@article{fdi:010092039,
  title = {{R}oad fragment edges enhance wildfire incidence and intensity, while suppressing global burned area},
  author = {{B}owring, {S}. {P}. {K}. and {L}i, {W}. and {M}ouillot, {F}lorent and {R}osan, {T}. {M}. and {C}iais, {P}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{L}andscape fragmentation is statistically correlated with both increases and decreases in wildfire burned area ({BA}). {T}hese different directions-of-impact are not mechanistically understood. {H}ere, road density, a land fragmentation proxy, is implemented in a {CMIP}6 coupled land-fire model, to represent fragmentation edge effects on fire-relevant environmental variables. {F}ragmentation caused modelled {BA} changes of over +/- 10% in 16% of [0.5 degrees] grid-cells. {O}n average, more fragmentation decreased net {BA} globally (-1.5%), as estimated empirically. {H}owever, in recently-deforested tropical areas, fragmentation drove observationally-consistent {BA} increases of over 20%. {G}lobally, fragmentation-driven fire {BA} decreased with increasing population density, but was a hump-shaped function of it in forests. {I}n some areas, fragmentation-driven decreases in {BA} occurred alongside higher-intensity fires, suggesting the decoupling of fire severity traits. {T}his mechanistic model provides a starting point for quantifying policy-relevant fragmentation-fire impacts, whose results suggest future forest degradation may shift fragmentation from net global fire inhibitor to net fire driver. {W}idespread global occurrence of roads break up the landscape and may be a powerful driver of increasing fire activity and intensity in less populated and less frequently burned regions, such as tropical forests, while decreasing fire on average at global scale.},
  keywords = {},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{N}ature {C}ommunications},
  volume = {15},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {9176 [16 p.]},
  year = {2024},
  DOI = {10.1038/s41467-024-53460-6},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010092039},
}