Fuel dynamics during oak woodland and savanna restoration in the Mid-South USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew L. Vander Yacht ◽  
Patrick D. Keyser ◽  
Charles Kwit ◽  
Michael C. Stambaugh ◽  
Wayne K. Clatterbuck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Basal Area ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Oak Woodlands ◽  
Thinning Intensity ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
Fuel Dynamics ◽  
Restoration Strategies ◽  
Fine Fuels

Thinning and burning can restore imperilled oak woodlands and savannas in the Southern Appalachian and Central Hardwood regions of the USA, but concomitant effects on fuels are less understood. We monitored (2008 to 2016) fuel load response to replicated combinations of thinning (none, 7, and 14m2ha−1 residual basal area) and seasonal fire (none, March, and October) at three sites. All treatments except burn-only increased total fuel loading. Thinning doubled (+16Mgha−1) 1000-h fuels relative to controls, and three fires in 6 years did not eliminate this difference. Increasing thinning intensity did not consistently enhance the combustion of larger fuels. October fires reduced 100- and 10-h fuels more than March fires. Burning alone reduced leaf litter and 1-h twigs by 30%. Burning after thinning doubled this reduction but increased herbaceous fuels 19-fold. Herbaceous fuels increased at a rate that suggests compensation for losses in woody fine fuels with continued burning. Where fuel reduction is a goal, restoration strategies could be more intentionally designed; however, oak woodlands and savannas are inherently more flammable than closed-canopy forests. Management decisions will ultimately involve weighing the risks associated with increased fuel loads against the benefits of restoring open oak communities.

scholarly journals MODELAGEM DE MATERIAL COMBUSTÍVEL EM PLANTAÇÕES DE Pinus taeda NO NORTE DE SANTA CATARINA

FLORESTA ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Joaquim Bacelar De Souza ◽  
Ronaldo Viana Soares ◽  
Antonio Carlos Batista
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Taeda ◽  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Santa Catarina ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Dominant Height

Um inventário foi conduzido em Três Barras, Santa Catarina, para quantificar e modelar material combustível superficial vivo e morto em plantações de Pinus taeda. De forma sistemática foram estabelecidas 20 parcelas para cada povoamento de 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, e 17 anos de idade, nas quais foram medidos a carga de combustível, o DAP, a altura e o diâmetro dominantes, a área basal e a espessura da liteira. Nove modelos foram ajustados através dos métodos Stepwise e “todas as regressões possíveis”. O melhor modelo para estimar a carga de acículas foi (R2 = 0,9563), ajustado com base na espessura (S) da camada de acículas. Para a carga de combustível morto de até 2,5 cm de espessura o melhor modelo foi (R2 = 0,8577). O modelo considerado mais adequado para determinação da carga total de combustível foi (R2 = 0,7034). Três gráficos para estimativa indireta do combustível e um calibrador para estimar a carga de acículas são também apresentados. FUEL MODELING IN Pinus taeda PLANTATIONS IN THE STATE OF SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL Abstract A fuel inventory was conducted in Três Barras county, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil (26o15’ S latitude and 50o48’W longitude), in order to develop predicting models for fuel loading in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations. Sampling was done in 03, 05, 07, 09, 11, 13, 15, and 17-year-old stands, covering the whole rotation of the plantations. Twenty (20) plots of 1.0m2 (1.0x1.0m) were randomly located in each stand, totalizing 160 plots. The independent variables measured in the stands were age (in years), mean DBH (cm), dominant DBH (cm), dominant height of the trees (m), basal area (m2), and fuel bed depth (cm). The dependent variables were live surface fuel, dead foliage (needles), dead woody fuel (separated by size classes), and total fuel load, all measured in ton.ha-1 (oven dry weight). Results showed good correlation between fuel bed depth and age and most of the dependent (fuel related) variables. Live surface fuel only presented significant correlation with mean DBH and basal area. However, live surface fuel was only significant in the 3-year-old plantation, and practically disappeared when the pines canopy intercepted most of the sun light, usually after the 5th year. Models were developed to estimate the following variables: dead foliage (Wa) dead fuel up to 10-hour (Æ £ 2.5cm) timelag (W10), and total fuel load (WT). Independent variables were chosen not only by the correlation coefficients, but also for the measuring facility, and based on these principles, fuel bed depth (S), age (I), dominant height (hdom), and dominant DBH (Ddom) were selected. The models were built through the Stepwise method, using the Statistic 5.0 software. Fuel bed depth was the variable that provided best fits for all predicting models, and the inclusion of other independent variables did not improve the models precision. The best model to estimate the needles load was (R2 = 0,9563); to estimate dead fine fuel load was (R2 = 0,8577); and to estimate the total fuel load was (R2 = 0,7034). Total fuel load in the loblolly pine plantations in the studied site ranged from approximately 6.0 to 21.0 ton.ha-1.

