This research update from Theresa Dinh of the University of Guelph is regarding a fire history study conducted in conjunction with the Healthy Landscapes program.
Wildfire is a fundamental, yet complex and poorly understood natural disturbance process. Due to variability in the causes, controls and scales of wildfire disturbances, the landscape impacts of wildfire are variable on both spatial and temporal scales. As well, wildfire activity is also shaped by land use history, fire exclusion, and climatic change. Recognizing these complexities, it is important to understand how disturbance processes and landscape patterns interact (and how these relationships may have changed through time). Paleoecological research, especially fire history studies, provides an improved understanding of natural disturbance patterns and its variability resulting in effective science-based management to support present-day and future forest management decisions.
