Overwintering fires in boreal forests
Forest fires are usually viewed within the context of a single fire season, in which weather conditions and fuel supply can combine to create conditions favourable for fire ignition—usually by lightning or human activity—and spread 1–3 . But some fires exhibit ‘overwintering’ behaviour, in which the...
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Online Access: | https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03437-y https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/227623991/Overwintering_fires_in_boreal_forests.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106288564&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85106288564&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftvuamstcris:oai:research.vu.nl:publications/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 2024-09-30T14:40:26+00:00 Overwintering fires in boreal forests Scholten, Rebecca C. Jandt, Randi Miller, Eric A. Rogers, Brendan M. Veraverbeke, Sander 2021-05-20 application/pdf https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03437-y https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/227623991/Overwintering_fires_in_boreal_forests.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106288564&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85106288564&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Scholten , R C , Jandt , R , Miller , E A , Rogers , B M & Veraverbeke , S 2021 , ' Overwintering fires in boreal forests ' , Nature , vol. 593 , no. 7859 , pp. 399-404 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03437-y /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action article 2021 ftvuamstcris https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03437-y 2024-09-12T00:17:37Z Forest fires are usually viewed within the context of a single fire season, in which weather conditions and fuel supply can combine to create conditions favourable for fire ignition—usually by lightning or human activity—and spread 1–3 . But some fires exhibit ‘overwintering’ behaviour, in which they smoulder through the non-fire season and flare up in the subsequent spring 4,5 . In boreal (northern) forests, deep organic soils favourable for smouldering 6 , along with accelerated climate warming 7 , may present unusually favourable conditions for overwintering. However, the extent of overwintering in boreal forests and the underlying factors influencing this behaviour remain unclear. Here we show that overwintering fires in boreal forests are associated with hot summers generating large fire years and deep burning into organic soils, conditions that have become more frequent in our study areas in recent decades. Our results are based on an algorithm with which we detect overwintering fires in Alaska, USA, and the Northwest Territories, Canada, using field and remote sensing datasets. Between 2002 and 2018, overwintering fires were responsible for 0.8 per cent of the total burned area; however, in one year this amounted to 38 per cent. The spatiotemporal predictability of overwintering fires could be used by fire management agencies to facilitate early detection, which may result in reduced carbon emissions and firefighting costs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories Alaska Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal Canada Northwest Territories Nature 593 7859 399 404 |
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal |
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English |
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/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action |
spellingShingle |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action Scholten, Rebecca C. Jandt, Randi Miller, Eric A. Rogers, Brendan M. Veraverbeke, Sander Overwintering fires in boreal forests |
topic_facet |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action |
description |
Forest fires are usually viewed within the context of a single fire season, in which weather conditions and fuel supply can combine to create conditions favourable for fire ignition—usually by lightning or human activity—and spread 1–3 . But some fires exhibit ‘overwintering’ behaviour, in which they smoulder through the non-fire season and flare up in the subsequent spring 4,5 . In boreal (northern) forests, deep organic soils favourable for smouldering 6 , along with accelerated climate warming 7 , may present unusually favourable conditions for overwintering. However, the extent of overwintering in boreal forests and the underlying factors influencing this behaviour remain unclear. Here we show that overwintering fires in boreal forests are associated with hot summers generating large fire years and deep burning into organic soils, conditions that have become more frequent in our study areas in recent decades. Our results are based on an algorithm with which we detect overwintering fires in Alaska, USA, and the Northwest Territories, Canada, using field and remote sensing datasets. Between 2002 and 2018, overwintering fires were responsible for 0.8 per cent of the total burned area; however, in one year this amounted to 38 per cent. The spatiotemporal predictability of overwintering fires could be used by fire management agencies to facilitate early detection, which may result in reduced carbon emissions and firefighting costs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Scholten, Rebecca C. Jandt, Randi Miller, Eric A. Rogers, Brendan M. Veraverbeke, Sander |
author_facet |
Scholten, Rebecca C. Jandt, Randi Miller, Eric A. Rogers, Brendan M. Veraverbeke, Sander |
author_sort |
Scholten, Rebecca C. |
title |
Overwintering fires in boreal forests |
title_short |
Overwintering fires in boreal forests |
title_full |
Overwintering fires in boreal forests |
title_fullStr |
Overwintering fires in boreal forests |
title_full_unstemmed |
Overwintering fires in boreal forests |
title_sort |
overwintering fires in boreal forests |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03437-y https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/227623991/Overwintering_fires_in_boreal_forests.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106288564&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85106288564&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
geographic |
Canada Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Canada Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories Alaska |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories Alaska |
op_source |
Scholten , R C , Jandt , R , Miller , E A , Rogers , B M & Veraverbeke , S 2021 , ' Overwintering fires in boreal forests ' , Nature , vol. 593 , no. 7859 , pp. 399-404 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03437-y |
op_relation |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/d2151a57-a7e7-4198-bab8-78553e179586 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03437-y |
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Nature |
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593 |
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7859 |
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399 |
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