Fixing a snag in carbon emissions estimates from wildfires

摘要: Wildfire is an essential earth-system process, impacting ecosystem processes and the carbon cycle. Forest fires are becoming more frequent severe, yet gaps exist in modeling of fire on vegetation dynamics. Strategies for reducing dioxide (CO2 ) emissions from wildfires include increasing tree harvest, largely based public assumption that burn live forests to ground, despite observations indicating less than 5% mature biomass actually consumed. This misconception also reflected though excessive combustion trees models. Here, we show regional estimates using widely implemented coefficients 59%-83% higher field observations. Using unique datasets before after improved model, provide strong evidence these large overestimates can be reduced by realistic factors accurately quantifying standing dead decompose over decades centuries ("snags"). Most model development focuses area burned; our results reveal representing impacts ecosystems. improvements, find western US forest have emitted 851 ± 228 Tg CO2 (~half alternative estimates) last 17 years, which minor compared 16,200 fossil fuels across region.