Water Resources Graduate Program, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Department of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Nat Commun. 2021 Apr 30;12(1):2484. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22747-3.
Wildfires are increasing globally in frequency, severity, and extent, but their impact on fluvial networks, and the resources they provide, remains unclear. We combine remote sensing of burn perimeter and severity, in-situ water quality monitoring, and longitudinal modeling to create the first large-scale, long-term estimates of stream+river length impacted by wildfire for the western US. We find that wildfires directly impact ~6% of the total stream+river length between 1984 and 2014, increasing at a rate of 342 km/year. When longitudinal propagation of water quality impacts is included, we estimate that wildfires affect ~11% of the total stream+river length. Our results indicate that wildfire activity is one of the largest drivers of aquatic impairment, though it is not routinely reported by regulatory agencies, as wildfire impacts on fluvial networks remain unconstrained. We identify key actions to address this knowledge gap and better understand the growing threat to fluvial networks, water security, and public health risks.
野火在全球范围内的发生频率、严重程度和范围都在增加，但它们对河流网络及其提供的资源的影响仍不清楚。我们结合了燃烧边界和严重程度的遥感、现场水质监测和纵向建模，为美国西部首次创建了大规模的、长期的受野火影响的溪流+河流长度的估计。我们发现，野火直接影响了 1984 年至 2014 年间总溪流+河流长度的约 6%，每年增加 342 公里。当包括水质影响的纵向传播时，我们估计野火影响了总溪流+河流长度的约 11%。我们的研究结果表明，野火活动是水生生物受损的最大驱动因素之一，但由于监管机构没有常规报告野火对河流网络的影响，因此这一问题仍然没有得到解决。我们确定了一些关键措施来解决这一知识差距，并更好地了解河流网络面临的日益增长的威胁，以及对水安全和公共健康风险的威胁。
