Pyroecophysiology
The Pyroecophysiology Team is a network of international scientists focused on understanding the mechanisms of how heat from fires impact plant physiology, mortality, and recovery. We explore the mechanisms of why plants die in fire and explore interactions of fire with droughts and other stressors. We also conduct research on how embers are generated and how to reduce the subsequent ignitions from those embers.
The University of Idaho part of the team has access to the Idaho Fire Initiative for Research and Education (IFIRE) Combustion Laboratory located at the University of Idaho, which includes physicists, fire ecologists, chemistry, plant ecophysiologists, and remote sensing scientists all interested in improving the mechanistic understanding of fire in the Earth system.
Our research mainly focuses on the United States but we regularly collaborate with fire scientists globally. Currently, we have been conducting several projects that examine the mechanisms of how increasing heat from fires impacts both the rate of mortality of plants from fires, but also the degree to which post-fire recovery is reduced in the plants that survive. We are working with collaborators to incorporate these results into earth-system models. Our research group also focuses on ways to increase community and home resilience to wildfires. One of our active projects is evaluating the quantity of embers generated from different garden plants.
Our work is interdisciplinary and we are always open to new collaborations.
The University of Idaho part of the team has access to the Idaho Fire Initiative for Research and Education (IFIRE) Combustion Laboratory located at the University of Idaho, which includes physicists, fire ecologists, chemistry, plant ecophysiologists, and remote sensing scientists all interested in improving the mechanistic understanding of fire in the Earth system.
Our research mainly focuses on the United States but we regularly collaborate with fire scientists globally. Currently, we have been conducting several projects that examine the mechanisms of how increasing heat from fires impacts both the rate of mortality of plants from fires, but also the degree to which post-fire recovery is reduced in the plants that survive. We are working with collaborators to incorporate these results into earth-system models. Our research group also focuses on ways to increase community and home resilience to wildfires. One of our active projects is evaluating the quantity of embers generated from different garden plants.
Our work is interdisciplinary and we are always open to new collaborations.
A New Paradigm in Fire Severity Research
We are seeking to redefine fire severity through improving the mechanistic understanding of heat from fires on plants. Our experiments involve quantifying the amount of heat incident on plants and assessing how plant physiology mechanisms and morphology metrics change. Through this research we seek to better parameterize ecosystem and earth system models that incorporate fire processes.
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Ongoing research includes water, carbon, and nutrient relations in plants (grasses, shrubs, and trees) during and following fires. Understanding the mechanisms of why plants die from fires and how the productivity of the plant species is altered when the survive fires.
RECENT RESULTS IN A NUTSHELL
Through multiple experiments we have characterized the 'dose-response' of heat from fire incident on saplings on the subsequent probability of mortality. As shown in this summary figure on the bottom, we have characterized for 'well-watered' saplings the thresholds where 100% survival and 100% mortality occurs. We have also looked at how fire and drought interact across a range of species. The figure on the top is from Partelli Feltrin et al. (2021) where we determined that hydraulic failure was not the primary mechanism of fire induced mortality in Pinus ponderosa. Further results from Parelli Feltrin et al. (2022) suggest that phloem death and not hydraulic failure drives fire-induced tree mortality in pines.
FEATURED PYROECOPHYSIOLOGY PUBLICATIONS
Core Pyroecophysiology Research
TREE PHYSIOLOGY
Sparks AM, Blanco A, Wilson DR, Schwilk DW, Johnson DM, Adams HD, Bowman DMJS, Hardman D, Smith AMS. 2023. Fire intensity impacts on physiological performance and mortality in Pinus monticola and Pseudotsuga menziesii: a dose-response analysis. Tree Physiology. 43, 8, 1365-1382. Publication Link.
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Landscape Scale Pyroecophysiology
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
Sparks AM, Smith AMS, Hudak AT, Carrao MV, Kremens RL, Keefe RF. 2023. Integrating active fire behavior observations and multitemporal airborne laser scanning data to quantify fire impacts on tree growth: a pilot study in mature Pinus ponderosa stands. Forest Ecology and Management. 545, 121246. Publication Link.
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Fire x Drought Interactions
FOREST SCIENCE
Sparks AM, Blanco AS, Lad LE, Smith AMS, Adams HD, Tinkham WT. 2024. Pre-fire drought intensity drives post-fire recovery and mortality in Pinus monticola and Pseudotsuga menziesii saplings. Forest Science. 70, 2, 189-201. Publication Link.
