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Abstract
Wildfires, especially large, severe, and unmanageable events, exert major influences on socioecological systems, not only through risks to life and property, but also losses of important values associated with mature forest stands. These events prompt decisions about post-wildfire management interventions, including short-term emergency responses, salvage logging, and other actions to influence long-term ecological trajectories, including tree planting and treatment of fuels and shrubs. The cost-effectiveness of such interventions has been increasingly scrutinized, and scientists have noted the potential for unintended or undesirable ecological effects of postfire treatments. Research has highlighted the importance of targeting postfire treatments to specific contexts where benefits are expected to exceed the costs of interventions. Implementation of these approaches would tend to result in patchy treatments within high-severity burns that vary with landscape attributes and presence of important values.
Parent Publication
Keywords
ecological restoration,
socioecological systems,
ecosystem resilience,
forest planning,
fire management,
altered fire regimes,
wildfire,
climate change,
anthropogenic disturbance,
invasive species,
water resources,
species of conservation concern,
California
Citation
Long, J.W.; Skinner, C.; Charnley, S.; Hubbert, K.; Quinn-Davidson, L.; Meyer, M. 2014. Post-wildfire management. In: Long, J.W.; Quinn-Davidson, L.; Skinner, C.N., eds. Science synthesis to support socioecological resilience in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-247. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 187-220. Chap. 4.3.
