Extreme Weather and Forest Structure Jointly Increase Wildfire Severity in Industrial Forests
/Increases in high-severity wildfires can be linked to extreme weather and forest management practices, though their relative impact remains debated. This study compares private industrial and public forests, examining how different forest management practices affect high-severity wildfire risk. Private industrial forests are typically more intensively managed than public forests, resulting in uniform and continuous stands of trees that are similar in size. Public forests, on the other hand, tend to be less intensively managed, resulting in stands with a mix of small and large trees and heavy fuel loads due to fire suppression policies. This study asks: (1) Are private industrial or public forest lands more likely to experience high-severity fire? (2) Which forest structure, climate, and spatial characteristics are linked with high-severity fire, and how does extreme weather influence these relationships? and (3) Can differences in fire severity on private industrial and public lands be attributed to differences in forest management?
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Levine, J. I., B. M. Collins, M. Coppoletta, and S. L. Stephens. 2025. “ Extreme Weather Magnifies the Effects of Forest Structure on Wildfire, Driving Increased Severity in Industrial Forests.” Global Change Biology 31, no. 8: e70400. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70400.
