View in EDS

Extremely large fires shape fire severity patterns across the diverse forests of British Columbia, Canada.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Extremely large fires shape fire severity patterns across the diverse forests of British Columbia, Canada.
Authors: Collins, L.1,2 (AUTHOR) luke.collins@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca, Morrison, K.1 (AUTHOR), Buonanduci, M. S.3 (AUTHOR), Guindon, L.4 (AUTHOR), Harvey, B. J.3 (AUTHOR), Parisien, M.‐A.5 (AUTHOR), Taylor, S.1 (AUTHOR), Whitman, E.5 (AUTHOR)
Source: Ecosphere. Aug2025, Vol. 16 Issue 8, p1-22. 22p.
Subject Terms: *Wildfires, *Climate change, *Forest ecology, *Biomes, Wildfire risk
Geographic Terms: British Columbia, Canada
Abstract: Warming and drying conditions are driving increases in wildfire size and annual area burned across the forests of British Columbia, Canada. The impact of increasing fire activity on these forests remains unclear as examination of concurrent changes to fire severity is lacking. Here, we assess how fire severity patterns change with the amplification of wildfire size across the bioregions of British Columbia using fire severity mapping from 1986 to 2021. First, we examine trends in extremely large fires (i.e., largest 5% of fires) and their influence on annual area burned; then we examine scaling relationships between wildfire size and fire severity to determine if extremely large fires are more severe than smaller fires. Extremely large fires explained much of the variation in annual area burned and accounted for a large proportion of cumulative area burned (33%–71%) across the study area. Consequently, shifts in the size of extremely large fires, which increased by an order of magnitude over our study period, have driven a substantial increase in annual area burned. Scaling relationships revealed that bigger wildfires consisted of larger and more homogenous patches of high‐severity fire than smaller fires, resulting in a greater proportional contribution of high‐severity fire to fire extent. Patterns in scaling relationships were qualitatively similar for all bioregions, indicating shifts in fire regimes are widespread across the province. Our results demonstrate that recent increases in the extremes of wildfire size across the forests of British Columbia have driven a sharp increase in area burned, which was associated with a disproportionate increase in the size and extent of patches of high‐severity fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Ecosphere is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: GreenFILE
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: 8gh
DbLabel: GreenFILE
An: 187616633
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Extremely large fires shape fire severity patterns across the diverse forests of British Columbia, Canada.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Collins%2C+L%2E%22">Collins, L.</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> luke.collins@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Morrison%2C+K%2E%22">Morrison, K.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Buonanduci%2C+M%2E+S%2E%22">Buonanduci, M. S.</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Guindon%2C+L%2E%22">Guindon, L.</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Harvey%2C+B%2E+J%2E%22">Harvey, B. J.</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Parisien%2C+M%2E‐A%2E%22">Parisien, M.‐A.</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Taylor%2C+S%2E%22">Taylor, S.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Whitman%2C+E%2E%22">Whitman, E.</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Ecosphere%22">Ecosphere</searchLink>. Aug2025, Vol. 16 Issue 8, p1-22. 22p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Wildfires%22">Wildfires</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Climate+change%22">Climate change</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Forest+ecology%22">Forest ecology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Biomes%22">Biomes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Wildfire+risk%22">Wildfire risk</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectGeographic
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22British+Columbia%22">British Columbia</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Canada%22">Canada</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Warming and drying conditions are driving increases in wildfire size and annual area burned across the forests of British Columbia, Canada. The impact of increasing fire activity on these forests remains unclear as examination of concurrent changes to fire severity is lacking. Here, we assess how fire severity patterns change with the amplification of wildfire size across the bioregions of British Columbia using fire severity mapping from 1986 to 2021. First, we examine trends in extremely large fires (i.e., largest 5% of fires) and their influence on annual area burned; then we examine scaling relationships between wildfire size and fire severity to determine if extremely large fires are more severe than smaller fires. Extremely large fires explained much of the variation in annual area burned and accounted for a large proportion of cumulative area burned (33%–71%) across the study area. Consequently, shifts in the size of extremely large fires, which increased by an order of magnitude over our study period, have driven a substantial increase in annual area burned. Scaling relationships revealed that bigger wildfires consisted of larger and more homogenous patches of high‐severity fire than smaller fires, resulting in a greater proportional contribution of high‐severity fire to fire extent. Patterns in scaling relationships were qualitatively similar for all bioregions, indicating shifts in fire regimes are widespread across the province. Our results demonstrate that recent increases in the extremes of wildfire size across the forests of British Columbia have driven a sharp increase in area burned, which was associated with a disproportionate increase in the size and extent of patches of high‐severity fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Ecosphere is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=8gh&AN=187616633
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1002/ecs2.70364
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 22
        StartPage: 1
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Wildfires
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Climate change
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Forest ecology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Biomes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Wildfire risk
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: British Columbia
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Canada
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Extremely large fires shape fire severity patterns across the diverse forests of British Columbia, Canada.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Collins, L.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Morrison, K.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Buonanduci, M. S.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Guindon, L.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Harvey, B. J.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Parisien, M.‐A.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Taylor, S.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Whitman, E.
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 08
              Text: Aug2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 21508925
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 16
            – Type: issue
              Value: 8
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Ecosphere
              Type: main
ResultId 1