Bradley, C. M., C. T. Hanson, and D. A. DellaSala. 2016. Does increased forest protection correspond to higher fire severity in frequent-fire forests of the western United States?

Link: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.1492.

• “The relationship between forest density/fuel, mechanical fuel treatment, and fire severity is complex.”
• For instance, thinning without subsequent prescribed fire has little effect on fire severity (see Kalies and yocum Kent 2016) and, in some cases, can increase fire severity (Raymond and Peterson 2005, Ager et al. 2007, Wimberly et al. 2009) and tree mortality (see, e.g., Stephens and Moghaddas 2005, Stephens 2009: Figure 6)…”.
• “…the effects depend on the improbable co-occurrence of reduced fuels (generally a short time line, within a decade or so) and wildfire activity (Rhodes and Baker 2008) and can be over-ridden by extreme fire weather (Bessie and Johnson 1995, Hély et al. 2001, Schoennagel et al. 2004, Lydersen et al. 2014).”