Pacific Northwest Research Station

Understanding Fire Effects on the Environment

Wildfire is a part of nature. It plays a key role in shaping ecosystems by serving as an agent of renewal and change. But fire can be deadly, destroying homes, wildlife habitat and timber, and polluting the air with emissions harmful to human health. Fire also releases carbon dioxide—a key greenhouse gas—into the atmosphere. Fire’s effect on the landscape may be long-lasting. Fire effects are influenced by forest conditions before the fire and management action taken or not taken after the fire.

Scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station are conducting a range of studies pertaining to fire effects on the environment.

Research examples:

• The effects of fall burning on cheatgrass cover
• Effects of high-severity burning on soils
• Fire severity can affect soil biota, reducing seedling performance
• Wildfire can be good for fish: flexible fire management could help Chinook salmon
• An increase in the frequency of high-severity fires in ponderosa pine may affect seedlings
• Wildfire at treeline: alpine forests are sensitive climate change
• Extreme soil heating effects on fine root and soil organism mortality
• Local climate and topography can help predict likely burn severity patterns
• Wildland fires, carbon, and climate: The U.S. Forest Service Greenhouse Gas–Black Carbon Report
• Fuel treatments reduce carbon storage compared to periodic wildfire but ensure smaller pulses of carbon emission
• Summer prescribed burns can reduce acorn production by Oregon white oak
• Fire effects on watershed processes may last for decades
• Intense wildfire alters forest soil
• Scientists estimate carbon emission from Biscuit Fire