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Fire-Induced Mortality Mechanisms
NEW PHYTOLOGIST
Partelli-Feltrin R, Smith AMS, Adams HD, Thompson A, Kolden CA, Yedinak KM, Johnson DM. 2023. Death from hunger or thirst? Phloem dysfunction, rather than xylem hydraulic failure, as a driver of fire-induced conifer mortality, New Phytologist. Publication Link.
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Fire x Drought Interactions
FIRE
Partelli-Feltrin R, Johnson DM. Sparks AM, Adams HD Kolden CA, Nelson AS, Smith AMS. 2020. Drought increases vulnerability of Pinus ponderosa saplings to fire-induced mortality, Fire, 3, 56. Publication Link.
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Fire x Drought Interactions
FIRE
Wilson LA, Spencer RN, Aubrey DP, O’Brien JJ, Smith AMS, Thomas RW, Johnson DM. 2022. Longleaf Pine Seedlings are Extremely Resilient to the Combined Effects of Experimental Fire and Drought, Fire. 5, 5, 128 Publication Link.
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NATURE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
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FIRE
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PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
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Smith AMS Kolden CA, Bowman DMJS. 2018. Biomimicry can help humans to sustainably coexist with fire. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 1827-1829.
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Steady WD, Partelli-Feltrin R, Johnson DM, Sparks AM, Kolden CA, Talhelm AF, Lutz JA, Boschetti L, Hudak AT, Nelson AS, Smith AMS. 2019. The survival of Pinus Ponderosa saplings subjected to increasing levels of fire intensity and impacts on post-fire growth, Fire, 2, 2, 23.
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Partelli-Feltrin R, Smith AMS, Adams HD, Kolden CA, Johnson DM. 2021. Short- and long-term effects of fire on stem hydraulics in Pinus ponderosa saplings, Plant, Cell, and Environment, 44, 3, 696-705.
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Landscape Scale Pyroecophysiology
INTERNATIONAL J OF WILDLAND FIRE
Sparks AM, Smith AMS, Talhelm AF, Kolden CA, Yedinak KM, Johnson DM. 2017. Impacts of fire radiative flux on mature Pinus ponderosa growth and vulnerability to secondary mortality agents, International Journal of Wildland Fire, 26, 1, 95-106.
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Fire x Drought Interactions
INTERNATIONAL J OF WILDLAND FIRE
Sparks AM, Talhelm AF, Partelli-Feltrin R, Smith AMS, Johnson DM, Kolden CA, Boschetti L. 2018. An experimental assessment of the impact of drought and fire on western larch mortality and recovery. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 7, 490-497.
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Core Pyroecophysiology Research
INTERNATIONAL J OF WILDLAND FIRE
Smith AMS, Talhelm AF, Johnson DM, Sparks AM, Yedinak KM, Apostol KG, Tinkham WT, Kolden CA, Abatzoglou JT, Lutz JA, Davis AS, Pregitzer KS, Adams HD, Kremens RL. 2017. Effects of fire radiative energy density doses on Pinus contorta and Larix occidentalis seedling physiology and mortality, International Journal of Wildland Fire, 26, 1, 82-94.
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Pyroecophysiology Ideas
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Regional Assessments
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Drought Physiology Ideas
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INTERNATIONAL J OF WILDLAND FIRE
Smith AMS, Sparks AM, Kolden CA, Abatzoglou JT, Talhelm AF, Johnson DM, Boschetti L, Lutz JA, Apostol KG, Yedinak KM, Tinkham WT, Kremens RJ. 2016. Towards a new paradigm in fire severity research using dose-response experiments, International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25, 158-166.
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ECOSPHERE
McNellis B, Smith AMS, Hudak AT, Strand EK. 2021. Tree mortality in Western U.S. forests forecasted using forest inventory and Random Forest classification, Ecosphere, 12, 3, e03419
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ECOHYDROLOGY
Adams, HD, Luce, CH, Breshears, DD, Weiler, M, Hale, CH, Allen, CD, Smith, AMS, Huxman, TE., 2012. Ecohydrological consequences of drought- and infestation-triggered tree die-off, Ecohydrology, 5, 2, 145-159.
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Core Pyroecophysiology Research
ECOSPHERE
Talhelm AF, Smith AMS, 2018. Litter moisture adsorption is tied to tissue structure, chemistry, and energy concentration, Ecosphere, 9 (4), e02198.