The influence of fuelbed properties on moisture drying rates and timelags of longleaf pine litter

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 2394-2404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph M. Nelson ◽  
J. Kevin Hiers
Keyword(s):  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Moisture Loss ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Drying Rate ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Drying Rates ◽  
Fine Fuels ◽  
Individual Particles

Fire managers often model pine needles as 1 h timelag fuels, but fuelbed properties may significantly change the rate at which needles exchange moisture with the atmosphere. The problem of determining whether moisture loss from fine fuels is being controlled by individual particles or by the fuelbed remains unresolved. Results from this laboratory experiment indicate that first-period timelags of longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris Mill.) needles are altered by fuelbed loading and needle arrangement. Timelags of individual needles ranged from 3.3 to 5.3 h; timelags of beds of vertically oriented needles (4.4 to 8.6 h) approximated those of individual particles, but were slightly influenced by loading. Beds of horizontal needles dried with load-dependent timelags that varied from 6.5 to 31.6 h. Fuel loads ranged from 0.04 (for individual particles) to 1.07 kg·m–2. We report a new metric, the area drying rate, which is analogous to a unit-area burning rate. For beds of flat needles, plots of the area drying rate versus fuel load illustrate a transition from control by individual particles to control by the bed structure when fuel loading is approximately 0.33 kg·m–2. Beds of vertical needles were particle controlled. Results should be useful to fire managers when modeling fire behavior.

Impacts of lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum) infestation on stand structure and fuel load in lodgepole pine dominated forests in central Colorado

Botany ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Ritter ◽  
Chad M. Hoffman ◽  
Seth A. Ex ◽  
Jane E. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Stand Structure ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Dwarf Mistletoe ◽  
Individual Host ◽  
Live Tree

Parasitic plants are capable of causing substantial alterations to plant communities through impacts on individual host plants. Lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe is an important parasite in forests of the western USA that causes reductions to productivity and is thought to alter wildland fuel complexes. These impacts are hypothesized to vary with infestation severity. To test this, we used a linear mixed modeling approach to evaluate the relationship between dwarf mistletoe infestation severity and parameters representing stand structure and surface and canopy fuels in infested lodgepole pine stands in central Colorado. Infestation severity was negatively related to live basal area, average tree size, canopy base height, canopy fuel load, and canopy bulk density, and was positively related to the loading of woody surfaces fuels greater than 0.64 cm in diameter. No relationship was detected between infestation severity and live tree density, or live crown ratio. These results confirm the long-held assumption that dwarf mistletoe increases surface fuel loading in lodgepole pine communities, but also suggest that infested stands have reduced amounts of available canopy fuel. These findings have implications for potential fire behavior and highlight the importance of dwarf mistletoe in predicting the spatial and temporal dynamics of wildland fuels.

scholarly journals Generating a Baseline Map of Surface Fuel Loading Using Stratified Random Sampling Inventory Data through Cokriging and Multiple Linear Regression Methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1561
Author(s):  
Chinsu Lin ◽  
Siao-En Ma ◽  
Li-Ping Huang ◽  
Chung-I Chen ◽  
Pei-Ting Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Estimation Accuracy ◽  
Slope Aspect ◽  
Stratified Random Sampling ◽  
Inventory Data ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Regression Methods

Surface fuel loading is a key factor in controlling wildfires and planning sustainable forest management. Spatially explicit maps of surface fuel loading can highlight the risks of a forest fire. Geospatial information is critical in enabling careful use of deliberate fire setting and also helps to minimize the possibility of heat conduction over forest lands. In contrast to lidar sensing and/or optical sensing based methods, an approach of integrating in-situ fuel inventory data, geospatial interpolation techniques, and multiple linear regression methods provides an alternative approach to surface fuel load estimation and mapping over mountainous forests. Using a stratified random sampling based inventory and cokriging analysis, surface fuel loading data of 120 plots distributed over four kinds of fuel types were collected in order to develop a total surface fuel loading model (lntSFL-BioTopo model) and a fine surface fuel model (lnfSFL-BioTopo model) for generating tSFL and fSFL maps. Results showed that the combination of topographic parameters such as slope, aspect, and their cross products and the fuel types such as pine stand, non-pine conifer stand, broadleaf stand, and conifer–broadleaf mixed stand was able to appropriately describe the changes in surface fuel loads over a forest with diverse terrain morphology. Based on a cross-validation method, the estimation of tSFL and fSFL of the study site had an RMSE of 3.476 tons/ha and 3.384 tons/ha, respectively. In contrast to the average loading of all inventory plots, the estimation for tSFL and fSFL had a relative error of 38% (PRMSE). The reciprocal of estimation bias of both SFL-BioTopo models tended to be an exponential growth function of the amount of surface fuel load, indicating that the estimation accuracy of the proposed method is likely to be improved with further study. In the regression modeling, a natural logarithm transformation of the surface fuel loading prevented the outcome of negative estimates and thus improved the estimation. Based on the results, this paper defined a minimum sampling unit (MSU) as the area for collecting surface fuels for interpolation using a cokriging model. Allocating the MSUs at the boundary and center of a plot improved surface fuel load prediction and mapping.

