Fig. 6
From: Fire regimes of the Southern Appalachians may radically shift under climate change
Spatial distribution of the fire return interval (FRI: years simulated/fires that occurred) simulated by the SCRPPLE fire model across the Southern Appalachian landscape under four climate scenarios. Each map represents the combined FRI of seven simulations (wildland fire plus prescribed fire). The white outline denotes the study boundary. Climate models are LowT/LowV (MRI CGCM3 RCP 8.5), LowT/HighV (CNRM CM5 RCP 8.5), HighT/LowV (IPSL CM5A MR RCP 8.5), and HighT/HighV (HadGEM2 ES365 RCP 8.5). In this study, we used the LANDIS-II model to simulate the Southern Appalachians, USA, under four CMIP5 climate scenarios representing increased drought trend, increased drought variability, their combination, and a scenario with neither increase. These simulations were compared to the historical climate and each other to understand changes in fire patterns and landscape-scale changes in species composition and biomass