Uncontrolled Wildfires Research Articles

Social media approaches to modeling wildfire smoke dispersion: spatiotemporal and social scientific investigations

ABSTRACTWildfires have significant effects on human populations, economically, environmentally, and in terms of their general well-being. Smoke pollution, in particular, from either prescribed burns or uncontrolled wildfires, can have significant health impacts. Some estimates suggest that smoke dispersion from fire events may affect the health of one in three residents in the United States, leading to an increased incidence of respiratory illnesses such as asthma and pulmonary disease. Scarcity in the measurements of particulate matter responsible for these public health issues makes addressing the problem of smoke dispersion challenging, especially when fires occur in remote regions. Crowdsourced data have become an essential component in addressing other societal problems (e.g., disaster relief, traffic congestion) but its utility in monitoring air quality impacts of wildfire events is unexplored. In this study, we assessed if user-generated social media content can be used as a complementary source of data in measuring particulate pollution from wildfire smoke. We found that the frequency of daily tweets within a 40,000 km2 area was a significant predictor of PM2.5 levels, beyond daily and geographic variation. These results suggest that social media can be a valuable tool for the measurement of air quality impacts of wildfire events, particularly in the absence of data from physical monitoring stations. Also, an analysis of the semantic content in people’s tweets provided insight into the socio-psychological dimensions of fire and smoke and their impact on people residing in, working in, or otherwise engaging with affected areas.

An optimisation approach for fuel treatment planning to break the connectivity of high-risk regions

Uncontrolled wildfires can lead to loss of life and property and destruction of natural resources. At the same time, fire plays a vital role in restoring ecological balance in many ecosystems. Fuel management, or treatment planning by way of planned burning, is an important tool used in many countries where fire is a major ecosystem process. In this paper, we propose an approach to reduce the spatial connectivity of fuel hazards while still considering the ecological fire requirements of the ecosystem. A mixed integer programming (MIP) model is formulated in such a way that it breaks the connectivity of high-risk regions as a means to reduce fuel hazards in the landscape. This multi-period model tracks the age of each vegetation type and determines the optimal time and locations to conduct fuel treatments. The minimum and maximum Tolerable Fire Intervals (TFI), which define the ages at which certain vegetation type can be treated for ecological reasons, are taken into account by the model. Examples from previous work that explicitly disconnect contiguous areas of high fuel load have often been limited to using single vegetation types implemented within rectangular grids. We significantly extend such work by including modelling multiple vegetation types implemented within a polygon-based network to achieve a more realistic representation of the landscape. An analysis of the proposed approach was conducted for a fuel treatment area comprising 711 treatment units in the Barwon-Otway district of Victoria, Australia. The solution of the proposed model can be obtained for 20-year fuel treatment planning within a reasonable computation time of eight hours.

Prescribed fire increases pyrogenic carbon in litter and surface soil in lowland Eucalyptus forests of south-eastern Australia

Low intensity prescribed fire is widely practiced in seasonally dry forests in many countries to reduce fuel loads and the risk of uncontrollable wildfires. Associated with low intensity fire is the heating and alteration of organic matter of the litter and surface soil to create pyrogenic carbon (PyC). This study reports changes in total carbon (TC) and PyC in the litter (as char particles) and the top 2cm of soil (as oxidation resistant carbon, PyC) in Eucalyptus obliqua forests in south-eastern Australia. Litter and surface soil were sampled and carbon (C) measured before and immediately after low intensity prescribed fire on the same sites. Post-fire, lightly burnt (FIRE-300) and heavily burnt (FIRE-600) forest floor areas were sampled separately. On average, net loss of 1.55Mgha−1 C (10% of initial) from litter was largely offset by increase of 1.67Mgha−1 C in soil (which was restricted to the 0–2cm layer) with no net change in the initial litter+soil C stock of 21.9Mgha−1C. Concurrently, fire increased PyC by 0.3Mgha−1 in litter and 0.4Mgha−1 in surface soil, which together were equivalent to about 11% of the 6.1Mgha−1C emitted to the atmosphere as a result of the prescribed burn.

