Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service photo by Mary Anne Sword Sayer.

Longleaf pine ecosystems must have fire in order to be healthy.

Fire can be dangerous, but it is also an essential process of nature. Many ecosystems can tolerate fire, and some require it. Some of the South’s most iconic landscapes, such as longleaf pine forests, depend on fire. Fire organizes ecosystems, sorting out the species that tolerate it from those that cannot.

As the climate warms, wildfires are becoming bigger, hotter, more costly, and more dangerous. At the Southern Research Station, we are exploring this issue, as well as one of the primary ways of mitigating it: prescribed fire. Prescribed fires are a key practice for reducing hazardous fuels. In some areas, prescribed fires are also an important part of ecosystem restoration and management.

We are developing tools for mitigating wildfire risk and managing prescribed fire safely. For example, QUIC-Fire is a fast 3D simulation tool managers can use for planning prescribed fires. We are also finding that in some areas, drones, or unmanned aerial systems, can be used to ignite prescribed fires.