How Do the Spatial Legacies of Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreaks Affect Fire Severity in Canadian Lodgepole Pine Forests?

There is a dearth of information about how MPB-affected landscapes influence wildfire behaviour. This project will assess the effect of MPB outbreaks on wildfire activity through the development models that forecast wildfire severity using data from recent fires in British Columbia as the starting point. The results of this work will provide forest managers with an enhanced ability to forecast wildfire behavior and the consequences to timber supply.

Objective

To examine the influence of historical MPB outbreaks on wildfire severity in British Columbia and Alberta to develop predictive models to forecast future variation in wildfire severity as a result of MPB attack in Alberta.