Fire deficit increases wildfire risk for many communities in the Canadian boreal forest
This paper investigates if decades of aggressive fire suppression in the boreal biome of Canada has reduced the proportion of recently burned forests (RBF) near human communities, and thereby inadvertently increased the risk of wildfire. The researchers' analysis of 160 communities across boreal Canada shows that 54.4% exhibited a deficit or lack of RBF, whereas only 15.0% showed a surplus. Overall, a majority (74.4%) of communities are surrounded by a low (≤10%) proportion of RBF, indicating a higher vulnerability of those communities to wildfire. These findings suggest that suppression policies are increasing flammability in the wildland-urban interface of boreal Canada.
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