Forest fire management, climate change, and the risk of catastrophic carbon losses

Authors

David M. J. S Bowman, University of Tasmania
Brett P. Murphy, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Mathias M. Boer, University of Western Sydney
Ross A. Bradstock, University of WollongongFollow
Geoffrey J. Cary, Australian National University
Mark A. Cochrane, South Dakota State University
Rodderick J. Fensham, Queensland Herbarium
Meg A. Krawchuk, Simon Fraser University
Owen F. Price, University of WollongongFollow
Richard J. Williams, CSIRO Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre

RIS ID

76866

Publication Details

Bowman, D. M. J. S., Murphy, B. P., Boer, M. M., Bradstock, R. A., Cary, G. J., Cochrane, M. A., Fensham, R. J., Krawchuk, M. A., Price, O. F. & Williams, R. J. (2013). Forest fire management, climate change, and the risk of catastrophic carbon losses. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 11 (2), 66-68.

Abstract

Approaches to management of fireprone forests are undergoing rapid change, driven by recognition that technological attempts to subdue fire at large scales (fire suppression) are ecologically and economically unsustainable. However, our current framework for intervention excludes the full scope of the fire management problem within the broader context of fire−vegetation−climate interactions. Climate change may already be causing unprecedented fire activity, and even if current fires are within the historical range of variability, models predict that current fire management problems will be compounded by more frequent extreme fire-conducive weather conditions (eg Fried et al. 2004).