TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing influences on social vulnerability to wildfire using surveys, spatial data and wildfire simulations
AU - Paveglio, Travis B.
AU - Edgeley, Catrin M.
AU - Stasiewicz, Amanda M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Rocky Mountain Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service (agreement # 12-JN-11221637-136 ), the National Science Foundation (Hazard SEES 1520873 ) and by the National Fire Decision Support Center of the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station. We would like to acknowledge Fermin Alcasena and Alan Ager for help simulating wildfire risk inputs for this research.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by Rocky Mountain Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service (agreement # 12-JN-11221637-136), the National Science Foundation (Hazard SEES 1520873) and by the National Fire Decision Support Center of the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station. We would like to acknowledge Fermin Alcasena and Alan Ager for help simulating wildfire risk inputs for this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - A growing body of research focuses on identifying patterns among human populations most at risk from hazards such as wildfire and the factors that help explain performance of mitigations that can help reduce that risk. Emerging policy surrounding wildfire management emphasizes the need to better understand such social vulnerability—or human populations’ potential exposure to and sensitivity from wildfire-related impacts, including their ability to reduce negative impacts from the hazard. Studies of social vulnerability to wildfire often pair secondary demographic data with a variety of vegetation and wildfire simulation models to map potential risk. However, many of the assumptions made by those researchers about the demographic, spatial or perceptual factors that influence social vulnerability to wildfire have not been fully evaluated or tested against objective measures of potential wildfire risk. The research presented here utilizes self-reported surveys, GIS data, and wildfire simulations to test the relationships between select perceptual, demographic, and property characteristics of property owners against empirically simulated metrics for potential wildfire related damages or exposure. We also evaluate how those characteristics relate to property owners’ performance of mitigations or support for fire management. Our results suggest that parcel characteristics provide the most significant explanation of variability in wildfire exposure, sensitivity and overall wildfire risk, while the positive relationship between income or property values and components of social vulnerability stands in contrast to typical assumptions from existing literature. Respondents’ views about agency or government management helped explain a significant amount of variance in wildfire sensitivity, while the importance of wildfire risk in selecting a residence was an important influence on mitigation action. We use these and other results from our effort to discuss updated considerations for determining social vulnerability to wildfire and articulate alternative means to collect such information.
AB - A growing body of research focuses on identifying patterns among human populations most at risk from hazards such as wildfire and the factors that help explain performance of mitigations that can help reduce that risk. Emerging policy surrounding wildfire management emphasizes the need to better understand such social vulnerability—or human populations’ potential exposure to and sensitivity from wildfire-related impacts, including their ability to reduce negative impacts from the hazard. Studies of social vulnerability to wildfire often pair secondary demographic data with a variety of vegetation and wildfire simulation models to map potential risk. However, many of the assumptions made by those researchers about the demographic, spatial or perceptual factors that influence social vulnerability to wildfire have not been fully evaluated or tested against objective measures of potential wildfire risk. The research presented here utilizes self-reported surveys, GIS data, and wildfire simulations to test the relationships between select perceptual, demographic, and property characteristics of property owners against empirically simulated metrics for potential wildfire related damages or exposure. We also evaluate how those characteristics relate to property owners’ performance of mitigations or support for fire management. Our results suggest that parcel characteristics provide the most significant explanation of variability in wildfire exposure, sensitivity and overall wildfire risk, while the positive relationship between income or property values and components of social vulnerability stands in contrast to typical assumptions from existing literature. Respondents’ views about agency or government management helped explain a significant amount of variance in wildfire sensitivity, while the importance of wildfire risk in selecting a residence was an important influence on mitigation action. We use these and other results from our effort to discuss updated considerations for determining social vulnerability to wildfire and articulate alternative means to collect such information.
KW - Demographics
KW - Risk
KW - Simulation
KW - Social vulnerability
KW - Wildfire
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042703757&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85042703757&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.068
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.068
M3 - Article
C2 - 29505998
AN - SCOPUS:85042703757
VL - 213
SP - 425
EP - 439
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
SN - 0301-4797
ER -