Another Helping From The Fire Research Buffet
Because I can't help myself
No time for even an introductory sentence, let’s get straight into it.
The Interface
Taccaliti et al. 2023 Wildland-Urban Interface: definition and physical fire risk mitigation measures, a systematic review
Cash Money
Soontha and Bhat 2023 Preserving health, protecting economies: mitigating the impact of forest fires on healthcare expenditure and environmental sustainability
My recent dive into fire finance, economics, accounting and so on made this paper light up in my search results
Normyle et al. 2022 Land cover and fire accounts to support Indigenous land management: A pilot study of Yawuru country
Hoping to have a chat with co-author Michael Vardon, who multiple people have told me is the guy to talk to about environmental accounting in Australia
I’m curious to see if fire is merely a driver (or disturbance) of the accounts for vegetation, carbon, water etc, or if it is subject to its own accounts
Ok, environmental accounts aren’t really just about cash money. But they also kind of are.
Fire And Its Drivers
Storey et al. 2023 The influence of regional wind patterns on air quality during forest fires near Sydney, Australia
Led by two former colleagues of mine so you know this will be good
Diószegi et al. 2023 Effects of interaction between forest structure and precipitation event characteristics on fuel moisture conditions
I am curious what ‘precipitation event characteristics’ they’re probing.
Co-author Mortimer M. Müller has a movie star name if I’ve ever heard one
Lamont 2023 To burn or not to burn? That is the question
You had me at hello. Nice title.
This paper of course wades straight into the controversy over prescribed burning, fire exclusion and risk. I have so many papers at the top of my list that I need a list of top of the list papers, to go with my list of regular papers.
Parisien et al. 2023 Abrupt, climate-induced increase in wildfires in British Columbia since the mid-2000s
The entire abstract is worth quoting
In the province of British Columbia, Canada, four of the most severe wildfire seasons of the last century occurred in the past 7 years: 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2023. To investigate trends in wildfire activity and fire-conducive climate, we conducted an analysis of mapped wildfire perimeters and annual climate data for the period of 1919–2021. Results show that after a century-long decline, fire activity increased from 2005 onwards, coinciding with a sharp reversal in the wetting trend of the 20th century. Even as precipitation levels remain high, moisture deficits have increased due to rapid warming and increased evaporative demand. Bottom-up factors further influence fire activity, as the legacy of past wildfires, insect out-breaks, and land-use practices continually influence fire regimes. The compound effects of climate-induced moisture changes and altered fuels now force British Columbians to confront the harsh reality of more frequent years of intense and prolonged wildfire activity.
Lenses Through Which To View Fire
Turner and Seidl 2023 Novel disturbance regimes and ecological responses
Expect this one to be good, given the journal (Annual Reviews)
Disturbance is one of the ur-frames fighting to define fire. I can’t say I’m across all the ins and outs of the concept, which makes it very important for me to come across reviews like this.
Looks to have some high quality figures too
Santos et al. 2022 Beyond inappropriate fire regimes: A synthesis of fire-driven declines of threatened mammals in Australia
No, they are not saying these fire regimes are so bad, they are ‘beyond inappropriate’. They are meaning to transcend superficial labels, and get stuck into what the label actually means
I’ve already mentioned my Melbourne Uni colleague Luke Kelly in a recent post. Co-author Bronwyn Hradsky was one of only three Melbourne Uni researchers to get a prestigious (and inaugural) ARC Industry Fellowship this year. I have applied for one for next year. Co-author David Keith is a living legend and recent inductee into the Academy (of Science). The other co-authors are no doubt awesome too and any comments made here or elsewhere in the blog about specific co-authors do not imply the negation of these comments for co-authors not specifically mentioned. Quod erat demonstrandum.
Donato et al. 2023 Does large area burned mean a bad fire year? Comparing contemporary wildfire years to historical fire regimes informs the restoration task in fire-dependent forests
I am a sucker for studies like this that get into the weeds on basic questions like What fire are we aiming for, What fires have there been, and How can we tell?
Schmidt 2023 Incendiary assets: Risk, power, and the law in an era of catastrophic fire
More creative titling, I salute
This one is tucked under McDonald and McCormack 2022 in my pile of law-themed fire papers to read.
Fire Is Old
Haas et al. 2023 The response of wildfire regimes to Last Glacial Maximum carbon dioxide and climate
Putting People At The Centre Of Fire (in a good way)
Szetey et al. 2023 Knowledge co-production reveals nuanced societal dynamics and sectoral connections in mapping sustainable human–natural systems
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are getting a lot of press
This looks like a really interesting case study in my backyard i.e. regional Victoria
Neale 2023 Performing control Ritual and divination in Australian emergency management
There seems to be a title and subtitle, with no colon. Those social scientists just transgress boundaries left right and centre, don’t they.
Control is a fascinating topic. Even the word management implies we have some kind of control (over fire, the environment, classrooms etc). The reality is far more uncertain. Still, is it one of those illusions we can’t live without? An induction-based conclusion we can’t reason without?
Sublett & Sublett 2023 Creeks and Peaks: Wildfire Name-Giving in the United States
Yes, there is a journal called Names
As the abstract helpfully explains, “Many US wildfires acquire a name, and the naming of such fires is what this article chronicles.”
Fire’s Impacts
Mockrin et al. 2023 Using high-resolution land cover data to assess structure loss in the 2018 Woolsey Fire in Southern California
The money line from the abstract: “These results are consistent with other studies that conclude building materials and environmental context are more related to survivorship than defensible space”
Modaresi Rad et al. 2023 Social vulnerability of the people exposed to wildfires in U.S. West Coast states
Useful reminder that disasters intensify inequality unless we do something about it
Not bad - one paper in Nature Sustainability, another in Science Advances, within a few months of each other.
Molitor et al. 2023 Air pollution and suicide in rural and urban America: Evidence from wildfire smoke
Speaking of grim: “These effects are concentrated among demographic groups with both high baseline suicide risk and high exposure to outdoor air: men, working-age adults, non-Hispanic Whites, and adults with no college education. By contrast, we find no evidence that smoke pollution increases suicide risk among any urban demographic group. This study provides large-scale evidence that air pollution elevates the risk of suicide, disproportionately so among rural populations.”