A Global Index for Mapping the Exposure of Water Resources to Wildfire

Forests

François-Nicolas Robinne⁸  Carol Miller³  Marc-André Parisien⁴  Monica B. Emelko¹  Kevin D. Bladon²  Uldis Silins⁵  Mike Flannigan⁶  Ge Sun⁷ 

[1] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada;Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Missoula, MT 59801, USA;Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, AB T6H 3S5, Canada;Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Canada;Western Partnership for Wildland Fire Science, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Canada;;id="af1-forests-07-00022">1Western Partnership for Wildland Fire Science, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Cana;Western Partnership for Wildland Fire Science, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Canada

关键词: wildfire water risk;    global index;    wildfire hazard;    water security;    water resources exposure;   

DOI  :  10.3390/f7010022

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Wildfires are keystone components of natural disturbance regimes that maintain ecosystem structure and functions, such as the hydrological cycle, in many parts of the world. Consequently, critical surface freshwater resources can be exposed to post-fire effects disrupting their quantity, quality and regularity. Although well studied at the local scale, the potential extent of these effects has not been examined at the global scale. We take the first step toward a global assessment of the wildfire water risk (WWR) by presenting a spatially explicit index of exposure. Several variables related to fire activity and water availability were identified and normalized for use as exposure indicators. Additive aggregation of those indicators was then carried out according to their individual weight. The resulting index shows the greatest exposure risk in the tropical wet and dry forests. Intermediate exposure is indicated in mountain ranges and dry shrublands, whereas the lowest index scores are mostly associated with high latitudes. We believe that such an approach can provide important insights for water security by guiding global freshwater resource preservation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.