WILDFIRE AS AN EARTH SYSTEM: PERSPECTIVES ON INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH METHODS FROM ALASKA AND NEVADA (Invited Presentation)

Wildfire is a critical component of many ecosystems with far reaching implications. Fires can alter and be altered by ecosystem dynamics, hydrology, local weather patterns, atmospheric composition, soil properties, land cover, human infrastructure, and even geology. This complex web of interactions lends itself to a broad and interdisciplinary systems-based research approach. To exemplify this approach, two different undergraduate student-led research projects will be discussed. The first project involves using charcoal preserved in meadow soil profiles to reconstruct a history of wildfire activity in Great Basin National Park over the past several thousand years. Utilizing a broad understanding of local geology and hydrology, a soil profile sampled by successive cores in 2014 and 2015 was analyzed and then interpreted in the context of climate and ecosystem change. Preliminary analysis suggests the fire return interval around 6000 years ago seems to be about 200 years, and that this interval is likely much longer in older sections of the profile. Detailed analysis for more recent sections is currently ongoing. The second project focuses on identifying meteorological variables important to fire spread in Alaska’s western tundra landscapes. Using both station data and model reanalysis data in conjunction with satellite-based fire spread data, the analysis suggests that strong day-time solar radiation is the single most important weather variable driving tundra fire spread. In addition to a strong understanding of meteorology, this project demands knowledge of local plant ecology, fire behavior, and surface properties. Beyond the scientific results, wildfire research often has implications for resource management and other social systems. In order to integrate these social connections, it is often beneficial for researchers to communicate directly with wildfire managers to discuss both research needs and results. The project conducted in Alaska will be discussed as an example of this integration where research directly addressed a stated management need. On the whole, these two undergraduate student projects illustrate how wildfire research is a deeply complex field that draws on many bodies of knowledge and is often performed most effectively when in close contact with stakeholders.