Evaluating short-term effects of fuel treatments on fuel loading in western US dry conifer forests: a meta-analysis

Fuel treatments are crucial for reducing wildfire hazard, especially as severe wildfires increase across western United States (US) dry conifer forests. While many studies have documented the effectiveness of fuel treatments in reducing future wildfire severity, few have synthesized data to predict post-treatment fuel loads for major classes of fuels. We conducted a Bayesian meta-analysis using 1,932 observations from 65 published papers in western US dry conifer forests to (1) evaluate the short-term effects of different fuel treatments on fuel loading and overstory structure and (2) characterize patterns of post-treatment fuel loading and overstory structure across multiple fuel components. Treatments included thinning followed by prescribed burning (THIN+BURN), thinning only (THIN), and first-entry prescribed fire only (BURN). Our results show that treatments effectively reduce fuel loads, but outcomes vary based on treatment type, forest type, and initial stand conditions. THIN+BURN..., , , # Evaluating short-term effects of fuel treatments on fuel loading in western US dry conifer forests: a meta-analysis

We collected data from 65 publications and 95 distinct studies that quantify the change in fuel loading after a variety of fuel treatments across western dry conifer forests in the United States.

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1) 'ROM_effect_size.csv'
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Dataset used for the meta-analysis that includes effect size calculation (section II), calculated as the log response ratio (lnRR), and raw fuel data (section III). More than one lnRR was calculated for one study when there were multiple treatment types, forest types, and/or fuel variables reported. The dataset includes all fuels data from publications that met the search criteria, including data that was not used in the final analysis.

Fields are as follows:

* uniqueID: A unique ID for each distinct study.
* fuel_variable: Fuel variable calculated
* forest_type: Unique forest type
* treatmentB: Broad categorizations of fuel treament tha...,