 384 起始页码: 248
结束页码: 261
语种: 英语
英文关键词: Engelmann spruce
; Fire regime
; Lodgepole pine
; Mountains
; Old-growth
Scopus关键词: Aspect ratio
; Conservation
; Ecology
; Fires
; Forestry
; Landforms
; Probability
; Regression analysis
; Topography
; Engelmann spruce
; Fire regimes
; Lodgepole pine
; Mountains
; Old growth
; Weibull distribution
; coniferous tree
; elevation
; fire history
; forest ecosystem
; forest management
; Little Ice Age
; mountain region
; probability
; sampling
; subalpine environment
; topography
; Weibull theory
; wildfire
; Alberta
; Canada
; Rocky Mountains
; Picea engelmannii
; Pinus contorta
英文摘要: The effect of topography on wildfire distribution in the Canadian Rockies has been the subject of debate. We suspect the size of the study area, and the assumption fire return intervals are distributed as a Weibull distribution used in many previous studies may have obscured the real effect of topography on these fire-regulated ecosystems. The objective of this study was to quantify the effects of elevation, aspect, slope and dominant species on probabilities of burning. The study area covered three natural subregions: Subalpine, Montane, and Upper Foothills of the Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta, Canada. Fire return interval (FRI) data from 870 fire history sampling sites were stratified by subregion and analyzed with the non-parametric Kaplan-Meier survival model and Cox Proportional Hazards (PH) regression model for survival data. The natural subregions were found to have distinct FRI distributions. The Kaplan-Meier probability median historical (pre-1948) FRI values ranged from 26 to 35 years for the Montane, was 39 years for the Upper Foothills and ranged between 65 and 85 years for the Subalpine. Within each subregion elevation was the lead predictor variable influencing probabilities of burning, and its significant PH ratio indicated the effect of elevation was maintained through time. For every 100 m of increased elevation, the probability of burning decreased by 12%, 21% and 33% for the Montane, Upper Foothills and Subalpine, respectively. Aspect was only significant in the Subalpine with a PH ratio indicating warm aspects are twice as likely (105%) to burn than cool aspects. The combined topographic elements of high elevation and cool aspect produce the longest FRIs and are where fire refugia (old growth) tend to form. A salient finding of our study was the multiplicative effect that cool aspect has on burning probabilities of forests located at low or high elevation, as well as the interchangeable effect of some topographic combinations in the Subalpine. Our findings do not support the established assumptions from previous studies that the Little Ice Age was responsible for a change in the burning rate, nor that probabilities of burning are spatially homogeneous in mountain landscapes. The combined effect of aspect and elevation on FRIs need to be integrated when writing fire prescriptions for ecological restoration, and be part of adaptive forest management strategies working towards maintaining fire refugia patches. Timber managers aiming to emulate natural disturbances will also need to consider the effect of topography when planning seral stage distributions in mountainous landscapes. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/64600
Appears in Collections: 影响、适应和脆弱性
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作者单位: Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, 751 General Services Building, Edmonton, AB, Canada; Wildland Disturbance Consulting, P.O. Box 2421, Banff, AB, Canada
Recommended Citation:
Rogeau M.-P.,Armstrong G.W.. Quantifying the effect of elevation and aspect on fire return intervals in the Canadian Rocky Mountains[J]. Forest Ecology and Management,2017-01-01,384