Wildfire and hydrological processes
Elizabeth W. Boyer, Joseph W. Wagenbrenner, Lu Zhang
Abstract
Abstract Climate change is a crucial factor in increasing wildfire risks, where warmer and drier conditions, increased drought periods and increased lightning strikes have made many areas more susceptible to burning. This special issue focuses on Wildfire and Hydrological Processes, exploring how wildfire has impacted watersheds and water resources. The manuscripts in this collection underscore how wildfire can change the nature of vegetation, characteristics of soils, hydrological flow paths, and residence times of water in the critical zone, and provide new insights toward predictability of wildfire impacts on watersheds. The studies reveal that wildfire can affect water quantity and quality over varying timescales, from during the active burning to years and decades afterward.