Work

Wildfires diminish vegetation control on surface runoff

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Wildfires are increasingly reshaping global terrestrial ecosystems, yet their impacts on the fundamental coupling between vegetation and the hydrological cycle remain poorly understood. Here, we present a global-scale assessment of how wildfire disturbances alter the sensitivity of surface runoff to vegetation dynamics using multidecadal satellite observations and reanalysis datasets. We developed a spatially explicit framework to quantify pre- and postfire runoff-vegetation sensitivity across climatic gradients and fire regimes. We show a widespread and systematic weakening of vegetation control on runoff after wildfires, indicating a fundamental decoupling of hydrology-vegetation interactions. This attenuation is notably modulated by aridity and fire intensity, with the most pronounced sensitivity losses occurring in fragile drylands. These findings expose a critical blind spot in traditional hydrological models that overlook disturbance-driven vegetation shifts. Our study provides a mechanistic understanding of how compound climate-fire perturbations accelerate terrestrial water flux instability, suggesting that increasing fire frequency will exacerbate ecosystem vulnerability and threaten water security in a warming world.

Source: Science Advances

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aei3713

Authors: Yuanyuan Peng, Kun Shi, Shun Bi, Qi Guan

Institutions: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Fire effects on ecosystems

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,500