Online films document research on fires, humans and climate change

A new series of short films helps citizens of Montana and the Rocky Mountain West understand how scientists study the impact of fire on ecosystems.

The films document a National Science Foundation-funded project called Wildfire PIRE - wildfirepire.org - an international partnership among Montana State University, the University of Colorado, the University of Idaho, the University of Tasmania (Australia) and the University of Auckland (New Zealand) along with other universities and agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2010, researchers from the U.S. first traveled to Tasmania and New Zealand to collect data on the impacts of wildfire. Using tree ring cores and columns of mud drawn from lakes, the researchers can piece together the history of fire in different landscapes.

Because the place now known as New Zealand was one of the last areas on Earth to be colonized by humans, the researchers can compare the fire history of its 700 years of human settlement to the 10,000 to 13,000 years of human settlement in the western United States. The information then allows the team to study whether changes in fire patterns might be connected to humans and their use of the land or climate change or both.

The data from the Southern Hemisphere will also help researchers make predictions about the impacts of fire in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

The films about the project are online at vimeo.com/album/2067891 They are suitable for all ages and also give young people a glimpse into the scientific process and how researchers and university students do their work. Classroom teachers who are unable to access the films online can request a DVD by contacting Todd Kipfer with the Montana Institute on Ecosystems (IOE) at tkipfer@montana.edu or (406) 994-7977.

Provided by Montana State University