Effects of fire on the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecology of peatland river systems

Peatlands are found around the world and cover ∼3.4% of the Earth’s surface. In the UK, peatlands cover 17.2% or ∼1.58 Mha of the land surface and occur mainly in upland areas covering the headwaters of most major British rivers. However, large areas are now subject to prescribed vegetation burning despite policy guidance that recommends a strong presumption against burning on deep blanket peat. Wildfires occur sporadically but are forecast to increase in frequency in the future. This paper provides a synthesis of current knowledge about how UK peatland-dominated river catchments respond to fires caused by prescribed vegetation burning and uncontrolled wildfire. We provide insight into the effects of fire on the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and biota of peatland river ecosystems, and the peatland-soil-driven controls on these effects at the catchment scale. Burning increases the depth to water table and water-table variability, although some small-scale studies indicate shallower water table in some places. More work is needed on fire effects on peatland river flow, but recent results suggest a complex response with smaller flow peaks for burned systems associated with most rainfall events, but enhanced peaks compared to unburned systems for the top quintile of rainfall events with the largest total rain. Evidence from biogeochemical studies suggests that fire leads to increased dissolved organic C concentrations in rivers. River biota responses primarily include significant reductions in the density of grazing mayflies but increases among detritivores including Chironomidae and Baetis mayflies. We provide a conceptual synthesis that links the main responses of terrestrial and aquatic systems to fire, and we summarize some major research gaps that should be prioritized to inform future policy around peatland management.

Evaluating rehabilitation efforts following the Milford Flat Fire: successes, failures, and controlling factors

Uncontrolled wildfire in arid and semiarid ecosystems has become an increasing concern in recent decades. Active rehabilitation of fire‐affected areas is often quickly initiated to minimize long‐term ecosystem damage. However, the complex soil‐geomorphic‐vegetation patterns and low and variable moisture conditions in these regions makes restoration challenging. To further inform these post‐fire management decisions, we present results from 5 years of vegetation and sediment flux monitoring following the Milford Flat Fire in west‐central Utah, USA. Our sampling design includes monitoring plots in areas not burned, areas burned but where no rehabilitation was attempted, and burned areas where various rehabilitation approaches were implemented. At each of the 25 plots, vegetation cover and composition data were collected annually, and wind‐driven sediment flux was measured using passive dust traps. To evaluate effectiveness of post‐fire rehabilitation treatments in establishing desired species and limiting dominance of undesired species, we analyzed the temporal response of individual species and functional groups as well as community‐level multivariate responses. The warm and dry conditions that persisted for approximately 12 months post‐treatment, coupled with the surface disturbing rehabilitation approaches used, resulted in near‐surface dust fluxes several orders of magnitude higher in treated areas than in unburned or burned areas where no rehabilitation occurred. These dry conditions and high surface sediment flux limited the establishment of seeded species in rehabilitation areas for nearly 3 years. Post‐fire rehabilitation did not limit dominance by invasive annual species of concern. Perennial species composition in the areas burned but not subject to post‐fire rehabilitation was relatively similar to unburned throughout the study period. In contrast, the burned plots where rehabilitation was attempted were characterized by no (<3%) perennial cover or, in response to moister conditions, seeded forage species. These results suggest the post‐fire rehabilitation efforts conducted in the lower elevation regions affected by the Milford Flat Fire were not generally successful. Though dry conditions are likely to blame for the lack of success, the low and variable precipitation characteristic of these regions suggest future post‐fire rehabilitation decisions must assume that precipitation is going to be insufficient and plan rehabilitation efforts that are resilient to dry conditions.

Wildfire Management in the Tain II Forest Reserve of Ghana: An Evaluation of Community Participation

Until 1983 uncontrolled wildfires were uncommon, especially in the forest zones of Ghana. Unfortunately early efforts at curbing wildfires did not place emphasis on stakeholder management. This weakness has constrained wildfire management as a result of weak coordination among stakeholders in the management of wildfire. But an essential element for the success of wildfire management is the active involvement of all stakeholders. This study was conducted to assess the role of stakeholders in wildfire management in the Tain II Forest Reserve in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. The study relied on both qualitative and quantitative approaches using household questionnaires as its primary data collection instrument. The study reveals that stakeholders occasionally participated in wildfire management planning, implementation and monitoring activities at the community level. This assertion was confirmed by the index of participation indicating that stakeholders were occasionally involved in wildfire management regarding planning (0.59), implementation (0.60) and monitoring (0.56). Also, empirical results show that the absence of incentives and lack of insurance serve as disincentives for effective functioning of wildfire squad volunteers around the Tain II forest reserve. The study concludes that the success, or otherwise, of wildfire management interventions, to a large extent, depends on the degree of involvement of stakeholders and the support given to them.

