Research Database
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Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking2023 Wildfire Season in Canada
Year: 2024
The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was unprecedented in its scale andintensity, spanning from mid-April to late October and across much of theforested regions of Canada. Here, we summarize the main causes and impactsof this exceptional season. The record-breaking total area burned (~15 Mha)can be attributed to several environmental factors that converged early in theseason: early snowmelt, multiannual drought conditions in western Canada,and the rapid transition to drought in eastern Canada. Anthropogenic climatechange enabled sustained extreme fire weather conditions, as the meanMay–October…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Biogeographic patterns of daily wildfire spread and extremes across North America
Year: 2024
Introduction: Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of extreme single-day fire spread events, with major ecological and social implications. In contrast with well-documented spatio-temporal patterns of wildfire ignitions and perimeters, daily progression remains poorly understood across continental spatial scales, particularly for extreme single-day events (“blow ups”). Here, we characterize daily wildfire spread across North America, including occurrence of extreme single-day events, duration and seasonality of fire and extremes, and ecoregional climatic…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Fire intensity effects on serotinous seed survival
Year: 2024
BackgroundIn fire-prone environments, some species store their seeds in canopy cones (serotiny), which provides seeds protection from the passage of fire before stimulating seed release. However, the capacity of serotinous cones to protect seeds under high intensity fire is uncertain. Beyond simply “high” versus “low” fire intensity or severity, we must understand the influence of the specific characteristics of fire intensity—heat flux, exposure duration, and their dynamics—on serotinous seed survival. In this study, we tested serotinous seed survival under transient levels of…
Publication Type: Journal Article