Climatic Controls on Historical Wildfires in West Virginia, 1939-2008
Climatic Controls on Historical Wildfires in West Virginia, 1939-2008
复制标题
1939-2008 年西弗吉尼亚州历史野火的气候控制
DOI：
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发表时间：
2010
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
A. Hessl
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Cary Lynch;A. Hessl
年际气候变化强烈影响燃烧模式在许多地区，这种控制可能会延伸到人为点火或灭火为主的火灾制度。火灾和气候之间的密切联系可能会降低当地过程的重要性，如燃料积累、结构、物种组成，甚至人类土地使用。在这里，我们：（1）总结西弗吉尼亚州林业部门（1939-2008）在气候和空间变化背景下收集的历史火灾地图集;（2）确定西弗吉尼亚州火灾活动的季节性气候驱动因素;（3）定义2001年至2008年火灾发生的空间格局。在2001年至2008年期间，99.9%的火灾记录为人为点火。更多的火灾往往在春季燃烧，但总面积燃烧是在秋季更高。同季降水量占春季和秋季火灾面积和火灾数量变化的27.4%至32.2%，降水量低导致火灾数量和规模较大。大火（>500公顷）集中在西弗吉尼亚州的南部，这是一个以露天采矿为主的地区（南部煤田）。这群大火延伸到肯塔基州东部和弗吉尼亚州西部，可能是陡峭的地形，当地土地使用和纵火文化的结果。
Interannual climatic variability strongly influences patterns of burning in many regions and this control may extend to fire regimes dominated by anthropogenic ignitions or fire suppression. A close linkage between fire and climate could reduce the importance of local processes, such as fuel accumulation, structure, species composition, and even human land use. Here we: (1) summarize historical fire atlases collected by the West Virginia Division of Forestry (1939-2008) in the context of climate and spatial variability; (2) identify the seasonal climatic drivers of fire activity in West Virginia; and (3) define the spatial pattern of fire occurrence from 2001 to 2008. Between 2001 and 2008, 99.9% of fires were recorded as anthropogenic ignitions. More fires tended to burn in the spring, but total area burned was higher in the fall. Same-season precipitation accounts for 27.4 to 32.2% of the variance in area burned and number of fires in spring and fall, with low precipitation leading to larger numbers and sizes of fires. Large fires (>500 ha) are clustered in the southern portion of West Virginia, an area dominated by surface mining (the southern coal fields). This cluster of large fires extends into eastern Kentucky and western Virginia and may be the result of steep topography, local land use, and a culture of incendiarism.