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post_fire_debris_flow_LNF_photo.pngOver the past several decades, the occurrence of large fires has increased in many western US forests. Associated with the rise in fire activity is the incidence of post-fire debris flows and their effects on watershed resources and associated communities. Post-fire debris flows can be defined as fast moving, gravity-driven landslides containing mud, sand, soil, rock, water, and air and traveling downslope on recently burned landscapes. The resources listed here address factors that influence the occurrence and severity of debris flows, potential consequences of post-fire debris flows, debris flow assessment, and mitigation efforts such as pre-fire fuel treatment and post-fire soil, slope, and channel stabilization.

This hot topic was developed in partnership with Montana State University and Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Conference Proceedings

Technical Reports/White Papers

Publications

2024

Suspended-sediment response to wildfire and a major post-fire flood on the Colorado Front Range
Sandra E. Ryan et al.
Probabilistic assessment of postfire debris-flow inundation in response to forecast rainfall
Alexander B. Prescott et al.

2023

How long do runoff-generated debris-flow hazards persist after wildfire?
Andrew Graber et al.
Predicting burn severity for integration with post-fire debris-flow hazard assessment: a case study from the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA
Adam G. Wells et al.
Fire-produced coarse woody debris and its role in sediment storage on hillslopes
Kailey V. Adams et al.
A data-driven evaluation of post-fire landslide susceptibility
Elsa S. Culler et al.

2021

Hillslope sediment fence catch efficiencies and particle sorting for post-fire rain storms
Codie Wilson et al.
Post-fire management impacts on soil hydrology
Demetrio Antonio Zema
Effectiveness of post-fire soil erosion mitigation treatments: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Antonio Girona-García et al.

2020

Quantifying long-term post-fire sediment delivery and erosion mitigation effectiveness
Peter R. Robichaud et al.
Temporal evolution of measured and simulated infiltration following wildfire in the Colorado Front Range, USA: shifting thresholds of runoff generation and hydrologic hazards
Brian A. Ebel
Debris-flow dominated sediment transport through a channel network after wildfire
Petter Nyman et al.
PEMIP: Post-fire erosion model inter-comparison project
Stephanie Kampf et al.
Evaluating post-wildfire logging-slash cover treatment to reduce hillslope erosion after salvage logging using ground measurements and remote sensing
Peter R. Robichaud et al.
Hillslope sediment production after wildfire and post-fire forest management in northern California
Ryan P. Cole et al.
Evaluating post‐wildfire logging‐slash cover treatment to reduce hillslope erosion after salvage logging using ground measurements and remote sensing
Peter R. Robichaud et al.
Connectivity of post-fire runoff and sediment from nested hillslopes and watersheds
Codie Wilson et al.

2019

Partitioned by process: measuring post-fire debris-flow and rill erosion with structure from motion photogrammetry
Nicholas G. Ellett et al.
Hydrologic and erosion responses to compaction and added surface cover in post-fire logged areas: Isolating splash, interrill and rill erosion
Sergio A. Prats et al.
Coupling wildfire spread and erosion models to quantify post-fire erosion before and after fuel treatments
Michele Salis et al.
Post-fire soil erosion mitigation at the scale of swales using forest logging residues at a reduced application rate
Sergio A. Prats et al.
Progress in simplifying hydrologic model parameterization for broad applications to post-wildfire flooding and debris-flow hazards
Francis K. Rengers et al.
Physical vulnerabilities from wildfires: Flames, floods, and debris flows
Daniel G. Neary et al.
Impacts of successive wildfire on soil hydraulic properties: implications for debris flow hazards and system resilience
Luke A. McGuire et al.
Partitioned by process: Measuring post‐fire debris‐flow and rill erosion with structure from motion photogrammetry
Nicholas G. Ellett et al.
Wildfire as a catalyst for hydrologic and geomorphic change
Francis K. Rengers
Evolution of debris-flow initiation mechanisms and sediment sources during a sequence of post-wildfire rainstorms
Luke A. McGuire et al.
Geomorphic complexity and sensitivity in channels to fire and floods in mountain catchments
Dan Brogan et al.
Post-wildfire sediment cascades: a modeling framework linking debris flow generation and network-scale sediment routing
Brendan P. Murphy et al.

2018

Estimating post-fire debris-flow hazards prior to wildfire using a statistical analysis of historical distributions of fire severity from remote sensing data
Dennis M. Staley et al.
Empirical models of annual post-fire erosion on mulched and unmulched hillslopes
Sarah R. Schmeer et al.
Rainfall thresholds for post-fire runoff and sediment delivery from plot to watershed scales
Codie Wilson et al.

2017

Short-term effects of post-fire salvage logging on runoff and soil erosion
Maruxa C. Malvar et al.
Rice straw mulch for post-fire erosion control: assessing non-target effects on vegetation communities
Kristen L. Shive et al.
Post-disturbance sediment recovery: Implications for watershed resilience
Sara Rathburn et al.
Capturing spatiotemporal variation in wildfires for improving postwildfire debris‐flow hazard assessments [Chapter 20]
Jessica R. Haas et al.
Natural hazard modeling and uncertainty analysis [Chapter 2]
Matthew P. Thompson et al.

2016

The effects of climate change and extreme wildfire events on runoff erosion over a mountain watershed
Gregory K. Gould et al.
Influences of vegetation disturbance on hydrogeomorphic response following wildfire
Kevin D. Hyde et al.
Can pore-clogging by ash explain post-fire runoff?
Cathelijine Stoof et al.
Validation of a probabilistic post-fire erosion model
Peter R. Robichaud et al.
Rapid response tools and datasets for post-fire modeling: linking earth observations and process-based hydrological models to support post-fire remediation
Mary Ellen Miller et al.

