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The Intertwined Problems of Wildfire, Forest Disease, and Climate Change Interactions

  • Fire Science and Management (ME Alexander, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

I aim to contextualize wildfire-disease interactions with the goal of building a better understanding of where these may be of ecological importance and problems for sustainable forest management.

Recent Findings

While wildfire-disease interactions have been documented, they are not well represented in the ecological literature, probably because they require considerable effort or serendipity to rigorously quantify. Examples of disease-fire interactions are relatively limited and tend to be clearer in systems where fire and disease are management problems. The most resolved systems include Phytophthora pathogens although wildfire-disease interactions are not limited to these pathogens. Documented interactions encompass a range of effects which include the magnification of problems associated with each disturbance. Wildfire-disease interactions are also likely to shape basic ecological function in systems where both wildfire and disease are common but not necessarily critical management problems. Climate change has altered the fundamental controls on both fire and disease suggesting it will also alter the magnitude and likelihood (occurrence or detection) of disease-fire interactions.

Summary

I present a framework for linking wildfire-disease interactions and highlight the importance of host community/fuels structure on linking and mediating these interactions. I provide a series of examples where understanding interactive effects, interfacing with climate change, and the magnitude of changes to wildfire and disease intensification are of practical value and/or advance basic ecological knowledge. While much remains to be understood about these interactions, I make the argument that, in some cases, management can address both problems simultaneously.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Kerri Frangioso and two anonymous reviewers for feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station; the NSF-NIH Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (DEB-1115664 and DEB-0622770) and NSF Ecosystem Science (ES-1753965) programs; the California State University Agricultural Research Institute; The California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Evaluation Monitoring Committee project 9CA04087); and the USDA-NIFA McIntyre-Stennis program.

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  1. Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Science, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA

    Richard C. Cobb

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Correspondence to Richard C. Cobb.

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Cobb, R.C. The Intertwined Problems of Wildfire, Forest Disease, and Climate Change Interactions. Curr Forestry Rep 8, 214–228 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-022-00161-2

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