Partial cutting reduces species richness of fungi on woody debris in oak-rich forests

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1807-1816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Nordén ◽  
Frank Götmark ◽  
Martin Ryberg ◽  
Heidi Paltto ◽  
Johan Allmér
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Fruiting Bodies ◽  
Partial Cutting ◽  
Total Species Richness ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
And Control ◽  
Total Species

Partial cutting is increasingly applied in European temperate oak-dominated forests for biofuel harvesting, and to counteract succession in protected stands. Effects on biodiversity of these measures need to be carefully evaluated, and species-rich but neglected taxa such as fungi should be considered. We studied the effects of partial cutting on fungal fruiting bodies on woody debris. In 21 closed canopy forests rich in large oaks in Sweden, on average 25%–30% of the basal area was cut. Fruiting bodies were counted and some were collected in treated and control plots before and after treatment. We found 334 basidiomycete and 47 ascomycete species. Species richness of basidiomycetes declined significantly more in treated plots (on average 26%) than in control plots (on average 13%) between seasons. Species richness of ascomycetes increased by 17% in control plots and decreased by 2% in treated plots. Total species richness was significantly reduced on fine woody debris (1–10 cm in diameter), but not on coarse woody debris (>10 cm). Overall species composition did not change significantly as a result of partial cutting, but red-listed species tended to decrease more in treated plots. We suggest that approximately 30% of the stands should not be thinned, and dead stems and fallen branches should not be removed, to favor saproxylic fungi and their associated fauna.

scholarly journals Altitudinally coordinated pattern of plant community structure in the Shivapuri National Park, Nepal

1970 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalik Ram Sigdel
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
National Park ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Flower Colour ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Plant Community Structure ◽  
Closed Canopy

Study on plant community structure was undertaken in different altitudinal ranges of Shivapuri National Park. The general objective of this study is to analyse different plant community structure in Shivapuri National Park with regards to altitudinal variation. The forest was divided into three distinct altitudinal ranges on the basis of dominancy. In each altitudinal range standard quadrats method was applied for vegetation analysis. The highest number of species was found in site II. All the ecological parameters of the plant species were higher in site II except Basal Area of tree that was highest in site III. The pattern of distribution of plant species was not uniform according to altitude. At higher elevation, the forest was mature with almost closed canopy and trees were large; so the tree density was low. Species richness was highest in site II. Species diversity among tree and shrub species was higher in site I. But for herb species diversity was higher in site II for both seasons. Such type of variations may be due to nature of soil i.e. acidity, nutrient availability and other micro-climatic factors. The most noteworthy thing was that variation in flower colour of Rhododendron arboreum i.e. deep scarlet at low altitude, but it gradually changed into pinkish white as altitude increased. Key words: Altitude, Density, Plant community, Species diversity doi: 10.3126/banko.v18i1.2161 Banko Janakari, Vol. 18, No. 1, 11-17

Heterogeneity in fire severity within early season and late season prescribed burns in a mixed-conifer forest

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric E. Knapp ◽  
Jon E. Keeley
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Early Season ◽  
Late Season ◽  
Fuel Loads ◽  
In Fire

Structural heterogeneity in forests of the Sierra Nevada was historically produced through variation in fire regimes and local environmental factors. The amount of heterogeneity that prescription burning can achieve might now be more limited owing to high fuel loads and increased fuel continuity. Topography, woody fuel loading, and vegetative composition were quantified in plots within replicated early and late season burn units. Two indices of fire severity were evaluated in the same plots after the burns. Scorch height ranged from 2.8 to 25.4 m in early season plots and 3.1 to 38.5 m in late season plots, whereas percentage of ground surface burned ranged from 24 to 96% in early season plots and from 47 to 100% in late season plots. Scorch height was greatest in areas with steeper slopes, higher basal area of live trees, high percentage of basal area composed of pine, and more small woody fuel. Percentage of area burned was greatest in areas with less bare ground and rock cover (more fuel continuity), steeper slopes, and units burned in the fall (lower fuel moisture). Thus topographic and biotic factors still contribute to the abundant heterogeneity in fire severity with prescribed burning, even under the current high fuel loading conditions. Burning areas with high fuel loads in early season when fuels are moister may lead to patterns of heterogeneity in fire effects that more closely approximate the expected patchiness of historical fires.

