Vulnerability of Pacific Northwest Aquatic Ecosystems to Wildfire
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Wildfire risk to aquatic ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest is a growing concern, but this risk is not equally distributed across the region. Furthermore, risks vary among valued endpoints and may be perceived differently by drinking water providers, forest managers, and fish biologist. There is a need for risk assessments that can help understand and efficiently communicate about the role of fire in a given watershed, and propose and explore options so that fire can keep playing this role while maintaining valued ecosystem services. In this presentation we describe a wildfire risk assessment approach that incorporates spatial variation in the mechanisms driving post-wildfire aquatic ecosystem responses across the Pacific Northwest (e.g., see Roon et al. in this session). Our approach combines metrics that capture variability in drivers of risk (hydrology, climate, geology, ecology, and human land use) to create composite indicators that could be used to visualize and communicate wildfire risk to aquatic ecosystems in a digestible form. Our goal is to provide risk maps that are transparent, flexible, informative, and credible. Help shape our products; come to this talk and tell us what you need to know about wildfire risks to aquatic resources you care about and manage!