Statewide Ban on Recreational Fires Resulted in a Significant Decrease in Campfire-Related Summer Burn Center Admissions

Every summer, there is an increase in the number of burn injuries caused by accidents around campfires. Because of the prevalence of drought, high winds, and uncontrolled wild fires, a statewide ban on recreational fires was instituted in New Mexico from June to July 2011. We hypothesized that this legislation would have a significant impact on burn admissions caused by campfire-related injuries. A retrospective review of summer admissions to a state burn center was conducted to assess the effect of this ban on recreational fire injuries, and these data were compared with that of the previous summer when no ban was in effect. All burn admissions to a state burn center were reviewed from Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2010 and 2011. Data collected included cause, % TBSA, age, days of hospitalization, intensive care unit days, and total surface area grafted. Nonparametric statistical analysis was performed with Fisher exact test for dichotomous data and Mann-Whitney test for continuous data with significance at P < .05. There were 164 burn center admissions between Memorial Day and Labor Day in 2010 (n = 82) and 2011 (n = 82). Compared with all summer burn center admissions, patients injured by campfires were younger (18 vs 37 years; P = .002) with smaller total surface area burns (3.2 vs 6.2%; P = .41) and had shorter lengths of stay (10-11 vs 6-7 days; P = .62). There was more than a 3-fold decrease in burn admissions due to recreational fires during the study period (n = 14 [17%] in 2010 and 4 [5%] in 2011; P = .02). This resulted in a decrease in the number of patient-days from 91 in 2010 to 25 in 2011. Half of the camp fire admissions required skin grafts to definitively close the wounds (6/14 in 2010 and 2/4 in 2011). Recreational fire bans targeted at controlling wildfires during conditions favoring rapid spread were associated with a 3- to 4-fold decrease in campfire-related burn admissions. Compared with a summer when no fire ban was in effect, the number of patient-days decreased from 91 to 25.

Piloted ignition of live forest fuels

The most unpredictable and uncontrollable wildfires are those that burn in the crowns of live vegetation. The fuels that feed these crown fires are mostly live, green foliage. Unfortunately, little is known about how live fuels combust. To understand how live fuels burn, piloted ignition experiments were performed with lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir. The thermal behavior (thick versus thin) of both live and dead needles was explored. Both live and dry needles were shown to behave as thermally intermediate solids in this apparatus. Additionally, samples were collected throughout the growing season to take advantage of the natural variation in moisture content and chemical composition. This data set was then compared to several correlations found in the literature to determine whether live fuel ignition can be predicted by moisture content alone and to test the applicability of these models to the wildland fire problem. Many of the correlations from the literature for ignition time with moisture content fail to capture the trends with live fuels. A linear regression of the ignition time with moisture content only predicts 74–80% of the variability suggesting that there is another mechanism controlling ignition time of live fuels. Based on the hypothesized difference in water storage between live and wet dead fuels, the chemical composition of the live needles was included in an empirical model for ignition time. Including chemical composition improved the prediction accuracy for Douglas-fir needles only. Because the thermal properties of live foliage are largely unknown, it is possible that the predictions from more physically-based models would show improvement with more accurate values of density, thermal conductivity, and specific heat.

Changes in soil chemical and biological properties after thinning and prescribed fire for ecosystem restoration in a Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir forest