Corrigendum to: Assessing canopy fuel stratum characteristics in crown fire prone fuel types of western North America

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. iii ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel G. Cruz ◽  
Martin E. Alexander ◽  
Ronald H. Wakimoto
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
In Fire

Application of crown fire behavior models in fire management decision-making have been limited by the difficulty of quantitatively describing fuel complexes, specifically characteristics of the canopy fuel stratum. To estimate canopy fuel stratum characteristics of four broad fuel types found in the western United States and adjacent areas of Canada, namely Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, and lodgepole pine forest stands, data from the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database were analysed and linked with tree-level foliage dry weight equations. Models to predict canopy base height (CBH), canopy fuel load (CFL) and canopy bulk density (CBD) were developed through linear regression analysis and using common stand descriptors (e.g. stand density, basal area, stand height) as explanatory variables. The models developed were fuel type specific and coefficients of determination ranged from 0.90 to 0.95 for CFL, between 0.84 and 0.92 for CBD and from 0.64 to 0.88 for CBH. Although not formally evaluated, the models seem to give a reasonable characterization of the canopy fuel stratum for use in fire management applications.

Forest floor fuel dynamics in mixed-oak forests of south-eastern Ohio

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 479 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Graham ◽  
Brian C. McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Oak Forests ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Silvicultural Treatments ◽  
Fuel Dynamics ◽  
Over Time

Silvicultural treatments alter fuel dynamics in forested systems, which may alter fire regime. Effects of thinning and prescribed fire on forest-floor fuels were studied in mixed-oak forests of south-eastern Ohio to examine fuel dynamics over time. Fuel characteristics were measured before, immediately after, and 3 years following fire and thinning treatments along 20-m transects (n = 432) following Brown’s planar intersect method. Measurements were taken to determine litter, duff, 1-h, 10-h, 100-h, and 1000-h sound (1000S) or rotten (1000R) fuel mass. Coarse woody debris (CWD) was sampled on 432 additional 80-m2 belt-transects. Repeated-measures analysis of variance with post-hoc Bonferonni comparisons was used to analyse the change in the fuels over time. The specific effects of silvicultural treatments varied over time with changes in larger, sound fuels (1000S and CWD) persisting longer than changes to finer (litter, duff, 1-h, 10-h, and 100-h) or less-sound (1000R) fuels, which appear to be more transient. Unlike in western North America where fuels accumulate over time, decomposition and productivity appear comparable in eastern mixed-oak forests. Aside from their impact on decomposition or productivity rates, silvicultural treatments appear to have little impact on fine-fuel loading in these systems.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Characteristics of Recent Major Wildfires in the USA, Australia and Brazil in 2018–2019 Using Multi-Source Satellite Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahlatse Kganyago ◽  
Lerato Shikwambana
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Radiative Power ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

This study analysed the characteristics of the recent (2018–2019) wildfires that occurred in the USA, Brazil, and Australia using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) active fires (AF), fire radiative power (FRP, MW) and burned area (BA) products. Meteorological and environmental parameters were also analysed. The study found various patterns in the spatial distribution of fires, FRP and BA at the three sites, associated with various vegetation compositions, prevailing meteorological and environmental conditions and anthropogenic activities. We found significant fire clusters along the western and eastern coasts of the USA and Australia, respectively, while vastly distributed clusters were found in Brazil. Across all sites, significant fire intensity was recorded over forest cover (FC) and shrublands (SL), attributed to highly combustible tree crown fuel load characterised by leafy canopies and thin branches. In agreement, BA over FC was the highest in the USA and Australia, while Brazil was dominated by the burning of SL, characteristic of fire-tolerant Cerrado. The relatively lower BA over FC in Brazil can be attributed to fuel availability and proximity to highly flammable cover types such as cropland, SL and grasslands rather than fuel flammability. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of wildfires in various regions and the underlying environmental and meteorological causal factors, towards better wildfire disaster management strategies and habitat-specific firefighting.

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