Aspen Bibliography
Engineering Fire-Resilient Forests: Applications of Remote Sensing to Assess Aspen’s Distribution and Potential to Reduce Fire Hazard
Document Type
Thesis/Dissertation
Publisher
University of Colorado Boulder
First Page
1
Last Page
155
Publication Date
7-23-2025
Abstract
Across the United States and globally, wildfire impacts to the built environment and ecosystems are driving increasing costs to society. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to reducing wildfire hazard for communities. The convergence of climate- and human-driven changes in wildfire activity requires collective action, innovative science and technology, and intentional management to mitigate the fire hazard. Addressing where and how we build, increasing wildland fire use and prescribed burning, and targeted fuels mitigation in hazard hotspots all play a significant role. However, traditional fuel treatments such as thinning or clear cutting often require revisitation to maintain positive benefits, creating persistent management challenges for communities. The expansion of “fire-resistant” species, such as quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), has been proposed as one potential solution (or another “tool in the toolbox”) to reducing fire hazard in some regions, particularly in the Southern Rockies. Beyond the potential for aspen to reduce fire hazard, its ability to respond readily in post-disturbance landscapes provides critical forest resilience at a time when that has become more challenging due to compound disturbance interactions, a more fire-conducive climate, and increased area burned at high severity. However, more information is needed to understand where, how, and when aspen might moderate fire behavior, especially in the context of recent extreme fire activity. The growing widespread availability of remote sensing and geospatial data before, during, and after wildfires offers a promising avenue for elucidating answers to these questions and informing management decisions for this important forest species.
In this dissertation, I present a series of studies which leverage remote sensing and geospatial analysis, environmental data science, statistical and machine learning and ecological principles to explore one potentially novel solution to wildfire hazard: the management of quaking aspen as a living fire break. To this end, we first developed new reproducible methods for mapping aspen at a higher spatial resolution than existing products, identifying an average patch size of 0.53 ha in the Southern Rockies. These new maps have major implications for management decision-making, as small patches may be disproportionally important for both maintaining and expanding existing aspen stands. Next, we demonstrate a novel application of satellite-derive fire radiative power (FRP) harmonized with burn severity, national wall-to-wall forest inventory, and geographic setting to elucidate the relationship between aspen forest composition and structure on fire intensity and severity in the Southern Rockies. We found that the proportion of forested area that is made up of aspen has a significant influence on both intensity and severity, with a -8.1% reduction for every unit increase in proportional aspen area. Further, we found that the influence of aspen dominance diminishes greatly under more extreme fire weather but may still offer a buffering effect where it co-occurs with other forest types, especially lodgepole. This demonstrates the capacity for aspen forests, especially in greater proportions, to reduce extreme fire behavior in some settings. Finally, we harmonized a suite of environmental data to map and prioritize firesheds in the Southern Rockies based on archetypes of aspen management now and into the future. This exercise identified 93 (5.4%) firesheds where aspen management for fire hazard reduction may be advantageous and successful and provides a rich database geared towards management prioritization and planning. Beyond this, we highlight other firesheds with different management scenarios.This overall effort contributes new data and ecological understanding of aspen’s distribution and potential to reduce fire hazard.
Recommended Citation
Cook, Maxwell C. 2025. Engineering Fire-resilient Forests: Applications of Remote Sensing to Assess Aspen's Distribution and Potential to Reduce Fire Hazard. University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO. [PhD dissertation]