Practices such as thinning followed by prescribed burning, often termed ‘ecosystem restoration practices’, are being used in Rocky Mountain forests to prevent uncontrolled wildfire and restore forests to pre-settlement conditions. Prior to burning, surface fuels may be left or collected into piles, which may affect fire temperatures and attendant effects on the underlying soil. The objective of this study is to determine which pre-fire fuel management treatments best reduce fuel loadings without causing fire temperatures high enough to impair soil chemical and biological properties. Five fuel-management treatments were compared: large piles, small piles, cut and leave, slash-free areas around mature leave-trees, and unburned control. We measured key properties of forest floors and mineral soil (forest floor depth, soil pH, carbon and nutrient levels, and microbial abundances) prior to and during the first year after fire, and explored relationships among fuel loadings, fire temperatures and changes in these soil properties. Fire temperatures were above 300°C for more than 3h in the large-pile treatment but were lower and of shorter duration in the small-pile and cut-and-leave treatments. The most severe fire effects occurred around the leave-trees where temperatures were above 200°C for more than 2h, the forest floor was completely consumed, and the mature trees were killed. In the forest floors, abundances of all microbial groups were reduced and pH and availabilities of Ca2+, Mg2+ and PO43- were increased in all burned treatments. Forest floor C and N contents were reduced in burned plots by an average of 39% and 44% respectively, and availabilities of nitrate and sulphate were increased in the leave-tree areas only. There were few significant changes in mineral soil properties – pH and availabilities of NO3-, Mg2+ and SO42- increased in leave-tree areas whilst PO43- and K+ increased under large piles. Microbial abundances had not recovered to pre-fire levels in any burned treatments after one year, which may be attributed to the persistence of significant increases in pH. Prior to the fire, microbial abundances were most closely related to N concentration in the forest floor, and C and N concentrations in the mineral soil; after fire, microbial abundances were most closely related to pH of the forest floor. Forest floor consumption and attendant changes in chemical and biological properties were most closely related to pre-fire moisture content, indicating that forest-floor moisture content may be as critical as fuel loading in determining impacts of prescribed fire on soil.

The effects of fire on avian communities: spatio-temporal attributes of the literature 1912 - 2003

We reviewed the temporal, geographic, and biogeographic distribution, as well as relevant research and publication attributes, of 512 documents addressing the effects of fire on avian communities, to provide an assessment of the scope of this literature and recommendations for future research. We summarized relevant attributes of all documents to identify patterns that were then tested against appropriate null models. Most documents reported on original research, with the literature evenly divided between studies investigating controlled fire and those reporting on uncontrolled wildfires. Conceptual reviews made up the second largest category; methodological reviews, bibliographies, and meta-analyses were rare. Although the literature examined spans nearly a century, most documents were published within the last 15 years, with new literature being added at an increasing rate. However, increases seem to be skewed towards original research at the expense of synthesis. An overwhelming majority of documents were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and in English. Other important publication outlets included MS and PhD theses and conference proceedings. The spatial distribution of documents by continent and biogeographic domain and division differed significantly from expectations based on land area. Future research on avian community response to fire should focus on (1) continued synthesis, emphasizing methodological reviews, bibliographies, and North America; (2) increasing research efforts in areas currently underrepresented in the literature, including Africa, Asia, and South and Central America; and (3) meta-analyses.

A model study of smoke-haze influence on clouds and warm precipitation formation in Indonesia 1997/1998

In the last few decades, fire and smoke-haze occurrence increased in Indonesia by intentionally set land clearing fires and higher fire susceptibility of disturbed forests. Particularly, during El Niño years with prolonged droughts in Indonesia, land clearing fires become uncontrolled wildfires and produce large amounts of gaseous and particulate emissions. This paper investigates the influence of smoke-haze aerosols from such fires on clouds and precipitation over Indonesia during the El Niño event 1997/1998 by numerical modelling. Warm precipitation formation in both layered and convective clouds is calculated dependent on the atmospheric aerosol concentration. In the smoke-haze affected regions of Indonesia, aerosol–cloud interactions induce events with both precipitation suppression and increase compared to a reference simulation without aerosol–cloud interactions. The effect of precipitation suppression is found to dominate with about 2/3 of all precipitation modification events pointing to a prolongation of smoke-haze episodes. The corresponding convective cloud top height of shallow clouds is increased whereas distinct lower deep convective cloud top heights are found. The remaining about 1/3 events are characterised by increased precipitation and cloud liquid water content, accompanied by lower convective cloud top heights of shallow clouds and higher deep convective clouds.

Estimating Contingent Values for Protection from Wildland Fire Using a Two-Stage Decision Framework

Abstract The ongoing expansion of human populations into wildland areas dominated by flammable vegetation, and the concomitant increased frequency of uncontrolled wildfires that result in losses of property and human lives, has raised new questions about the optimal level of fire protection. The morphing of the problem conception from minimizing costs plus losses of natural resources to responding to the concerns of people whose homes are at risk has stimulated fire protection planners to account for potential changes in people's well-being beyond what is reflected by insured value. Knowing the perceived value of an increase in collective (agency-provided) fire protection that achieves a risk reduction target can contribute much to policy debates on the restructuring and funding of fire protection infrastructure and fuel management. To evaluate the utility of contingent valuation for assessing such risk reduction value, the value of collective fire protection at the wildland-urban interface was assessed for residents of a Michigan jack pine forest. Seventy-five percent of the 265 residents interviewed chose to participate in a hypothetical market for a 50% reduction in risk and, on average, were willing to pay over $57 a year for such risk reduction. Results were consistent with a two-stage decision model: (1) participation in the hypothetical market for risk reduction, and (2) how much the risk reduction is worth. Homeowner risk perception and objectively assessed risk both influenced the probability of market participation. For market participants, willingness to pay was related to property value and household income, suggesting that value at risk and ability to pay weigh heavily in this decision. FOR. SCI. 47(3):349–360.

