[MCN] US Forest Service :

[Lance Olsen]

Soil Moisture Drives Fire Spread in Northern Rockies
When predicting fire spread, agency scientists recommend taking a careful look at the ground. New research shows that soil moisture plays a dominant role in controlling fire spread  <https://click.news.fs.usda.gov/?qs=796db62e9e0129f071df733642752e7d41c95aa00cdcd19bf66a3bf6c3c9f79517a36da05367e082d9dedcad6e20c54f50067c6f496ea6e903769e2edd0958f8> during northern Rocky Mountain wildfires, likely through connections to plant moisture content and hydraulic stress. The researchers obtained their results by reconstructing maps of burned area over the last decade and comparing these to local weather, fuels, topography, and moisture conditions. Most current fire management strategies use data on short-term weather and the moisture content of dead surface fuels while neglecting the connections among long-term drought and soil and live fuel moisture. As conditions are projected to warm and dry in the Northern Rockies—further robbing soils and plants of their moisture—these findings can guide fire managers in modeling wildland fires and planning prescribed burns.




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“The changes experienced by the biosphere over the past century ... have raised concerns about the possibility of rapid shifts from green to desert states.”

Sole. Scaling laws in the drier. Nature 13 September 2007

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