Fire is now lacking in many ecosystems that require it, yet fire is also a dire threat to lives, homes, and livelihoods. Due to climate and land use change, fire frequency has risen in recent decades, and we study how societies and communities can better live with fire, and where to restore fire regimes.
Kira Pfoch is exploring the long-term changes of the Wildland-Urban Interface and fire activity within the Mediterranean-climate biome.
Climate change is warming the circumboreal region at twice the rate of the global average. This is predicted to increase the severity and abundance of wildfire, the region’s primary disturbance agent.
Half the global population is potentially exposed to direct human-environmental conflict in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Wildfire is a widespread issue across all continents and biomes.
What is the role of fire in peatlands? We found that low-severity fire was historically frequent in Great Lakes’ peatlands and an important ecological process that is now being suppressed.
