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Susan Cordell

Aim To provide the first regional analysis of contemporary drivers of Pacific Island fire regimes. Location Islands of Palau, Yap, Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae. Time Period 1950-present. Methods We used land cover, soil maps and contemporary fire histories to (1) describe the relationships among fire activity, vegetation, rainfall and island geography and population; (2) examine the spatial associations of forest and savanna vegetation with respect to fire and soil types; and (3) link fire and savanna distribution to intra-annual and inter-annual rainfall variability. Results Savanna extent was positively correlated with island age and the range of mean monthly rainfall. The percent of area...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
How Do You Know What to Plant Where? Developing A Climate-Resilient Restoration Approach that Combines Functional, Climate, and Geographic Data
One of the key needs in restoration planning is designing climate‐resilient ecosystems. However,choosing which species to use in restoration is often done with limited information on species traits andresource use patterns, community interactions, or future climatic conditions. We propose a landscapelevel approach that integrates the shifting niches of species under new climate regimes (using speciesdistribution models, SDMs) and the functional trait profiles of species. Such an approach can beparticularly fruitful in the lowland wet forest (LWF) ecosystem in Hawai‘i, which will face non‐analogclimate regimes, but where little work on climate responses of ecosystems has been done. In this study,we ask whether a...
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Future of Fire in the Pacific Islands: Towards a National Synthesis for Wildland Fire Under a Changing Climate
Wildfire is a significant yet underappreciated issue on Pacific Islands that threatens ecosystems from ridge-tops to reefs, including native species, waters, human communities, and natural and cultural resources. In the Hawaiian archipelago, the percentage of land burned annually is equal or greater than that burned across the western United States, with most fires occurring in drier nonnative grasslands and shrublands, which make up 25% of Hawaiʻi’s total land area. As island communities face increased wildfire risk due to climate change and other factors, such as continued plant invasions, collaborative bio-cultural stewardship approaches to adaptation will be critical to wildfire management. Fire causes and effects...
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Climate Change, Variability, and Drought in the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands – Working with Managers to Mitigate the Impacts of Drought and Wildfire
Some areas of the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) are experiencing a decline in precipitation and streamflow and an increase in the number of severe droughts. These changes can have wide-reaching implications, affecting the water supply, native vegetation and wildlife, wildfire patterns, and the spread of invasive species. As ecosystems become altered by invasive species and as particularly hotter, more variable climates emerge, it is critical that scientists produce locally relevant, timely, and actionable science products for managers to prepare for and cope with the impacts of drought. Simultaneously, it is important that managers are able to both access this information and shape the types of data products...
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