A quantitative assessment of shoot flammability for 60 tree and shrub species supports rankings based on expert opinion

Wyse, Sarah V.; Perry, George L.; O'Connell, Dean M.; Holland, Phillip S.; Wright, Monique; Hosted, Catherine L.; Whitelock, Samuel L.; Geary, I. J.; Maurin, Kévin J. L.; Curran, Timothy J.

doi:10.1071/wf15047

Cited by 85 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…In particular, coniferous trees were the least flammable of all groups analysed. This contradicts recent work which found that the conifer rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) was among the most flammable of 60 species trialled (Wyse et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

“…McGlone and Basher 1995). The assumption has been that the high volatile oil content of their leaves (Cambie 1996) renders conifers particularly flammable (Fogarty 2001), but there is precious little data on the comparative foliar flammability of New Zealand's indigenous plant species from controlled combustion trials (although data on shoot-level flammability native New Zealand species have recently been published, Wyse et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora

et al. 2016

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This study tests whether or not foliar flammability is related to resource-use and antiherbivore defence strategies of plant species. We measured the flammability (at 400°C) of 1640 dry and fresh leaves across 115 common native New Zealand woody and herbaceous species collected from sites throughout New Zealand. We used three indicators of foliar flammability-leaf temperature at smoke production and on ignition and the rate of increase in leaf temperature during the combustion process. We tested for relationships between these flammability measures, foliar morphological and chemical traits and growth form. All significant correlations showed increased foliar flammability with increasing foliar surface area:volume ratio (SAV) and nutrient content and decreasing tissue density, lignin and secondary metabolite concentrations. Coniferous trees were the growth form with the least flammable leaves due to leaf morphology associated low leaf SAV and high tissue density. This suggests there may be a general relationship between resource-use strategies and foliar flammability, via the influence of leaf morphology on both these aspects of plant function.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora

et al. 2016

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“…() and modified by Wyse et al. () (Figure ; Table ), with adjustments for larger plants (the vertical cylinder described above). All samples were stored air‐dry at room temperature for 24 hr before burning (Wyse et al., ) to ensure that the moisture content of the samples matched the ignition source (Wyse, Perry, & Curran, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community‐level flammability declines over 25 years of plant invasion in grasslands

et al. 2018

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Abstract1. Exotic plant invasions can alter fire regimes in plant communities. Invaders often possess traits that differ from native plants in the community, resulting in increases or declines in community-level flammability, changing fire regimes and potentially causing long-term modifications to plant community composition. Although considering traits of multiple invaders and native species together is useful to better understand how invasions change community-level flammability, few studies have done this.2. We measured morphological and flammability traits of 51 native and exotic plant species common in tussock grasslands in New Zealand's south-eastern South Island to examine relationships between morphology and whole-plant and shoot-level flammability. Plant community data from 103 permanent transects in this region measured over a 25-year period (c. 1982-2007) were used to determine how flammability changed with increasing levels of plant invasion.3. Invasion by exotic plants has led to reduced community-level flammability due to shifts from native tussock grasses with high flammability and high fuel loads to matforming exotic forbs with low flammability and little fuel. These changes will likely lead to considerable alterations to the fire regime, resulting in lower intensity fires that burn more patchily and for shorter amounts of time, potentially causing further changes in floristic composition. We found considerable differences in flammability across the wide range of species and growth forms that we studied, emphasising the importance of quantifying species-level flammability and the need to avoid treating grasslands as homogenous in terms of their flammability. Total biomass, leaf length and leaf area were the traits most positively correlated with flammability in these tussock grasslands.4. Synthesis. We show how plant invasions over decadal time-scales have reduced the community-level flammability of tussock grasslands and, for the first time, demonstrate how this can be driven by exotic forbs. The total biomass of constituent species is a useful surrogate for community flammability across a wide range of species and growth forms in both temperate grasslands and savanna ecosystems and should be used in dynamic global vegetation models to assess how flammability varies under various global change scenarios.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

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“…Leptospermum scoparium is highly flammable (Wyse et al ., ). Our experimental assessment shows that, although flammability varies between and within populations, there is little relationship between serotiny and flammability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…() and closely following the protocol of Wyse et al . () (see Appendix S2). We measured four flammability characteristics: time to ignition (ignitability), the duration of burn (sustainability), maximum burn temperature (°C) (combustibility) and percentage of sample burnt (consumability).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring fire adaptation in a land with little fire: serotiny in Leptospermum scoparium (Myrtaceae)

Battersby

Wilmshurst

Curran

et al. 2017

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Immigrant floras often have distinctive traits, well suited to the host region but absent from the autochthonous flora. An example is serotiny in the New Zealand (NZ) small tree, Leptospermum scoparium (Myrtaceae) belonging to a strongly fire‐adapted Australian clade. Serotiny in L. scoparium has been attributed either to strong selection by fire since human settlement, or taken as evidence that pre‐human fire in NZ was more important than assumed. By integrating field data, experimental analyses and long‐term fire histories, we sought to explain the spatial pattern of serotiny in L. scoparium in NZ, and evaluate these two explanations. Location New Zealand. Methods We quantified the distribution of serotiny in L. scoparium by analysing 137 populations distributed across NZ (two previous studies and ours), including 31 with Holocene fire histories. We assessed the relationship of serotiny with a suite of fire and climate environmental predictors, and between serotiny and shoot‐level flammability. Results Serotiny was strongly positively associated with latitude (more in the north), lower rainfall and higher temperatures. Serotinous populations were rare at sites with no history of fire. Serotiny was most prevalent in northern wetlands, where fire was recurrent during the Holocene, but was nearly absent from the southwestern Southern Alps. Shoot‐level flammability and serotiny were not correlated. Main conclusions The distribution of serotiny in L. scoparium relates not only to current environments but also to the legacy of regional shifts in vegetation during Quaternary glacial–interglacial cycles. Serotiny was maintained where the landscape experienced sporadic fire, but it is absent from NZ's southern South Island because the sparse, open vegetation during the glacials did not support fire. Serotinous L. scoparium populations were therefore more common in the northern North Island. Human transformation of the fire regime over the last 750 years has likely favoured the spread of serotinous populations.

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A quantitative assessment of shoot flammability for 60 tree and shrub species supports rankings based on expert opinion

Cited by 85 publications

References 48 publications

Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora

Fire form and function: evidence for exaptive flammability in the New Zealand flora

Community‐level flammability declines over 25 years of plant invasion in grasslands

Exploring fire adaptation in a land with little fire: serotiny in Leptospermum scoparium (Myrtaceae)

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