Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station, 920 Main Campus Drive, Venture Center II, Suite 300, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA.
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, U.S. Department of Energy, 100 ORAU Way, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA.
Nat Commun. 2018 Apr 10;9(1):1307. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03735-6.
Wildland fire impacts on surface freshwater resources have not previously been measured, nor factored into regional water management strategies. But, large wildland fires are increasing and raise concerns about fire impacts on potable water. Here we synthesize long-term records of wildland fire, climate, and river flow for 168 locations across the United States. We show that annual river flow changed in 32 locations, where more than 19% of the basin area was burned. Wildland fires enhanced annual river flow in the western regions with a warm temperate or humid continental climate. Wildland fires increased annual river flow most in the semi-arid Lower Colorado region, in spite of frequent droughts in this region. In contrast, prescribed burns in the subtropical Southeast did not significantly alter river flow. These extremely variable outcomes offer new insights into the potential role of wildfire and prescribed fire in regional water resource management, under a changing climate.
先前并未对野火对地表淡水资源的影响进行测量，也未将其纳入区域水资源管理策略中。但是，大规模的野火正在增加，并引发了人们对饮用水受火灾影响的担忧。在这里，我们综合了美国 168 个地点的野火、气候和河流流量的长期记录。我们表明，在 32 个位置的年径流量发生了变化，这些位置的流域面积有超过 19%被烧毁。在温暖的温带或湿润的大陆性气候的西部地区，野火增强了年径流量。尽管该地区经常发生干旱，但野火还是使科罗拉多河下游半干旱地区的年径流量增加最多。相比之下，亚热带东南部的有计划火烧并没有显著改变河流流量。在气候变化的背景下，这些极其不同的结果为野火和有计划火烧在区域水资源管理中的潜在作用提供了新的见解。
