Fire-climate Relationships in the Sierra Nevada: Surprises relevant to future fire regime forecasts

• Historical variation in annual re activity is tied to climate only in the montane forests.
• Fires are largely insensitive to winter temperatures but significantly affected by spring and summer temperatures.
• Future impacts of global warming on re activity are largely dependent on the seasonal patterns of warming.
• Lower elevation foothill shrublands and savannahs are not strongly affected by high temperatures in any season.

Speaker: Jon E. Keeley, USGS Research Scientist