Fuel Break Treatments in the Sagebrush Biome of the Western United States, 1953 - 2018

To better inform fuel break planning and assessment, we developed a comprehensive spatial database of known existing fuel breaks from 1953 to 2018 throughout the western United States. Each fuel break is represented as a polygon in the database and is attributed with the date of installation, the treatment type employed, and the data source. The availability of these data promotes the development of a monitoring framework to track the maintenance and longevity of different treatment types, as well as record the use, conditions, and outcomes of suppression activities at specific fuel break locations. The data also facilitate the quantification of important temporally varying qualities that may influence suppression, such as vegetation composition and precipitation conditions that mediate fuels. This information may help wildfire crews and fuels program managers prioritize which fuel breaks to maintain and use. Additionally, these data can contribute to studies of ecological impacts of fuel breaks on sagebrush ecosystems, such as their potential contribution to annual grass invasion, effects on sensitive species and their habitat, and potential use as corridors for predators. Results from these analyses can help inform the placement of future fuel breaks to increase their use and effectiveness for imperative fire operations while minimizing negative ecological impacts in sensitive and threatened ecosystems.

为更好地支撑防火隔离带（fuel break）的规划与评估工作，我们构建了一套覆盖美国西部全域、时间跨度为1953年至2018年的已知现存防火隔离带综合空间数据库。该数据库中，每一条防火隔离带均以多边形要素形式存储，并附带建设日期、所用处置措施类型及数据来源等属性信息。本数据集的公开可用性，可为构建监测框架提供支撑，以追踪不同处置措施的维护情况与持续效果，同时记录特定防火隔离带点位上的林火扑救作业使用情况、现场状态及实施结果。此外，该数据集还支持对影响林火扑救的关键时变属性进行量化分析，例如调控可燃物状态的植被组成与降水条件等。相关信息可帮助消防作业人员与防火项目管理人员，优先确定需要维护和启用的防火隔离带清单。此外，该数据集还可用于开展防火隔离带对山艾树生态系统（sagebrush ecosystem）的生态影响相关研究，例如其对一年生草本入侵的潜在推动作用、对敏感物种及其栖息地的影响，以及作为捕食者迁徙廊道的潜在用途等。此类分析所得结果，可为未来防火隔离带的选址提供决策依据，在提升其在紧要火情处置中的使用效率与防控效果的同时，最大限度降低其对敏感及受威胁生态系统的负面生态影响。