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Project ID:

25-1-01-19

Year:

2025

Date Started:

09/01/2025

Date Completed:

Title:

Understanding and mitigating trade-offs between fuel reduction methods and ecosystem services in grasslands

Project Proposal Abstract:

Proposal Purpose & Objectives. There is an urgent need to reduce fuels in grasslands to mitigate the severe threat that grassland wildfire poses to millions of people living near this ecosystem type in the Western U.S. However, decisions concerning grassland fuel reduction methods pose unique challenges not shared by better-studied forest methods. Specifically, regrowth and shifts in species composition can be rapid in grasslands. Thus, while different fuel reduction methods may be comparably effective at reducing fuel loads in the near-term (i.e., 1 year), some methods could shift ecosystems to states that favor higher fuel accumulation and combustibility in the long-term (e.g., 2-5+ years after treatment), creating a trade-off between short-term efficacy and long-term fire risk mitigation. Furthermore, we have a poor understanding of which fuel reduction methods are most effective for minimizing trade-offs between fire risk mitigation and conserving critical ecosystem services (ES) provided by grasslands. Such trade-offs could be minimized by guiding species composition through seeding species into treated areas. However, despite the potential of this approach, we have limited knowledge of which species can be seeded to both reduce fire risk and provision ES. To fill these gaps, we will pursue the following objectives by building on existing partnerships with land managers in Boulder County, Colorado.
O1. Quantify the impacts of three candidate fuel reduction methods (burning, grazing, mowing), to answer the question: Which fuel reduction method best reduces fire risk in the near- and long-term?
O2. Assess impacts of fuel reduction methods on ES, to answer the question: Which fuel reduction method best minimizes trade-offs between reducing fire risk and conserving ES?
O3. Identify species that can be seeded into fuel reduction-treated areas to minimize fire risk and promote ES, to answer the question: Which species can be added to shift species composition to minimize trade-offs?
Activities to be Performed.
O1. We will extend an existing network of observational fuel survey plots to quantify fuel characteristics in areas 2-5 years after mowing, burning, or grazing disturbance, and then we will compare these fuel characteristics to near-term fuel characteristics measured in a pre-existing experiment where burning, grazing, and mowing are applied.
O2. We will measure indicators of locally valued grassland soil ES in the observational and experimental plots.
O3. We will select species based on traits that may influence their effects on fire risk and soil ES. In the experimental plots, we will then establish additional plots where mixes of species will be seeded.
Expected Deliverables. We will identify which of three fuel reduction methods best reduce fire risk and maximize ES in the long-term (O1, O2), and will synthesize these results into a Research Brief for land managers disseminated through the Southern Rockies Fire Science Network. We will quantify the effects of species, due to their traits, on fire risk and ES (O3) and translate this understanding into a quantitative decision support tool in the form of a web-app. Managers can use this tool to calculate the impacts of different scenarios of fuel reduction treatments and seeding, and identify optimal interventions. Benefits. This project will provide land managers in the Colorado Front Range, and in other grassland areas, information to help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and a tool to make informed decisions. This project will benefit the government by enabling land management that protects the Nation’s natural resources and safeguards life and property. Moreover, by informing planning for wildfire preparedness, this project will benefit the public. Finally, this project will advance our scientific understanding by growing our knowledge of the traits of species that are promoted by fuel reduction and how those traits influence fire risk and ES.

Principal Investigator:

Katharine N Suding

Agency/Organization:

University of Colorado-Boulder

Branch or Dept:

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Agreements Contact	Kristi L Winseck	University of Colorado-Boulder	Sponsored Programs
Budget Contact	Kristi L Winseck	University of Colorado-Boulder	Sponsored Programs
Co-Principal Investigator	Jonathan J. Henn	University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign	Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences
Student Investigator	Advyth Ramachandran	University of Colorado-Boulder	Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology