CUERE Seminar Series - Dr. Wayne Zipperer
Wildland-Urban Interface: A Dynamic Socio-Ecological System
Friday, October 22, 2021 · 2 - 3 PM
This is part of the Fall 2021 CUERE Seminar Series.
When in person, CUERE seminars are held in TRC 206 at 2 PM on Fridays. In 2021 seminars will be held mostly virtually.
Dr. Wayne Zipperer
USDA Forest Service, Gainesville, FL
“The Wildland-Urban Interface: A Dynamic Socio-Ecological System”
Abstract
By 2050, the United States human population is projected to increase by 70 million individuals. A high percentage of these individuals will inhabit the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The WUI describes an area where housing intermixes with or abuts wildland vegetation. From 1990-2010, the WUI expanded from 581,000 to 770,000 km2. Currently, more than 43 million homes (32% of homes in the conterminous U.S.) occur in the WUI. Unfortunately, except for fire, a dearth of information exists on the WUI. To evaluate the effect of this settlement pattern on social and ecological systems, the USDA Forest Service conducted a national assessment of the WUI. This presentation overviews the finding of that assessment and how WUI affects ecosystem structure and function, demographics, and natural resource management.
