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Droughts impede water balance recovery from fires in the Western United States.
Ahmad, Shahryar K; Holmes, Thomas R; Kumar, Sujay V; Lahmers, Timothy M; Liu, Pang-Wei; Nie, Wanshu; Getirana, Augusto; Orland, Elijah; Bindlish, Rajat; Guzman, Alberto; Hain, Christopher R; Melton, Forrest S; Locke, Kim A; Yang, Yun.
Afiliación
  • Ahmad SK; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA. shahryarkhalique.ahmad@nasa.gov.
  • Holmes TR; Science Applications International Corporation, McLean, VA, USA. shahryarkhalique.ahmad@nasa.gov.
  • Kumar SV; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
  • Lahmers TM; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
  • Liu PW; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
  • Nie W; Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
  • Getirana A; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
  • Orland E; Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, USA.
  • Bindlish R; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
  • Guzman A; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
  • Hain CR; Science Applications International Corporation, McLean, VA, USA.
  • Melton FS; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
  • Locke KA; GESTAR II, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.
  • Yang Y; Hydrological Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, USA.
Nat Ecol Evol ; 8(2): 229-238, 2024 Feb.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38168941
ABSTRACT
A steady rise in fires in the Western United States, coincident with intensifying droughts, imparts substantial modifications to the underlying vegetation, hydrology and overall ecosystem. Drought can compound the ecosystem disturbance caused by fire, although how these compound effects on hydrologic and ecosystem recovery vary among ecosystems is poorly understood. Here we use remote sensing-derived high-resolution evapotranspiration (ET) estimates from before and after 1,514 fires to show that ecoregions dominated by grasslands and shrublands are more susceptible to drought, which amplifies fire-induced ET decline and, subsequently, shifts water flux partitioning. In contrast, severely burned forests recover from fire slowly or incompletely, but are less sensitive to dry extremes. We conclude that moisture limitation caused by droughts influences the dynamics of water balance recovery in post-fire years. This finding explains why moderate to extreme droughts aggravate impacts on the water balance in non-forested vegetation, while moisture accessed by deeper roots in forests helps meet evaporative demands unless severe burns disrupt internal tree structure and deplete fuel load availability. Our results highlight the dominant control of drought on altering the resilience of vegetation to fires, with critical implications for terrestrial ecosystem stability in the face of anthropogenic climate change in the West.
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Ecosistema / Incendios País/Región como asunto: America do norte Idioma: En Revista: Nat Ecol Evol Año: 2024 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Estados Unidos Pais de publicación: Reino Unido
Texto completo
Añadir a Mi BVS
Imprimir
XML
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Ecosistema / Incendios País/Región como asunto: America do norte Idioma: En Revista: Nat Ecol Evol Año: 2024 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Estados Unidos Pais de publicación: Reino Unido