The 1997 fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia: Gaseous and particulate emissions

Extensive and widespread vegetation and peat fires swept throughout Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia, from August 1997 through March 1998. The fires resulted from routine burning for land clearing and land‐use change. However, the severe drought conditions resulting from El Nino caused small land‐clearing fires to become large uncontrolled wildfires. Analysis of SPOT images indicate that a total of 45,600 km² burned between August and December 1997. In this paper, the gaseous and particulate emissions resulting from the 1997 fires are estimated. On a daily basis, the calculated emissions of CO2, CO, CH4, NOx, and particulates from the Kalimantan and Sumatra fires of 1997 significantly exceeded the emissions from the Kuwait oil fires of 1991.

Tree mortality and vine proliferation following a wildfire in a subhumid tropical forest in eastern Bolivia

In 1994, 1×10 6 ha of subhumid forest in eastern Bolivia burned in an uncontrolled wildfire; the objective of this study was to measure tree and liana mortality a year after this fire. About 60% of 500 trees sampled were either killed or damaged by the fire. Proportionally more small trees (74% of trees >2 m tall but <5 cm dbh) were killed than large trees (27% of 10–40 cm, 16% of trees ≥40 cm dbh), and mortality varied with species. Basal cambial damage was found on 30–40% of living trees ≥10 cm dbh. About 75% of liana stems (1–8 cm dbh) were killed; 15% of the dead liana stems resprouted from the base. In lianas, basal resprouting of killed stems was independent of diameter class, whereas in trees smaller stems were more likely to resprout than larger stems. The proliferation of herbaceous vines plus lianas <1 cm dbh (mean density 21 000 ha -1) in the burned forest may impede tree regeneration and supply fine fuels capable of supporting frequent fires. Although anthropogenic and natural fires have probably played important roles in the development of tropical subhumid forests, the amount of damage and mortality observed in this study suggest that, in forests managed for timber production, fire-protection practices are warranted to reduce forest susceptibility to wildfire.

Effects of 1997–1998 El Niño on tropospheric ozone and water vapor

This paper analyzes the impact of the 1997–1998 El Niño on tropospheric column ozone and tropospheric water vapor derived respectively from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on Earth Probe and the Microwave Limb Scanning instrument on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. The 1997‐1998 El Niño, characterized by an anomalous increase in sea‐surface temperature (SST) across the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean, is one of the strongest El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events of the century, comparable in magnitude to the 1982–1983 episode. The major impact of the SST change has been the shift in the convection pattern from the western to the eastern Pacific affecting the response of rain‐producing cumulonimbus. As a result, there has been a significant increase in rainfall over the eastern Pacific and a decrease over the western Pacific and Indonesia. The dryness in the Indonesian region has contributed to large‐scale burning by uncontrolled wildfires in the tropical rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. Our study shows that tropospheric column ozone decreased by 4–8 Dobson units (DU) in the eastern Pacific and increased by about 10–20 DU in the western Pacific largely as a result of the eastward shift of the tropical convective activity as inferred from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data. The effect of this shift is also evident in the upper tropospheric water vapor mixing ratio which varies inversely as ozone (O3). These conclusions are qualitatively consistent with the changes in atmospheric circulation derived from zonal and vertical wind data obtained from the Goddard Earth Observing System data assimilation analyses. The changes in tropospheric column O3 during the course of the 1997–1998 El Niño appear to be caused by a combination of large‐scale circulation processes associated with the shift in the tropical convection pattern and surface/boundary layer processes associated with forest fires in the Indonesian region.

