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Tree rings reveal increased fire risk for southwestern US

Historical record points to climate patterns that could prime the region for an intense fire season.
  1. Cally Carswell
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Ellis Margolis’s desk is covered in slices of wood. They’re scattered around his computer, piled in cardboard boxes and stacked on shelves. The tree rings and burn scars imprinted in the wood help the ecologist and other scientists predict the potential for future fires in the southwestern United States by understanding the blazes of the past.

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Nature 554, 283-284 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-01686-y

References

  1. Swetnam, T. W. & Betancourt, J. L. Science 249, 1017–1020 (1990).

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  2. Margolis, E. Q., Huffman, D. W. & Iñiguez, J. M. Southwestern Mixed-Conifer Forests: Evaluating Reference Conditions to Guide Ecological Restoration Treatments. Ecological Restoration Institute Working Paper No. 28 (2013).

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