scholarly journals Pine Species That Support Crown Fire Regimes Have Lower Leaf-Level Terpene Contents Than Those Native to Surface Fire Regimes

Fire ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca A Dewhirst ◽  
Nicholas Smirnoff ◽  
Claire M Belcher
Keyword(s):  
Seedling Survival ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Biochemical Traits ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Fire Adaptations ◽  
Litter Flammability ◽  
Leaf Level ◽  
Terpene Content

Fire is increasingly being recognised as an important evolutionary driver in fire-prone environments. Biochemical traits such as terpene (volatile isoprenoid) concentration are assumed to influence plant flammability but have often been overlooked as fire adaptations. We have measured the leaf-level flammability and terpene content of a selection of Pinus species native to environments with differing fire regimes (crown fire, surface fire and no fire). We demonstrate that this biochemical trait is associated with leaf-level flammability which likely links to fire-proneness and we suggest that this contributes to post-fire seedling survival. We find that surface-fire species have the highest terpene abundance and are intrinsically the most flammable, compared to crown-fire species. We suggest that the biochemical traits of surface fire species may have been under selective pressure to modify the fire environment at the leaf and litter scale to moderate fire spread and intensity. We indicate that litter flammability is driven not only by packing ratios and bulk density, but also by terpene content.

scholarly journals Litter Flammability of 50 Southeastern North American Tree Species: Evidence for Mesophication Gradients Across Multiple Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Morgan Varner ◽  
Jeffrey M. Kane ◽  
Jesse K. Kreye ◽  
Timothy M. Shearman
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Acer Rubrum ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Fire Adaptations ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Litter Flammability ◽  
Bottomland Forests ◽  
Fire Exclusion

Widespread fire exclusion and land-use activities across many southeastern United States forested ecosystems have resulted in altered species composition and structure. These changes in composition and structure have been implicated in positive fire-vegetation feedbacks termed “mesophication” where fire spread and intensity are diminished. In forests and woodlands, inherent flammability of different species is the mechanistic driver of mesophication. To date, there has been limited work on documenting the high diversity of flammability among species in the region, limiting the ability to differentiate among species to restore fuels that sustain fire regimes. Here, we coalesce disparate flammability data and add missing species across the spectrum from species that facilitate fire (so called “pyrophytes”) to those that dampen fire (so called “mesophytes”). We present data on 50 important tree species from across the southeast, all burned using identical laboratory methods. We divide our results for four dominant ecosystems: Coastal Plain uplands, oak-hickory woodlands, Appalachian forests, and bottomland forests. Across ecosystems, the most flammable species were American chestnut (Castanea dentata), a suite of pines (Pinus palustris, P. elliottii, P. serotina, and P. rigida), several oaks (Q. laevis, Q. falcata, Q. margaretta, and Q. alba), and sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum). At the mesophytic end, the least flammable species were Tsuga canadensis, Acer rubrum, and several other hardwoods previously implicated in mesophication. Each of the four ecosystems we studied contained species that spanned the pyrophytic to mesophytic gradient. These data fill in some key holes in our understanding of southeastern fire adaptations, but also provide context for restoration decisions and fire management prioritization efforts to restore and sustain fire-prone ecosystems of the region.

RATES OF SURFACE FIRE SPREAD IN A YOUNG CALABRIAN PINE (Pinus brutia Ten.) PLANTATION

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1475-1480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omer Kucuk ◽  
Ertugrul Bilgili ◽  
Serkan Bulut ◽  
Paulo M. Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Fire Spread ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Pinus Brutia ◽  
Calabrian Pine

The simulation of surface fire spread based on Rothermel model in windthrow area of Changbai Mountain (Jilin, China)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Yin ◽  
Hui Jin ◽  
Ying Zhao ◽  
Yuguang Fan ◽  
Liwu Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fire Spread ◽  
Changbai Mountain ◽  
Surface Fire

scholarly journals Potentials and limitations for human control over historic fire regimes in the boreal forest

2007 ◽  
Vol 363 (1501) ◽  
pp. 2351-2356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Granström ◽  
Mats Niklasson
Keyword(s):  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Human Control ◽  
Regime Changes ◽  
Northern Fennoscandia ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Cattle Husbandry ◽  
Different Cultures

Fire, being both a natural and cultural phenomenon, presents problems in disentangling the historical effect of humans from that of climate change. Here, we investigate the potential impact of humans on boreal fire regimes from a perspective of fuels, ignitions and culture. Two ways for a low technology culture to impact the fire regime are as follows: (i) by altering the number of ignitions and their spatial distribution and timing and (ii) by hindering fire spread. Different cultures should be expected to have quite different impacts on the fire regimes. In northern Fennoscandia, there is evidence for fire regime changes associated with the following: a reindeer herding culture associated with few ignitions above the natural; an era of cattle husbandry with dramatically increased ignitions and somewhat higher fire frequency; and a timber exploitation era with decreasing fire sizes and diminishing fire frequency. In other regions of the boreal zone, such schemes can look quite different, but we suggest that a close look at the resource extraction and land use of different cultures should be part of any analysis of past fire regimes.

