Studies of fire / climate interactions often focus on large regions that comprise different fire regimes. Here we examine subregions within California and contrast climate/fire interactions in forested and non-forested landscapes over the 50 year period from 1960 – 2010.
Results/Conclusions
On a regional scale, area burned over this time period was positively correlated with average growing season temperature. When this relationship was analyzed by subregions there was no correlation between annual temperatures and area burned within any of the subregions. However, subregions with higher average temperatures experienced higher annual temperatures and larger area burned. A subregional analysis showed marked interactions of climate with forested and non-forested environments.