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Effects of fire‐precipitation timing and regime on post‐fire sediment delivery in Pacific Northwest forests
Author(s) -
Lanini Jordan S.,
Clark Elizabeth A.,
Lettenmaier Dennis P.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2008gl034588
Subject(s) - snowmelt , environmental science , sediment , precipitation , surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , fire regime , vegetation (pathology) , snow , current (fluid) , physical geography , geology , ecosystem , oceanography , ecology , geomorphology , meteorology , geography , medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology , biology
Wildfires affect the coupled dynamics of vegetation, runoff response, and sediment production, as well as the sequencing of post‐fire precipitation and snowmelt in forested watersheds. We examined these interactions by applying a spatially distributed hydrologic model to multiple‐year periods before and after a major fire that occurred in 1970 in the Entiat River basin, Washington. The effects of precipitation sequencing on post‐fire sediment delivery were examined by simulating the 1970 fire as if it had occurred at other times in a 50‐year period. Simulated sediment delivery varied by a factor of two depending on fire timing. We also compared the effects of fire suppression and found that simulated sediment production was about 20% higher for natural compared with current conditions.