Compiling, Synthesizing and Analyzing Existing Boreal Forest Fire History Data in Alaska

Project Description

Our literature search delved into the history of fire in Alaska's boreal forest. The Alaska Fire History Database was developed, and the Alaska Large-Fire Database was updated.

Purpose and Scope

Federal agencies own a majority of boreal forest in Alaska and are mandated to promote ecosystem health by restoring the natural process of fire. To successfully manage for natural fire regimes, succinct and relevant information about local fire regimes is necessary.

Methods

Fire Regimes of the Alaskan Boreal Forest reviews publications that describe fire regimes of the Alaskan boreal forest. Considerable effort was made to identify all sources, including work outside of peer-reviewed literature such as government reports and graduate thesis work. We used scientific literature search engines and libraries at Yale University; University of Alaska, Fairbanks; University of Washington; and the U.S. Forest Service. Land managers and researchers in Alaska were also asked to identify additional documents. The literature review covers 378 references. The review and synthesis are approached from two angles: (1) traditional review and synthesis of existing literature, and (2) a compendium of all fire history studies conducted in Alaska.

Implementation

Datasets were compiled into the Alaska fire history database

Key Findings

1. Despite the relative simplicity of the boreal biome, fire regimes and interactions with the broader environment are still sufficiently complex enough that certain patterns have defied explanation.
2. There are three key components to fire-environment interactions in the Alaskan boreal forest—scale, variability, and synergy.
3. Despite high variability at interannual to decadal scales, larger trends occur at the centennial scale.
4. Millennial-scale patterns of the fire regime are revealed in studies documenting 14,000 years of fire history in boreal Alaska. At this scale, changes in climate, vegetation, and the fire regime are dramatic.
5. Synergistic interactions between spatial and temporal controls and short-term variability in annual area burned obscure evidence of stable spatial patterns in the boreal forest, but broad-scale gradients and fine scale are still observed.

Project Deliverables

• Alaska Fire and Fuels Research Map
• Fire History in Alaska
• Final report to the Joint Fire Science Program (See Resources)