Title:

Fire risk assessment for the Greater Sage-Grouse raster

Author(s):

Crist, Michele R.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Haas, Jessica R.; Doherty, Kevin E.

Publication Year:

2016

How to Cite:

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Crist, Michele R.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Haas, Jessica R.; Doherty, Kevin E. 2016. Fire risk assessment for the Greater Sage-Grouse raster. Department of Interior: Bureau of Land Management. https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5846d366e4b04fc80e52376b

Abstract:

This fire risk assessment was conducted to understand how resilience and resistance and sage-grouse breeding bird habitat may inform wildland fire management decisions including preparedness, suppression, fuels management and post-fire recovery for western sagebrush communities. The assessment is based on the premise that risk = probability of a threat and the consequences of that threat (negative or positive). Fire risk was determined by the probability of a large wildfire and the consequences of fire on greater sage-grouse breeding habitat. These consequences were modified by the capacity of sage-grouse habitat to be resilient and thus recover from fire processes, and be resistant to invasive annual grasses. The focus area for the assessment was all dominant sagebrush communities and grassland with sagebrush components occurring across portions of eleven western states: Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota. Three GIS datasets were used in the assessment: large fire burn probability extracted for the sagebrush biome (Short et al. 2016); greater sage-grouse breeding habitat probabilities (Doherty et al. 2016), and resilience and resistance as indicated by soil temperature and moisture regimes (Maestas et al. 2016). The three datasets were combined by summing the values in a raster grid format. The resulting “fire exposure” map depicts 27 different combinations of burn probability, sage-grouse breeding habitat probability, and resilience and resistance. The final fire risk map identifies areas where ecosystem resilience and resistance interact and where Greater Sage-grouse habitats are at highest risk from fire across the Greater Sage-grouse distribution. The fire risk assessment can be used to help (1) evaluate the level of risk to vegetation types and species to wildfire, (2) target areas for wildfire management, and (3) determine the most appropriate types of fire management actions.

Keywords:

environment; Ecology, Ecosystems, & Environment; Animal ecology; Fire; Wildlife (or Fauna); Birds; Greater Sage-Grouse; sagebrush; fire risk assessment; habitat; wildland fire management; CRS; science framework; large fire probability; resilience; resistance; western United States; Washington; Oregon; California; Idaho; Nevada; Montana; Utah; Wyoming; Colorado; North Dakota; South Dakota; Greater Sage-Grouse range

Related publications:

• Crist, Michele R.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Haas, Jessica R.; Doherty, Kevin E. 20170330. Fire risk assessment for the greater sage-grouse. Department of Interior: Bureau of Land Management. https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/58dd4398e4b02ff32c6858fb

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