FireCLIME Vulnerability Assessment
The Southwest FireCLIME Vulnerability Assessment (FireCLIME VA) allows users to compare management strategies under various climate scenarios and gauge the potential effectiveness of those strategies for reducing undesirable impacts of climate on wildfire regimes and resulting impacts of wildfire on natural ecosystems.
This tool is quick, flexible, and amendable to a range of data inputs including literature review, expert knowledge, and monitoring activities. Use it iteratively to explore various fire-climate-management scenarios for your ecosystems of interest.
Climate Scenarios
Assess vulnerability under different climate change scenarios and projections
Fire-Climate Interactions
Evaluate complex interactions between changing fire regimes and climate conditions
Ecosystem Vulnerability
Quantify ecosystem components' vulnerability to fire-climate stressors
Management Comparison
Compare effectiveness of different management strategies and treatments
Scenario Building Module
I. Site Information
II. Climate Scenario Variables
Indicate expected changes for each climate variable under your chosen climate scenario:
III. Current Fire Regime Status
Indicate whether each fire regime component is currently departed from Desired Future Conditions:
Exposure Assessment
Step 1: How will each fire regime component change under your climate scenario?
Step 2: What does that change represent with respect to Desired Future Conditions (DFC)?
Exposure Scoring Guide:
- Score = 1: Fire regime changes AND moves further from DFC
- Score = 0: No change OR change moves closer to DFC
- Score = -1: No fire regime change but conditions move toward DFC
Intrinsic Sensitivity Assessment
Answer these questions about your study area's baseline conditions. These factors contribute to intrinsic sensitivity.
Note: Your responses to fire regime departure questions from the Scenario Building module are included in this assessment. Departed fire regimes are considered additional sensitivities.
These values are automatically included from your previous responses.
Component Response Matrix
For each fire regime component, evaluate how ecosystem and fuel components respond. Will the change move components further from, closer to, or maintain distance from Desired Future Conditions?
Treatment Options Assessment Optional
Instructions
This module consists of three parts relating to potential management effects for fire regime, fuel, and ecosystem components.
Rate on a scale from Poor (1) through Excellent (5) how well each treatment is expected to bring each component closer to DFC.
Important: If a treatment has a negative impact (moves a component further from DFC), leave the selection blank. The tool does not incorporate potential negative impacts, but leaving it blank ensures the treatment doesn't show improvement.
Treatment 1
Fire Regime Component Effectiveness
Your original fire regime responses:
Fuel Component Effectiveness
Rate how well this treatment improves fuel conditions (brings them closer to DFC).
Ecosystem Component Effectiveness
Rate how well this treatment improves ecosystem conditions (brings them closer to DFC).
Treatment 2
Fire Regime Component Effectiveness
Fuel Component Effectiveness
Ecosystem Component Effectiveness
Treatment 3
Fire Regime Component Effectiveness
Fuel Component Effectiveness
Ecosystem Component Effectiveness
Overall FireCLIME Vulnerability Score
(Scale: -7 to +10, where higher scores indicate greater vulnerability)
Score Interpretation Guide
Exposure Score
Range: 0 to 4 (sum across fire regime components)
Measures expected fire regime changes under climate scenario. Each component scored 0, 1, or -1.
Intrinsic Sensitivity
Range: 0 to 10
Baseline vulnerability based on system characteristics. Based on 13 sensitivity questions.
Impact Score
Range: -10 to +10
Combined effect of exposure and sensitivity. Higher scores = more negative impact on ecosystem/fuel components.
Overall Vulnerability
Range: -7 to +10
Final vulnerability score accounting for all factors including treatment effects.
Detailed Results Analysis
Fire Regime Component Impacts
These scores represent the cumulative impact of climate changes on each fire regime component across all ecosystem and fuel responses:
Ecosystem & Fuel Component Vulnerability
These scores represent how fire regime changes (due to climate) affect each ecosystem and fuel component (Range: -10 to +10):
Assessment Summary
Key Findings:
- Complete assessment to generate findings
Management Recommendations
â ī¸ Note: Under construction - these statements are produced as a trial run and should be reviewed with professional judgment before implementation.
Complete vulnerability assessment to receive specific management recommendations based on your ecosystem's risk profile.