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Predicting and understanding ecosystem responses to climate change at continental scales

John D. Marshall, John M. Blair, Debra P. C. Peters, Gregory S. Okin, Albert Rango, Mark Williams
Summary - what did the authors do and why?

This article is a review of potential ecological responses to expected changes in future climate of four key mesoscale drivers: drought, warming, snowpack disappearance, and altered fire regimes.

Publication findings:

Across the continental U.S., drought conditions, as measured by PDSI, are strongly correlated to the number of acres burned. The strength of the correlations between PDSI and acres burned vary across the U.S. at one, two, and current year time lags.

Climate and Fire Linkages

How does drought relate to annual area burned and fire size?

Across the continental U.S., drought conditions, as measured by PDSI, are strongly correlated to the number of acres burned. The strength of the correlations between PDSI and acres burned vary across the U.S. at one, two, and current year time lags.