Engineering topics

Hurteau, Matthew D.

Publications and source records attributed to Hurteau, Matthew D..

3 records

DOE OSTI2023

Integrating plant physiology into simulation of fire behavior and effects

Summary Wildfires are a global crisis, but current fire models fail to capture vegetation response to changing climate. With drought and elevated temperature increasing the importance of vegetation dynamics to fire behavior, and the advent of next generation models capable of capturing increasingly complex physical processes, we provide a renewed focus on representation of woody vegetation in fire models. Currently, the most advanced representations of fire behavior and biophysical fire effects are found in distinct classes of fine‐scale models and do not capture variation in live fuel (i.e. living plant) properties. We demonstrate that plant water and carbon dynamics, which influence combustion and heat transfer into the plant and often dictate plant survival, provide the mechanistic linkage between fire behavior and effects. Our conceptual framework linking remotely sensed estimates of plant water and carbon to fine‐scale models of fire behavior and effects could be a critical first step toward improving the fidelity of the coarse scale models that are now relied upon for global fire forecasting. This process‐based approach will be essential to capturing the influence of physiological responses to drought and warming on live fuel conditions, strengthening the science needed to guide fire managers in an uncertain future.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Reimagine fire science for the anthropocene

Fire is an integral component of ecosystems globally and a tool that humans have harnessed for millennia. Altered fire regimes are a fundamental cause and consequence of global change, impacting people and the biophysical systems on which they depend. As part of the newly emerging Anthropocene, marked by human-caused climate change and radical changes to ecosystems, fire danger is increasing, and fires are having increasingly devastating impacts on human health, infrastructure, and ecosystem services. Increasing fire danger is a vexing problem that requires deep transdisciplinary, trans-sector, and inclusive partnerships to address. Here, we outline barriers and opportunities in the next generation of fire science and provide guidance for investment in future research. We synthesize insights needed to better address the long-standing challenges of innovation across disciplines to (i) promote coordinated research efforts; (ii) embrace different ways of knowing and knowledge generation; (iii) promote exploration of fundamental science; (iv) capitalize on the “firehose” of data for societal benefit; and (v) integrate human and natural systems into models across multiple scales. Fire science is thus at a critical transitional moment. We need to shift from observation and modeled representations of varying components of climate, people, vegetation, and fire to more integrative and predictive approaches that support pathways toward mitigating and adapting to our increasingly flammable world, including the utilization of fire for human safety and benefit. Only through overcoming institutional silos and accessing knowledge across diverse communities can we effectively undertake research that improves outcomes in our more fiery future.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Trade-offs of forest management scenarios on forest carbon exchange and threatened and endangered species habitat

Management of forest lands under climate warming poses challenges to managers, some of which are difficult to predict. Examining the trade-offs associated with forest stewardship choices is essential to avoid consequences with loss of natural capital. We utilized LANDIS-II process model simulations for three forested sites located in disparate parts of the United States with the purpose of understanding the trade-offs imposed by management choices under climate warming and associated wildfire. There were only small trade-offs that emerged from the simulations, between habitat area for threatened and endangered species (TES), net ecosystem exchange for CO2 (NEE), and risk of wildfire. Stand management in the form of thinning and prescribed burning typically increased NEE while simultaneously increasing habitat for TES, while reducing the risk of wildfire. These benefits were also observed under a climate warming scenario; however, the benefits were greatly outweighed by the negative impacts f warming on both TES habitat and NEE. Balancing these ecosystem services via thinning and burning treatments is a strategic approach to mitigate risks of wildfire both currently and under a warming future climate.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