Modelling the rate of fire spread and uncertainty associated with the onset and propagation of crown fires in conifer forest stands

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel G. Cruz ◽  
Martin E. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Crown Fires ◽  
Deterministic Modelling ◽  
Eastern Australia

Crown fires are complex, unstable phenomena dependent on feedback mechanisms between the combustion products of distinct fuel layers. We describe non-linear fire behaviour associated with crowning and the uncertainty they cause in fire behaviour predictions by running a semiphysical modelling system within a simple Monte Carlo simulation framework. The method was able to capture the dynamics of passive and active crown fire spread regimes, providing estimates of average rate of spread and the extent of crown fire activity. System outputs were evaluated against data collected from a wildfire that occurred in a radiata pine plantation in south-eastern Australia. The Monte Carlo method reduced prediction errors relative to the more commonly used deterministic modelling approach, and allowed a more complete description of the level of crown fire behaviour to expect. The method also provides uncertainty measures and probabilistic outputs, extending the range of questions that can be answered by fire behaviour models.

scholarly journals Evaluating Potential Fire Behavior in Lodgepole Pine-Dominated Forests after a Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic in North-Central Colorado

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer G. Klutsch ◽  
Mike A. Battaglia ◽  
Daniel R. West ◽  
Sheryl L. Costello ◽  
José F. Negrón
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Fuel Characteristics

Abstract A mountain pine beetle outbreak in Colorado lodgepole pine forests has altered stand and fuel characteristics that affect potential fire behavior. Using the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator, potential fire behavior was modeled for uninfested and mountain pine beetle-affected plots 7 years after outbreak initiation and 10 and 80% projected tree fall using measured and projected fuel and stand characteristics. Under 90th percentile weather conditions, uninfested plots exhibited proportionally more crown fire than infested plots. Plots predicted to have crown fire were composed mainly of nonhost conifer species and had a lower and more continuous canopy than infested plots. Where surface fire was predicted to occur, live lodgepole pine was the only conifer present, and plots had significantly lower tree mortality from fire than plots predicted to have crown fire. Mountain pine beetle-induced changes in stand and fuel characteristics resulted in increased intensity of surface fire behavior. Furthermore, with 80% infested tree fall, potential smoke production was predicted to be higher. Tree species composition of stands pre and postbark beetle outbreak is important when identifying mountain pine beetle-caused changes to potential fire behavior.

Using fuel and weather variables to predict the sustainability of surface fire spread in maritime pine stands

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo M. Fernandes ◽  
Hermínio Botelho ◽  
Francisco Rego ◽  
Carlos Loureiro
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Logistic Model ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Maritime Pine ◽  
Fuel Moisture ◽  
Fuel Type ◽  
Weather Variables ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Pinus Pinaster Ait ◽  
Fuel Moisture Content

Thresholds for surface fire spread were examined in maritime pine ( Pinus pinaster Ait.) stands in northern Portugal. Fire sustainability was assessed after ignition of 2 m fire lines or in larger burns conducted in 10–15 m wide plots. The experiments were carried out from November to June in three fuel types: litter, litter plus shrubs, and litter with a nonwoody understorey. Moisture content of fine dead fuels, on-site weather variables, and descriptors of the fuel complex all had a highly significant influence on the probability of self-sustaining fire spread. A logistic model based solely on fuel moisture content correctly classified the fire sustainability status of 88% of the observations. Nonetheless, the subjectivity of the moisture of extinction concept was apparent, and further accuracy was achieved by the consecutive addition of fire spread direction (forward or backward), fuel type, and ambient temperature. Fully sustained fire spread, in opposition to marginal burns with broken fire fronts, was similarly dependent on fuel moisture but was affected also by fire spread direction and time since rain. The models can benefit fire research and fire management operations but can be made more practical if integrated in a fire danger rating system.

Relating surface fire spread to landscape structure: An application of FARSITE in a managed forest landscape

2007 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soung-Ryoul Ryu ◽  
Jiquan Chen ◽  
Daolan Zheng ◽  
Jacob J. Lacroix
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Forest Landscape ◽  
Managed Forest ◽  
Surface Fire

Sensitivity of a surface fire spread model and associated fire behaviour fuel models to changes in live fuel moisture

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 503 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Matt Jolly
Keyword(s):  
Fire Spread ◽  
Fuel Moisture ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Fuel Model ◽  
Spread Model ◽  
Fuel Models ◽  
Live Fuel Moisture ◽  
Behaviour Models ◽  
Fire Spread Model

Fire behaviour models are used to assess the potential characteristics of wildland fires such as rates of spread, fireline intensity and flame length. These calculations help support fire management strategies while keeping fireline personnel safe. Live fuel moisture is an important component of fire behaviour models but the sensitivity of existing models to live fuel moisture has not been thoroughly evaluated. The Rothermel surface fire spread model was used to estimate key surface fire behaviour values over a range of live fuel moistures for all 53 standard fuel models. Fire behaviour characteristics are shown to be highly sensitive to live fuel moisture but the response is fuel model dependent. In many cases, small changes in live fuel moisture elicit drastic changes in predicted fire behaviour. These large changes are a result of a combination of the model-calculated live fuel moisture of extinction, the effective wind speed limit and the dynamic load transfer function of some of the fuel models tested. Surface fire spread model sensitivity to live fuel moisture changes is discussed in the context of predicted fire fighter safety zone area because the area of a predicted safety zone may increase by an order of magnitude for a 10% decrease in live fuel moisture depending on the fuel model chosen.

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