Climate Assessment for 1997

The global climate during 1997 was affected by both extremes of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with weak Pacific cold episode conditions prevailing during January and February, and one of the strongest Pacific warm episodes (El Niño) in the historical record prevailing during the remainder of the year. This warm episode contributed to major regional rainfall and temperature anomalies over large portions of the Tropics and extratropics, which were generally consistent with those observed during past warm episodes. In many regions, these anomalies were opposite to those observed during 1996 and early 1997 in association with Pacific cold episode conditions. Some of the most dramatic El Niño impacts during 1997 were observed in the Tropics, where anomalous convection was evident across the entire Pacific and throughout most major monsoon regions of the world. Tropical regions most affected by excessive El Niño–related rainfall during the year included 1) the eastern half of the tropical Pacific, where extremely heavy rainfall and strong convective activity covered the region from April through December; 2) equatorial eastern Africa, where excessive rainfall during October–December led to widespread flooding and massive property damage; 3) Chile, where a highly amplified and extended South Pacific jet stream brought increased storminess and above-normal rainfall during the winter and spring; 4) southeastern South America, where these same storms produced above-normal rainfall during June–December; and 5) Ecuador and northern Peru, which began receiving excessive rainfall totals in November and December as deep tropical convection spread eastward across the extreme eastern Pacific. In contrast, El Niño-–elated rainfall deficits during 1997 included 1) Indonesia, where significantly below-normal rainfall from June through December resulted in extreme drought and contributed to uncontrolled wildfires; 2) New Guinea, where drought contributed to large-scale food shortages leading to an outbreak of malnutrition; 3) the Amazon Basin, which received below-normal rainfall during June–December in association with substantially reduced tropical convection throughout the region; 4) the tropical Atlantic, which experienced drier than normal conditions during July–December; and 5) central America and the Caribbean Sea, which experienced below-normal rainfall during March–December. The El Niño also contributed to a decrease in tropical storm and hurricane activity over the North Atlantic during August–November, and to an expanded area of conditions favorable for tropical cyclone and hurricane formation over the eastern North Pacific. These conditions are in marked contrast to both the 1995 and 1996 hurricane seasons, in which significantly above-normal tropical cyclone activity was observed over the North Atlantic and suppressed activity prevailed across the eastern North Pacific. Other regional aspects of the short-term climate during 1997 included 1) wetter than average 1996/97 rainy seasons in both northeastern Australia and southern Africa in association with a continuation of weak cold episode conditions into early 1997; 2) below-normal rainfall and drought in southeastern Australia from October 1996 to December 1997 following very wet conditions in this region during most of 1996; 3) widespread flooding in the Red River Valley of the north-central United States during April following an abnormally cold and snowy winter; 4) floods in central Europe during July following several consecutive months of above-normal rainfall; 5) near-record to record rainfall in southeastern Asia during June–August in association with an abnormally weak upper-level monsoon ridge; and 6) near-normal rainfall across India during the Indian monsoon season (June–September) despite the weakened monsoon ridge.

Conservation of the Noisy Scrub-bird: a review of 35 years of research and management

The Noisy Scrub-bird is a small, semi-flightless insectivore which forages in leaf litter and the lower stratum of dense vegetation. More widespread when discovered last century the species declined rapidly after European settlement of Westem Australia due to habitat clearing and large scale, uncontrolled wildfires. A small, remnant population survived in dense low forest and thickets on Mt Gardner at Two Peoples Bay. Exclusion of fire from scrub-bird habitat allowed the population at Two Peoples Bay to increase through natural breeding. Translocations to new sites, where successful, have provided more habitat for the scrub-bird resulting in seven sub-populations in the area between Oyster Harbour and Cheyne Beach east of Albany. Rapid increases in numbers have occurred in the Mt Manypeaks area in recent years. The whole population has now increased to 10.5 times its size at rediscovery. This paper reviews Noisy Scrub-bird conservation efforts during the 35 years since its rediscovery and focuses on recent progress, population trends, and the current status of the species. Successful conservation management has been based on research into the scrub-bird's biology and ecology and has involved habitat reservation and protection, fire management, population monitoring, and translocation. Scrub-bird conservation has also provided benefits for other threatened species.

Harvesting forest biomass reduces wildfire fuel

Years of drought, tree mortality due to insects and the successful suppression of forest fires over the past century have created dense stands of trees and shrubs. This buildup is potentially dangerous as a reservoir of fuel for uncontrollable wildfires in California forests. The advent of biomass power plants has made removal of excess plant material from the forest economically feasible, reducing wildfire hazard and preparing fire-adapted forests for reintroduction of prescribed fire.