wildfire Articles
-
Forest property insurance: an application to Portuguese woodlands
Fire is the biggest forest hazard, especially in Mediterranean climate countries, leading to desertification and collapse (Naveh, 2007). Wildfire is among the most dramatic threats to forests (Goldammer, 2004). In many countries, it is not easy to find companies that want to insure forests stands. This can be explained by the following reasons. Firstly, in many countries, forest insurance is not ...
-
The influence of forest harvesting on landscape spatial patterns and old-growth-forest fragmentation in southeast British Columbia
Habitat fragmentation is considered one of the major conservation issues of recent decades. We tested predictions of landscape patterns in a 352,253-ha managed forest area in southeast British Columbia. We did this by focussing on forest fragmentation concerns among old-growth, harvest, and wildfire patches in 44 delineated landscapes using patch indices as measures of landscape pattern. We found ...
-
Biomass harvesting: how forest thinning can help prevent wildfires
Every year, wildfires plague the nation. Once there’s an ignition source, dry foliage in country areas can quickly go up in flames, spreading through woodlands or grasslands quickly. While some wildfires can be small, others can be devastating and blaze through thousands of acres. While there’s no way to predict where wildfires may start, there are ways to minimize the damage of ...
-
Save Your Grapes from Smoke Taint with Purfresh Wine
Purfresh Wine’s ozone (O3) technology helps vineyards overcome the problems caused by wildfire smoke by treating grapes pre-crush to improve fermentation, overall wine quality, and remove smoke taint. ...
-
Wild Fires & Indoor Air Quality
Wildfires emit a cocktail of hazardous air pollutants, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and carbon monoxide. These pollutants not only deteriorate outdoor air quality but also infiltrate indoor environments. As a result, residents in wildfire-prone regions are at risk of breathing in polluted air, which can lead to various health issues. The Role of ...
-
The protean relationship between boreal forest landscape structure and red squirrel distribution at multiple spatial scales
This paper investigates two fundamental questions in landscape ecology: what influence does landscape context, or the composition of the matrix, have on an animals’ response to landscape structure, and how does this relationship extrapolate between landscapes? We investigate how the distribution of North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in the boreal mixedwood forest is influenced ...
-
Canopy dynamics and human caused disturbance on a semi-arid landscape in the Rocky Mountains, USA
Invasion of grasslands by woody plants has been identified as a key indicator of changes in ecosystem structure and function in arid and semi-arid rangelands throughout the world. We investigated changes in the balance between woody and herbaceous components of a semi-arid landscape in western Colorado (USA) using historical aerial photography. Aerial photographs from 1937, 1965–67, and 1994 were ...
-
Ozone containers pique interest of Napa Valley winemakers with goal of mitigating smoke taint
When the wildfires in October of 2017 hit, the grapes at St. Helena's Quintessa were left largely unaffected; already harvested and on their merry way to becoming wine. But when the smoke and fire came earlier than expected last year in 2020, there wasn’t much winemaker Rebekah Wineburg thought she could do about it. “From the first moment, I decided we were going to do a complete ...
-
Effect of charcoal quantity on microbial biomass and activity in temperate soils
Wildfire-produced charcoal is a common component of soils, affecting a range of important abiotic and biotic soil processes. Our ability to predict the effects of charcoal addition to soil is currently limited, however, by our understanding of how charcoal affects the soil microbial community mediating many of these processes. This study sought to improve our understanding of the relationship ...
-
In 2016, rain forest conservation needs to focus on these two things
Giving logged areas a chance to recover and limiting the expansion of roads are vital to ensuring the health of these important ecosystems. When you look to the year ahead, what do you see? Ensia recently invited eight global thought leaders to share their vision for the environment as it relates to business, culture, ecosystems, energy, food, health, water and the world (see more). In this ...
By Ensia
-
Why Our Buildings Should Be Made From Wood
If done correctly, using wood for buildings would have a number of environmental benefits without loss of biodiversity or carbon storage capacity. Although it may seem counterintuitive, it would be better if we built buildings from wood than from concrete, brick, aluminium and steel. We use millions of tons of these modern materials every year. They have many valuable properties, but are ...
By Ensia
-
Powdery mildew on plants - combat strategies for cannabis
Hey there, fellow cannabis grower! We know how passionate you are about cultivating healthy plants, which is why we’re here to help you tackle a common problem: powdery mildew. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about dealing with powdery mildew on your precious cannabis plants. By the end, you’ll feel empowered to protect your green beauties and ...
-
Upgrade Your Farm With Government Grants
The cost of upgrading farms using modern technology can be significant. Fortunately, there are a number of Canadian government grants for farmers, ranchers, and producers to alleviate these financial burdens. Technology plays a major role today in enhancing a farm’s production efficiency, yields and profits over the ...
-
Bumper 2011 Grain Harvest Fails to Rebuild Global Stocks
The world’s farmers produced more grain in 2011 than ever before. Estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show the global grain harvest coming in at 2,295 million tons, up 53 million tons from the previous record in 2009. Consumption grew by 90 million tons over the same period to 2,280 million tons. Yet with global grain production actually falling short of consumption in 7 ...
-
How did palm oil become such a problem — and what can we do about it?
Production of this ubiquitous ingredient is devastating for the environment. Solutions are complex, but they are out there. Last August, from the window of a jet high over Sumatra, I counted nearly a dozen plumes of smoke rising from the vast jungles and plantations below. Some more than a half-mile wide, they looked like pillars holding up the sky. That week the Indonesian Disaster Mitigation ...
By Ensia
Need help finding the right suppliers? Try XPRT Sourcing. Let the XPRTs do the work for you