Mitigation Strategies for Wildfires

Abstract

Fire is a natural disturbance and a key driver of biome distribution and vegetation community composition worldwide. Future climate change scenarios predict an increase in wildfire activity such as increases in fire extent, severity or frequency in many ecosystems. Fuel management is the primary means for land and fire managers to reduce the risk from future fires. There are multiple fuel management strategies used, with varying levels of effectiveness. In this chapter, we discuss mitigation strategies for wildfire in the context of fuel management, with a primary focus on reducing the impacts to people and property. We consider a range of different fuel management strategies, including pres..