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Part 2. Historical Perspectives
The
purpose of this section is to briefly present some of sources of confusion
that have arisen in the choice of terminology to
describe active fire characteristics and the subsequent post-fire effects.
<<< Part 1. Intensity and Severity
>>> Part 3.
Simplified
Terminology
Through the course of this synthesis
it became very apparent that the confusion surrounding the terms severity
and intensity has led to several researchers to use the terms
interchangeably within even the same scientific publications. This led two
notable studies to propose that each of fire intensity,
fire severity and burn severity exist on a temporal continuum associated
with pre-fire conditions, active fire characteristics, and post-fire
ecosystem response (DeBano et al. 1998; Jain et al. 2004:
Figure 1 below).
However, the question of where on this continuum the division into these
terms still remained. The figure below is from these studies and it
highlights the potential for confusion.
Figure 1.
Sources:
DeBano et al. 1998; Jain et al. 2004
- The Fire Disturbance Continuum
Unfortunately it is clear form the
remote sensing literature that most studies do not follow this convention or
remain confused on where precisely on this temporal continuum the terms fire
severity and burn severity are separated.
Further
concerns arise from the use of the term ‘severity’. Severity is a value
laden term with negative connotations For instance, we automatically assume
that severity related to bad. As such, its usage when referring to the
effects of wildfires on the environment can lead miscommunication with the
public and policy makers. For example, if we say that “this was a moderately
severe fire” some people could might assume that this means this was a very
bad fire, when in truth it may actually have been just what the environment
needed to maintain its optimal condition. A further concern arises due to
the numerous definitions that exist in the literature. For example the soil
and vegetation fire-effects communities both use the term severity, but are
often referring to quite different effects of the fire.
Cited Literature:
DeBano LF, Neary DG, Ffolliott PF (1998) ‘Fire’s effects on ecosystems.’
(John Wiley and Sons: New York) 333 pp.
Jain T,
Pilliod D, Graham R (2004) Tongue-tied.
Wildfire.
4, 22-26.
Lentile, L.B.,
Holden, Z.
Smith A.M.S,
Falkowski M.J., Hudak, A.T., Morgan,
P., Gessler,
P.E.and
Benson, N.C.,
(2006)
Remote sensing techniques to assess active fire and post-fire effects,
International Journal of Wildland Fire, 15, 3, 319-345.
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