Cited by 383Fire effects on ecosystemsSpecies Distribution and Climate ChangeRangeland and Wildlife Management

Environmental controls on the distribution of wildfire at multiple spatial scales

Parisien, Marc-André, Moritz, Max A.·2009·Ecological Monographs

Abstract

Despite its widespread occurrence globally, wildfire preferentially occupies an environmental middle ground and is significantly less prevalent in biomes characterized by environmental extremes (e.g., tundra, rain forests, and deserts). We evaluated the biophysical “environmental space” of wildfire from regional to subcontinental extents, with methods widely used for modeling habitat distributions. This approach is particularly suitable for the biogeographic study of wildfire, because it simultaneously considers patterns in multiple factors controlling wildfire suitability over large areas. We used the Maxent and boosted regression tree algorithms to assess wildfire–environment relationships for three levels of complexity (in terms of inclusion of variables) at three spatial scales: the conterminous United States, the state of California, and five wildfire‐prone ecoregions of California. The resulting models were projected geographically to obtain spatial predictions of wildfire suitability and were also applied to other regions to assess their generality and spatial transferability. Predictions of the potential range of wildfire had high classification accuracy; they also highlighted areas where wildfires had not recently been observed, indicating the potential (or past) suitability of these areas. The models identified several key variables that were not suspected to be important in the large‐scale control of wildfires, but which might indirectly affect control by influencing the presence of flammable vegetation. Models transferred to different areas were useful only when they overlapped appreciably with the target area's environmental space. This approach should allow exploration of the potential shifts in wildfire range in a changing climate, the potential for restoration of wildfire where it has been “extirpated,” and, conversely, the “invasiveness” of wildfire after changes in plant species composition. Our study demonstrates that habitat distribution models and related concepts can be used to characterize environmental controls on a natural disturbance process, but also that future work is needed to refine our understanding of the direct causal factors controlling wildfire at multiple spatial scales.

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Crossref · 10.1890/07-1289.1

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Authors
Parisien, M.-A., & Moritz, M. A.
Affiliations
  • Canadian Forest Service (CA)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
Parisien, Marc-André
Venue
Ecological Monographs
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2009-02
Volume
79
Issue
1
Pages
127-154
ISSN
  • 0012-9615 (ISSN-L)
  • 1557-7015
OpenAlex
W2065509880
Cited by
383
References
132
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 20
FWCI
15.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Ecological Monographs (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecological Modeling › Species Distribution and Climate Change
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
Keywords
forest fires, habitat suitability, spatial scale, climate change, fire restoration, ecoregions, California, spatial transferability, MaxEnt, boosted regression trees

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