2015

Effects of post-fire salvage logging and a skid trail treatment on ground cover, soils, and sediment production in the interior western United States
Joseph W. Wagenbrenner et al.
Post-wildfire debris flows in southern British Columbia, Canada
Peter Jordan
Predicting spatial distribution of postfire debris flows and potential consequences for native trout in headwater streams
Edwin R. Sedell et al.
Hillslope erosion two and three years after wildfire, skyline salvage logging, and site preparation in southern Oregon, USA
Robert A. Slesak et al.

2014

New insights into debris-flow hazards from an extraordinary event in the Colorado Front Range
Jeffrey A. Coe et al.
The temporal evolution of wildfire ash and implications for post-fire infiltration
Victoria N. Balfour et al.
Modelling the effects of fire and rainfall regimes on extreme erosion events in forested landscapes
Owen D. Jones et al.

2013

Frequency–magnitude distribution of debris flows compiled from global data, and comparison with post-fire debris flows in the western U.S.
Karen L. Riley et al.
Hydro-geomorphic response models for burned areas and their applications in land management
Petter Nyman et al.
Hydrologic and erosion responses of sagebrush steppe following juniper encroachment, wildfire, and tree cutting
Frederick B. Pierson et al.
Comparison of debris-flow volumes from burned and unburned areas
Paul M. Santi et al.

2012

Enhanced sediment delivery in a changing climate in semi-arid mountain basins: implications for water resource management and aquatic habitat in the northern Rocky Mountains
Jaime R. Goode et al.

2011

Predicting post-fire hillslope erosion in forest lands of the western United States
Mary Ellen Miller et al.
Physical, chemical, and hydrological properties of ponderosa pine ash
Emmanuel J. Gabet et al.

2010

Predicting the probability and volume of postwildfire debris flows in the intermountain western United States
Susan H. Cannon et al.

2009

The increasing wildfire and post-fire debris-flow threat in Western USA, and implications for consequences of climate change
Susan H. Cannon et al.
Climate and wildfire area burned in western US ecoprovinces, 1916-2003
Jeremy S. Littell et al.
Adapting the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model for forest applications
Shuhui Dun et al.

2008

The effect of ash on runoff and erosion after a severe forest wildfire, Montana, USA
Scott W. Woods et al.
A morphometric analysis of gullies scoured by post-fire progressively bulked debris flows in southwest Montana, USA
Emmanuel J. Gabet et al.
Sources of debris flow material in burned areas
Paul M. Santi et al.
Empirical models to predict the volumes of debris flows generated by recently burned basins in the western U.S.
J. E. Gartner et al.

2007

Modeling soil erosion on steep sagebrush rangeland before and after prescribed fire
Corey A. Moffet et al.
First-year post-fire erosion rates in Bitterroot National Forest, Montana
Kevin M. Spigel et al.

2006

Evaluation of post-wildfire debris flow mitigation methods and development of decision-support tools
Paul M. Santi et al.
Wildfire as a hydrological and geomorphological agent

2005

Basic principles of forest fuel reduction treatments
James K. Agee et al.
Fish and stream habitat risks from uncharacteristic wildfire: observations from 17 years of fire-related disturbances on the Boise National Forest, Idaho
Timothy A. Burton
Measurement of post-fire hillslope erosion to evaluate and model rehabilitation treatment effectiveness and recovery
Peter R. Robichaud
Land use and land cover effects on runoff processes: fire
Charles H. Luce

2004

Effects of Wildfire on soils and watershed processes
George G. Ice et al.
Modeling of the interactions between forest vegetation, disturbances, and sediment yields
Erkan Istanbulluoglu et al.
Fire-induced erosion and millennial-scale climate change in northern ponderosa pine forests
Jennifer L. Pierce et al.

2003

Post-fire erosional processes: In the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain region
Steven M. Wondzell et al.
A review of prescribed burning effectiveness in fire hazard reduction
Paulo M. Fernandes et al.
Time, space, and episodicity of physical disturbance in streams
Daniel Miller et al.
Postfire erosional processes in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions
Steven M. Wondzell et al.
Effects of post-wildfire erosion on channel environments, Boise River, Idaho
Lee E. Benda et al.

2001

Developing a post-fire flood chronology and recurrence probability from alluvial stratigraphy in the Buffalo Creek watershed, Colorado, USA
John G. Elliott et al.

2000

Measuring and modelling soil erosion processes in forests
William J. Elliot et al.
Disturbance regimes of stream and riparian systems — a disturbance‐cascade perspective
Futoshi Nakamura et al.

1999

Debris-flow generation from recently burned watersheds
Susan H. Cannon

1998

Fire-related hyperconcentrated and debris flows on Storm King Mountain, Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Susan H. Cannon et al.

1997

Stocastic forcing of sediment supply to the channel network from landsliding and debris flow
Lee E. Benda et al.
Stochastic forcing of sediment supply to channel networks from landsliding and debris flow
Lee E. Benda et al.

1991

A simple definition of a landslide
David Milne Cruden

1990

Runoff and soil loss following the 1988 Yellowstone fires
Richard A. Marston et al.
Predicting deposition of debris flows in mountain channels
Lee E. Benda et al.

1988

The role of disturbance in stream ecology
Vincent H. Resh et al.

Presentations

May 23, 2014
Effects of severe fire on watersheds