Citation

Moore IB, Collins BM, Foster DE, Tompkins RE, Stevens JT, Stephens SL, Moore IB, Collins BM, Foster DE, Tompkins RE, Stevens JT, Stephens SL. Int. J. Wildland Fire 2021; 30(12): 921-932.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, International Association of Wildland Fire, Fire Research Institute, Publisher CSIRO Publishing)

DOI

10.1071/WF20131

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Surface fuel loads are highly variable in many wildland settings, which can have many important ecological effects, especially during a wildland fire. This variability is not well described by a single metric (e.g. mean load), so quantifying traits such as variability, continuity and spatial arrangement will help more precisely describe surface fuels. This study measured surface fuel variability in the northern Sierra Nevada of California following a high-severity fire that converted a mixed-conifer forest to shrub-dominant vegetation, both before and after a subsequent shrub removal treatment conducted as site preparation for reforestation. Data were collected on vegetation composition, spatial arrangement and biomass load of the common surface fuel components (1-1000-h woody fuel, litter, duff and shrubs). Mean shrub patch length decreased significantly from 9.25 to 1.0 m and mean dead and down surface fuel load decreased significantly from 131.4 to 73.4 Mg ha−1. Additionally, probability of encountering a continuous high fuel load segment decreased after treatment. This work demonstrates a method of quantifying important spatial characteristics of surface fuel that could be used in the next generation of fire behaviour models and provides metrics that land managers may consider when designing post-fire reforestation treatments.

Language: en