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Regional Scale Pyroecophysiology
BIOGEOSCIENCES
Sparks AM, Kolden CA, Smith AMS, Boschetti L, Johnson DM, Cochrane MA, 2018. Fire intensity impacts on post-fire response of temperate coniferous forest net primary productivity, Biogeosciences, 15, 4, 1173-1183. Publication Link.
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FIRE SCIENCE SYNTHESES
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
Wooster MJ, Roberts GJ, Giglio L, Roy DP, Freeborn P, Boschetti L, Justice CO, Ichoku CM, Schroeder W, Davies DK, Smith AMS, Setzer A Csiszar I, Strydom T, Frost P, Zhang T, Xu W, De Jong M, Johnson JM, Ellison L, Vardrevu KP. Sparks AM, Nguyen H, McCarty JL. Tanpipat V, Schmidt C, San-Miguel-Ayanz J. 2021. Satellite Remote Sensing of Active Fires: History and Current Status, Applications and Future Requirements, Remote Sensing of Environment, 267, 112694.
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PNAS NEXUS
Shuman JK, Balch JK, Barnes RT, Higuera PE, Roos CI, Schwilk DW, Stavros EN, et al. 2022. Reimagine fire science for the Anthropocene, PNAS Nexus, 1, 3, pgac115. Publication Link.
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BIOSCIENCE
Smith, AMS, Kolden, CA, Paveglio, T, Cochrane, MA, Mortitz, MA, Bowman, DMJS, Hoffman, CM, Lutz, J, Queen, LP, Hudak, AT, Alessa, L, Kliskey, AD, Goetz, S, Yedinak, KM, Boschetti, L, Higuera, PE, Flannigan, M, Strand, EK, van Wagtendonk, JW Anderson, JW Stocks, BJ and Abatzoglou, JT. 2016. The science of firescapes: achieving fire resilient communities, BioScience, 66, 2, 130-146.
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NATURE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Bowman DMJS, Williamson G, Kolden CA, Abatzoglou, JT Cochrane MA, Smith AMS. 2017. Human exposure and sensitivity to globally extreme wildfire events, Nature: Ecology and Evolution, 1, 0058.
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BIOSCIENCE
Meddens AJH, Kolden CA, Lutz JA, Smith AMS, Cansler A, Abatzoglou JT, Meigs GW, Downing WM, Krawchuk MA. 2018. Fire refugia: What are they and why do they matter for global change? BioScience, 68, 12, 944-954.
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JAMES
Hanan EJ, Kennedy MC, Ren J, Johnson MC. Smith AMS, 2022. Missing climate feedbacks in fire models: limitations and uncertainties in fuel loadings and the role of decomposition in fine fuel succession, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 14, 3, e2021MS002818. Publication Link.
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RECENT LIDAR AND UAS RESEARCH
FOREST SCIENCE
Sparks AM, Corrao MV, Keefe RF, Smith AMS. 2024. An accuracy assessment of field- and airborne laser scanning-derived individual tree inventories using felled tree measurements and log scaling data in a mixed conifer forest. Forest Science. 70, 3, 228-241. Publication Link.
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FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
Sparks AM, Smith AMS, Hudak AT, Carrao MV, Kremens RL, Keefe RF. 2023. Integrating active fire behavior observations and multitemporal airborne laser scanning data to quantify fire impacts on tree growth: a pilot study in mature Pinus ponderosa stands. Forest Ecology and Management. 545, 121246. Publication Link.
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FIRE
Lad LE, Tinkham WT, Sparks AM. Smith AMS, 2023. Evaluating Predictive Models of Tree Foliar Moisture Content using Multispectral UAS Data: A Laboratory Study, Remote Sensing. 15, 5703. Publication Link.
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FORESTS
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REMOTE SENSING
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REMOTE SENSING
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Sparks AM, Smith AMS. 2022. Accuracy of a LiDAR-based individual tree detection and attribute measurement algorithm developed to inform forest products supply-chain and resource management, Forests. 13, 3.
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Sparks AM, Corrao MV, Smith AMS. 2022. Cross-comparison of Seven Individual Tree Detection Methods using Low and High Pulse Density Airborne Laser Scanning Data, Remote Sensing. 14, 14, 3480. Publication Link.
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Corrao MV, Sparks AM, Smith AMS. 2022. A conventional cruise and felled-tree validation of individual tree dimeter, height, and volume derived from airborne laser scanning data of a loblolly pine (P. taeda) stand in Eastern Texas, Remote Sensing, 14, 11, 2567. Publication Link.
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