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Analyzing Resilience in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem after the 1988 Wildfire in the Western U.S. Using Remote Sensing and Soil Database

Author

Listed:
  • Hang Li

    (Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA)

  • James H. Speer

    (Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA)

  • Ichchha Thapa

    (Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA)

Abstract

The 1988 Yellowstone fire altered the structure of the local forest ecosystem and left large non-recovery areas. This study assessed the pre-fire drivers and post-fire characteristics of the recovery and non-recovery areas and examined possible reasons driving non-recovery of the areas post-fire disturbance. Non-recovery and recovery areas were sampled with 44,629 points and 77,501 points, from which attribute values related to topography, climate, and subsequent soil conditions were extracted. We calculated the 1988 Yellowstone fire burn thresholds using the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) and official fire maps. We used a burn severity map from the US Forest Service to calculate the burn severity values. Spatial regressions and Chi-Square tests were applied to determine the statistically significant characteristics of a lack of recovery. The non-recovery areas were found to cover 1005.25 km 2 . Among 11 variables considered as potential factors driving recovery areas and 13 variables driving non-recovery areas, elevation and maximum temperature were found to have high Variance Inflation Factors (4.73 and 4.72). The results showed that non-recovery areas all experienced severe burns and were located at areas with steeper slopes (13.99°), more precipitation (871.73 mm), higher pre-fire vegetation density (NDVI = 0.38), higher bulk density (750.03 kg/m 3 ), lower soil organic matter (165.61 g/kg), and lower total nitrogen (60.97 mg/L). Chi-square analyses revealed statistically different pre-fire forest species ( p < 0.01) and soil order ( p < 0.01) in the recovery and non-recovery areas. Although Inceptisols dominated in both recovery and non-recovery areas, however, the composition of Mollisols was higher in the non-recovery areas (14%) compared to the recovery areas (11%). This indicated the ecological memory of the non-recovery site reverting to grassland post-disturbance. Unlike conventional studies only focusing on recovery areas, this study analyzed the non-recovery areas and found the key characteristics that make a landscape not resilient to the 1988 Yellowstone fire. The significant effects of elevation, precipitation, and soil pH on recovery may be significant to the forest management and forest resilience in the post-fire period.

Suggested Citation

  • Hang Li & James H. Speer & Ichchha Thapa, 2022. "Analyzing Resilience in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem after the 1988 Wildfire in the Western U.S. Using Remote Sensing and Soil Database," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:8:p:1172-:d:873556
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Antonio Santoro & Martina Venturi & Francesco Piras & Beatrice Fiore & Federica Corrieri & Mauro Agnoletti, 2021. "Forest Area Changes in Cinque Terre National Park in the Last 80 Years. Consequences on Landslides and Forest Fire Risks," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Ran Nathan & Gabriel G. Katul & Henry S. Horn & Suvi M. Thomas & Ram Oren & Roni Avissar & Stephen W. Pacala & Simon A. Levin, 2002. "Mechanisms of long-distance dispersal of seeds by wind," Nature, Nature, vol. 418(6896), pages 409-413, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liping Liao & Minzhe Du & Jie Huang, 2022. "The Effect of Urban Resilience on Residents’ Subjective Happiness: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, October.

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