Science brief synthesizing research on fire refugia and implications for forest resilience and management.
This FireEarth Science Brief synthesizes emerging research on fire refugia—areas that remain unburned or experience low burn severity within wildfire perimeters—and their importance for biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, and adaptive forest management. Drawing from work conducted in Pacific Northwest forests and broader literature, the brief clarifies terminology, characterizes different types of refugia (including unburned versus low-severity, species-specific versus landscape-process, predictable versus stochastic, and ephemeral versus persistent), and outlines research and management implications.
Fire refugia provide critical ecological functions, including habitat for fire-sensitive species, structural complexity after burns, and seed sources for post-fire recovery. As climate change intensifies fire frequency and severity, understanding the formation, persistence, and management of refugia becomes increasingly important. The brief highlights the need for improved mapping tools, consistent definitions, and integration of refugia into adaptive management strategies to support long-term forest resilience.
The production of this science brief was supported by the National Science Foundation through award DMS-1520873.
This publication is part of an archive and may not meet current digital accessibility standards. CSANR is working to improve digital accessibility of all materials. If you need this content in an alternative format, please contact csanr@wsu.edu.
Authors
Saari, B. and Hall, S. A.
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Suggested Citation
Saari, B., Hall, S. (Ed.). 2021. Disturbance refugia: Thinking broadly about resilience to interacting disturbances. FireEarth Science Brief 15. Washington State University.
Year Published
2022
Areas of Focus
Climate & Environment and Research Engagement & Communication
Topics
Climate Change and Natural Resources
